Clallam commissioner talks Elwha Valley, opioid addiction, murrelets in D.C.

PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Commissioner Bill Peach recently returned from Washington, D.C., where he and other commissioners from the Pacific Northwest met with and heard from top White House officials.

Peach — who footed his own travel expenses — attended the Oregon and Washington White House Conference on Oct. 11 where he raised concerns to federal officials over access to the Elwha Valley, opioid addiction and marbled murrelets.

He talked with an official in the Department of Interior who is involved with U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the National Park Service.

“I wanted to talk to someone in the parks department to talk about what we’re experiencing in terms of the Elwha River,” Peach said.

Peach, a Republican, said he learned that the Department of Interior changed how it processes permits, shortening the timeline to six months. He is hopeful that could speed up the effort to restore vehicle access to the Elwha Valley.

“They’re presenting a timeline on the project that’s about three or four years,” he said. “That’s a lot different than six months.”

Olympic National Park recently completed an environmental assessment that allows it to test the feasibility of moving Olympic Hot Springs Road out of the river’s floodplain. If feasible, there would be a second environmental assessment to determine the best option for restoring long-term access to the Elwha Valley.

Among the speakers he heard from during the conference was Kellyanne Conway, advisor to President Donald Trump.

What he learned is Clallam County is already doing much of what the Trump Administration is pushing to combat the opioid crisis.

Conway focused on prevention and education, collection and disposal of opioid prescriptions and medicine-assisted treatment, he said, all of which are things Clallam County already does.

“We’re out there on the lead on some of these issues,” he said.

Among the efforts the Trump Administration is pushing is the use of Suboxone, a drug that is increasingly used to treat opioid addiction. It contains buprenorphine and naloxone and fulfills the physical craving for opioids but doesn’t produce the same high. Naloxone counteracts opioid overdoses and helps prevent people from abusing Suboxone.

“They support products such as Suboxone,” he said. “You know what, we were the leaders on that.”

Conway told of new laws that are awaiting the president’s signature. Both the House of Representatives and Senate approved the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act, which makes changes to Medicaid programs to address opioid and substance use disorder, changes Medicare requirements to address opioid use and supports increased monitoring for strong synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.

Conway said the administration supports syringe exchanges that provide resources for people who want to get clean, Peach said.

“The idea is good to provide the exchange, but most importantly, have someone involved in that who understands rehabilitation,” Peach said.

Peach, who also serves on the state Board of Natural Resources, also discussed the revised draft environmental impact statement on the marbled murrelet long-term conservation strategy.

Peach said he is concerned that when it was released in September the document lacked financial information about the alternatives.

He said that what is proposed would significantly limit timber sales near Clallam Bay and Forks and that he is concerned how the decrease in timber sales would affect junior taxing districts.

“Effectively the revenue stream that would support the fire district and the school for [Clallam Bay] is going to be significantly impacted,” he said.

He said that financial information was expected last week, just more than two weeks before the end of the comment period on the document.

To view the revised draft environmental impact statement or to comment, visit www.dnr.wa.gov/long-term-conservation-strategy-marbled-murrelet.

Comments close Nov. 7.

Peach said he planned to follow up with federal officials on multiple issues.

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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.