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U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, recently made a swing through Wahkiakum County in a visit that included a meeting with local log truck drivers, a talk with the Wahkiakum County Public Utility District and a tour of Grays River.
Her first stop, according to a news release issued on Tuesday, Feb. 4, was a roundtable discussion with log truck drivers focused on eliminating red tape that hampers small operations and making it easier to hire and train apprentices.
“Being able to harvest and move timber is an important part of being able to prevent wildfire, build houses and support family wage jobs,” Gluesenkamp Perez stated in the release. “Hearing from our log truck operators, a decline in timber and complicated red tape can make it difficult to run a small, family operation, much less get one off the ground. We had a productive discussion about ways to ensure federal regulations actually make sense for independent operators and to get more young people the skills they need to build these careers as the workforce ages. Having operated an auto repair and machine shop before coming to Congress, I know how difficult it can be to hire an apprentice, yet these opportunities remain a critical pathway to the middle class.”
Last month, Gluesenkamp Perez’s provisions were signed into law to extend eligibility for the Forest Service’s Good Neighbor Authority for federal forest restoration and management projects to Tribes and counties to increase opportunities for cross-boundary restoration, according to the news release.
Gluesenkamp then visited the site of the Puget Island Alternative Water System project site where she met Wahkiakum County Public Utility District General Manager Dan Kay to speak about local utility priorities.
Kay expressed the PUD office’s gratitude for the recent work done by Gluesenkamp Perez, who secured federal funding in March that will allow the project to continue without utility rates going up.
Finally, she toured the Columbia and Grays rivers by boat with Wahkiakum County Commissioner Gene Strong and the county sheriff's office. The discussion during the tour focused on sediment accumulation, flooding challenges, changes in the river and local priorities.
The 2024 Water Resources Development Act was signed into law last month and included a provision mandating the Army Corps of Engineers study certain causes of flooding. Gluesenkamp Perez was a primary advocate of the provision and testified to the county's need in front of the National House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
“Rosburg and Grays River know the impacts of flooding all too well – and it’s only been getting worse. These floods are dangerous, leave behind debris, and cut off critical services, so our federal government needs to take urgent action to find solutions, as well as to support smooth, reliable transportation on our rivers," Gluesenkamp Perez stated in the release. "Our rural communities deserve an attentiveness to their needs — and I’m glad we could secure a federal flooding assessment after Congress has long failed to act.”
