Washington State Parks News Releases

News Release 11-009

Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
1111 Israel Road S.W., P.O. Box 42650, Olympia, WA 98504-2650, (360) 902-8500
Don Hoch, Director

State Parks Commission considers transfer of Tolmie State Park to Thurston County

OLYMPIA – Mar. 17, 2011 – The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission will consider transferring Tolmie State Park to Thurston County at its regular meeting next week in Olympia.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Thursday, March 24, in the Headquarters Building of the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, 1111 Israel Road S.W., Olympia. A full Commission meeting agenda is available online at www.parks.wa.gov/agency/commissionmeetings/. Time for public comment is provided at all regular meetings. Regular meetings are scheduled six times a year at pre-determined locations around the state.

Direction from the Legislature and Governor in the 2009-11 budget was for the Commission to proceed with transfer to local government of specific parks deemed appropriate by the Commission, in response to the state budget crisis. Tolmie is a 106-acre marine day-use park with 1,800 feet of saltwater shoreline on Puget Sound a few miles northeast of Olympia. The day-use park is popular for hiking and picnics. The transfer to Thurston County is on condition that the property continue to be made available to the general public for outdoor recreation purposes.

The Commission also will consider declaring that the former Puget Sound Region Office in Auburn cannot be advantageously used for park purposes so that it can be offered for sale at public auction, offered as a 50-year ground lease, negotiated as a sale or lease with the City of Auburn or transferred to the City for recreational uses. The property is the site of a former Game Farm and was acquired in 1981 from the then Department of Game, as a portion of a larger purchase.

In other business, the Commission will consider a sale of .75 of an acre of Olallie State Park to a private citizen to resolve a trespass issue and will consider a perpetual utility easement to an electric company to install 300 feet of fiber-optic cable at Spokane River Centennial Trail in Riverside State Park.

A transfer of a one-acre piece of property known as Station Camp in Southwest Washington will be considered to enable five agencies to complete an interpretive area about the Lewis and Clark Expedition, eventually to be owned and managed by the National Park Service (NPS). The five involved agencies include the NPS, Washington State Parks, Washington State Historical Society, the Washington Department of Transportation and the Washington Department of General Administration.

The Commission will hear several reports on subjects including the Capital Program; fee program in the 2011-13 budget; Mount Spokane State Park, Ski Area and Land Classification; 2009-11 Boating Safety Program Annual Report; and the 2009-11 Winter Recreation Program Annual Report.

Commission work session: A Commission work session is scheduled from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 23, in the Moran Room at Washington State Parks Headquarters, 1111 Israel Road S.W., Olympia. Work sessions are open to the public, however no public testimony will be heard and no formal action taken. Work session topics include operating costs at Fort Worden and Cama Beach, cabins and yurts, sustainability, Hyak, transformation strategy, Mount Spokane ski area expansion proposal, Puget Sound Region office, status on park transfers, legislative bill updates, housing and utility update, Seashore Conservation Arial survey; agency budget, future park planning and communication plan.

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