County lobbyist questioned

Did you know our county has been contracting with a resource-extraction lobbyist in Washington, D.C. for years, to the tune of $137,000 so far? Robert K. Weidner works for oil, gas and timber industries and for counties attracted to his message – look him up on the web.

In early January Weidner wrote to our Commissioners with his lobbying priorities. They include: amend (i.e. weaken) the Endangered Species Act; stop withdrawal of public lands from mining activity for sage grouse protection; establish livestock grazing as a so-called beneficial use on all public lands; revoke Antiquities Act Obama-era National Monuments; revoke all climate change Executive Orders; and many more goals related to opening up forest lands and gutting environmental regulations.

This is clearly the Trump administration’s agenda, and Skagit County (that is, you and I) is funding it. We even paid for the Commissioners’ trip to DC to meet with Weidner and Interior Secretary Zinke. Weidner’s contract will be up for renewal at the end of December. Let the Commissioners know that Skagit County has other priorities for our limited tax dollars.

Brenda Cunningham

Mount Vernon