PUBLIC LANDS -- Ah, Sunday -- time to relax and perhaps put a little energy into local conservation efforts by sending an e-mail to your state representatives to support funding for the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program.

As I explained in my Thursday column, Gov. Chris Greqoire has proposed the 20-year-old program that issues grants STATEWIDE for conserving parks, habitat, open spaces and working farms should get no funding this year.  Meantime her staff has proposed $20 million for similar but largely low-ranked programs ONLY in Puget Sound.

At stake are several East Side projects that scientists already have scrutinized and ranked high for their merits to wildlife and public recreation.  Among them is the third and final phase of Spokane County's Antoine Peak acquisition, which has been funded largely by our own Spokane County Conservation Futures Program.

Money is tight in the state and conservation planning must be scaled down like everything else. But citizens should rally against this political tinkering with the objective work that's already been done to rank conservation grant requests through WWRP.

Click here for information on contacting your state representatives.