Dicks’ Interest In Park Considered A Plus Olympic National Park Official Prefers Involved Congressman

U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks says he’s just trying to do the right thing when he gets involved in Olympic National Park management decisions.

His interest is generally pleasing to the park’s superintendent, David Morris.

“Overall, there are probably 350 superintendents in this organization (the National Park Service),” Morris said. “All of them would prefer to have an engaged congressman to someone who’s hostile or apathetic. I consider it a plus.”

Dicks, who represents the northern Olympic Peninsula, recently blocked a plan to shoot mountain goats in the park. He also has backed the idea of studying whether to reintroduce wolves there.

Dicks refused to support a park plan to remove the Elwha River dams, and he’s now preparing his position on the hotly debated 20-year management plan for Lake Crescent.

Dicks, a Democrat, is a member of the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee that controls the purse strings for the Park Service.

“I’m not trying to dictate. I’m saying, ‘Let’s try to do the right thing,”’ Dicks said last week.

“Sometimes, the Park Service tries to do something that doesn’t make sense. Congress has a right to set some direction for .. agencies.”

Some congressional action can be frustrating for park staff, Morris said.

“Sometimes, when they spend months or years on a particular study, when it gets changed at the last minute, it creates frustration and a lot of new work,” Morris said.