Two elected officials who are natives of the Lake Chelan Valley appeared before a US Congressional Sub-Committee yesterday on behalf of the Stehekin Community with hopes of seeing the Stehekin Valley road re-opened all the way to Cottonwood. A section of the narrow road up the valley floor was washed out during a hard storm in 2003 and the National Park Service has maintained the road should be permanantly closed.

State Senator Linda Evans Parlette and Chelan County Commissioner Doug England both appeared before Thursday during a busy day of Congressional Hearings.

Persons interested in hearing and watching the comments of the two can now do so

VIEW ON-LINE - CLICK HERE

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Viewers of the video will find it easy to slide the Video Player forward to the times indicated in the upper left (above) to be able to access the appropriate portions of the 90 minute video.

GoLakeChelan's Steve Byquist visited with State Senator Parlette following her testimony and learned that she and County Commissioner England both felt hopeful that they will be successful. The testimony of the two was enough to keep the bill alive, at least to the extent that it moves now from a sub-committee hearing to a full committee hearing later this year.

England told the subcomittee that the roadway is critical to the economy of the Stehekin Valley. England's written comments are availble as a PDF file ~ CLICK HERE.

Senator Parlette explains to Byquist what she and Commissioner England had to say, and how she calculates that they were successful in their mission.

Both Parlette and England flew to Washington D.C. on their own expense and not with taxpayer dollars.

CLICK HERE and LISTEN ~