January 19, 2012 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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By NATALIE JOHNSON
nataEe@rnasoncounty,com
The Shelton High School
Students Against Destruc-
tive Decisions (SADD) Club
received national attention
this month for its efforts to
promote safe driving at SHS.
Senior and club president
Stephanie Howard traveled
with her mother and SADD
Club Advisor Gerald Apple
to Washington, D.C., early
this month, and on Jan. 9,
met with U.S. Secretary of
Transportation Ray LaHood
along with nine other Project
Ignition Leader Schools from
across the United States.
"I was just lucky to have
the opportunity," Howard
said.
Project Ignition is a teen
driver safety program co-
ordinated by the National
Youth Leadership Council
and funded by State Farm.
Howard said this is the sec-
ond school year that the SHS
SADD Club has done projects
with Project Ignition funding
to educate their peers about
the dangers of distracted
driving.
"It's any kind of activity
that takes any part of your
focus or eyes or actual hands
off driving. The main focus
is texting and driving," she
said.
Representatives from
schools with the top ten Proj-
ect Ignition programs in the
country met in Washing-
ton, D.C., on Jan. 9 to take
a tour of the capitol, spend a
day shadowing an employee
in the U.S. Department of
s to D.C.
Courtesy photo
Shelton High School student Stephanie Howard,
right, met with U.S. Secretary of Transportation
Ray LaHood in Washington, D.C., as part of a
conference for Project Ignition, a teen driver
safety program.
Transportation and present U.S. Department of Trans-
their school's projects to con- portation's Deputy Assistant
gressional staff members, Secretary of Governmental
Howard said. Affairs Amit Bose.
Howard was chosen to "It was really interesting,"
represent the Shelton SADD she said. "It was really com-
Club. During her job shadow, plicated and a little above my
she spent four hours with the head."
Journal photo by Natalie Johnson
John Bolender, executive director of the Mason Conservation District,
spoke at the Mason County Commission meeting on Tuesday in favor
of the county opting into a Voluntary Stewardship Program to protect
critical areas.
County opts in to stewardship program
By NATALIE JOHNSON state priority. If funded, designate a water-
natalie@masoncoun~y,cvm shed group and entity to administer funding
and develop a work plan," according to the
briefing.
The Mason County Board of Commis- Dan Wood, local affairs director of the
sioners voted Tuesday to participate in the Washington Farm Bureau, addressed the
Ruckelshaus Voluntary Stewardship Pro- Mason County Commission. He said that
gram for protection of critical areas outlined before Mason County voted on the proposal,
in state law. 20 counties in Washington had voted to join
According to a briefing provided to the the voluntary stewardship program.
county commissioners by Director of Plan- However, it isn't certain that the county
ning and Community Development Barbara will receive funding for the first year of the
Adkins, "This program is an alternative ap- program.
proach for counties to protect critical areas "So many counties are opting in -- I don't
on agricultural lands. It is intended to ad- believe all counties will be funded in the first
dress the contentious issue of the protection year," Wood said. "Until you get funding you
of critical areas on agricultural land while have no obligation to move forward."
maintaining viable agricultural production." Although funding is in question, opting
The option is designed to ease restrictions into the plan would not leave the county's
on agriculture while still preserving critical critical areas unprotected, he said.
areas. Until a work plan is approved, the county
According to the state law: "It is the intent will still be subject to the Growth Manage-
of this act to: (a) Promote plans to protect ment Act and all county Critical Areas Ordi-
and enhance critical areas within the area nances (CAO). If the plan is deemed not ad-
where agricultural activities are conducted, equate by a state technical panel the county
while maintaining and improving the long- must revert to its CAOs, Wood said.
term viability of agriculture in the state of The program would rely on work being
Washington and reducing the conversion of done already in partnership with organiza-
farmland to other uses." tions like the Skokomish Watershed Action
The program was recommended in a re-Team (SWAT) and the Mason Conservation
port by the William D. Ruckelshaus Center, District.
a joint enterprise of the University of Wash- According to the RCW, the stewardship
ington and Washington State University. plan would "Rely upon voluntary steward-
Governor Chris Gregoire signed the pro- ship practices as the primary method of
gram into law on May 16, 2011. protecting critical areas and not require the
The Mason County Commission held a cessation of agricultural activities."
public hearing on Tuesday, Jan. 17, to hear John Bolender, executive director of the
public comment on the proposal. The county Mason Conservation District, spoke in favor
had until Sunday, Jan. 22, to choose to par- of the plan at Tuesday's meeting.
ticipate in the program. "Farmers are stewards of their land," he
Now that it has opted into the program, said. "It's important that we provide an en-
the county will "confer with tribes, envi- vironment that is conducive to the county's
ronmental and agricultural interests. No- agricultural producers ... we need to reduce
tify property owners and other affected in- regulatory barriers but that doesn't mean
dividuals, tribes, governmental agencies, we don't protect the environment."
businesses, school districts and organiza- All three Mason County Commissioners
tions. Adopt an ordinance or resolution that also spoke in favor of the stewardship pro-
elects to participate, identifies participating gram and voted unanimously to take part in
watersheds and nominates watersheds for the pr%~'am
III I [
The SHS club's project in- ing in service clubs n she
volved a video showing the dan- attends Western Washington
gers of texting while driving. U~versity in the fall.|
'Last year we did a video %Ve're hoping we'r~ mak-
that is about 10 minutes long ing a real differencel" she
and has a local coroner telling said. '%Ve feel that things
about his experience arriving like distracted drivi~ g are
on the scene for a crash that way more important th an the Conference in Minneapolis,
can save lives immediately.
On April 11 through 14,
members of the SADD club
plan to travel to participate in
the National Service Learn-
ing Conference and youth-
driven PeaceJam Leadership
involved texting on driving," other things that tend to get Minn.
she said. focused on a lot." Until then, the SADD Club
The group also wrote and Howard doesn't m~ an to will continue its projects, in-
performed a skit last year discount the importaJlce of cluding the Little Stars pro-
on the dangers of distracted educating peers abot t the gram, which educates first-
driving, and this year, have dangers of alcohol or t ~bacco grade students about bicycle
placed public service an- use, but she said te~tching and pedestrian safety. The
people to not text ant drive Little Stars program is also
Mom
Grandma...
We Can't
Believe
You're 70
Either/
Love, Your Family
?.q Friends
nouncements (PSAs) on the
radio and on the back of Ma-
son County Transportation
Authority (MTA) busses.
These projects were all
funded by Project Ignition.
Howard said the PSAs ask
drivers, "Is that text message
worth your life? Your friends
can wait."
Howard said many of the
other nine high school represen-
tatives came from smaller cities
and towns such as Shetton.
Howard joined the SHS
SADD club in junior high
school on a whim, and five
years later is the leader of
the club.
After those years of dedi-
cation to the club, Howard
plans to continue participat-
%
makes
for any
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Shelton-Mason County Journa
I -Thursday, January 19, 2012
- Page A-3