Pierce County Councilmember Roger Bush (District 3) has been honored for his work supporting the Nisqually River watershed as a state legislator and county councilmember.
Bush received the Nisqually River Council’s Sustainability Award for Governance at a surprise ceremony at yesterday’s (June 3) county council meeting. 2007 river council chair Steve Pruitt said that while he was a state representative, Bush and state Sen. Marilyn Rasmussen – who also received the award – were instrumental in acquiring land for the Nisqually-Mashel State Park at the confluence of the two rivers. As a county councilmember, Pruitt added, Bush has been the lead county voice in favor of the proposed Ashford Performing Arts Center and Mountaineering Museum.
“Both of these projects – the state park and the performing arts center – are significant to the Nisqually watershed for its continued economic, environmental, and community health,” Pruitt said. “The bipartisan collaboration of Bush and Rasmussen is helping change the way we govern ourselves for the better.”
Pruitt said the performing arts center has been a longtime dream of Ashford, which relies on traffic to Mount Rainier but suffers economically during the off season. When a natural catastrophe closes the national park – as flooding did in November 2006 – he said Bush secured county funds to begin constructing the county park in Ashford that will house the center, while Rasmussen secured state money for construction of the center itself.
The Nisqually River Council is nationally acclaimed watershed council that brings all stakeholders to the table in managing and preserving the Nisqually, which is one of the least developed rivers in the South Sound and flows 78 miles from Mount Rainier to its delta at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge near DuPont.