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| Steve McLaughlin - Public Lands Commissioner candidate for Washington State |
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SteveMcLaughlinForWAStatePublicLandsCommissioner
Website: http://www.mac4lands.org/
LCI Exclusive: Steve McLaughlin, candidate for WA State Public Lands Commissioner
Part 1: Introduction
LCI Exclusive: Steve McLaughlin, candidate for WA State Public Lands Commissioner
Part 2: How to Maintain Forests and Safety in WA
Steve has over 35 years of leadership experience through the NAVY and more. Steve plans on protecting the land and repair/manage the forests in WA. He explains how fires for many firefighters and other public servants have been injured because of the desperate need to maintain WA forests. McLaughlin is going to be on top of it.
LCI Exclusive: Steve McLaughlin, candidate for WA State Public Lands Commissioner
Part 3: Working Directly to Solve Issues
Steve wants a "no penalty audit" (unless criminal negligence is found) of our State Trusts and the Department of Natural Resources in order to know what adjustments need to be made, along with collaboration with stake holders. He wants to do this directly, rather than through long drawn out processes as he describes in the video.
LCI Exclusive: Steve McLaughlin, candidate for WA State Public Lands Commissioner
Part 4: Specifics, Plans, Listening to the People and More
After interviewing Steve, a lot of insight in the role of the Public Lands Commissioner for WA is explained in a way that makes sense to everyone who may have been confused before. The amount of trust this position has is critical to the state of Washington. To learn even more and follow updates from McLaughlin, be sure to visit the website and like the Facebook page.
Lastly, take a look at Steve's biography from the Facebook page below. Much thanks to Steve and his team for giving the Liberty Chronicle Independent the opportunity to speak with him and learn more about Washington State.
Steve McLaughlin
- For WA State Public Lands Commission er
I was born in WashingtonState and I’m a third generation native of the Pacific Northwest. After graduating from the University of Oregon with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and Public Health, I enlisted in the Navy where I honorably served for over 25 years in a variety of leadership roles including command. I participat ed in numerous operations and conflicts including, Bosnia, Somalia, DESERT STORM and the Global War on Terror. In my final Navy job, I served as the Executive Officer, Naval Station Everett. During that tour, I was a key player in the Snohomish County Homeland Security Strategy Committee. Most importantl y, I proudly initiated an effort to help preserve one of the last tracts of lower Puget trough old growth Forest by naming the forest after Navy Forester, Walter Briggs, who saved this beautiful tract.
Record of my military service is fully disclosed.
More recently, I work as the Critical Infrastructure Protection Business area manager for Sound & Sea Technology , in Lynnwood, WA. In this role, I serve Project and Program Manager on a variety of military and private sector security design and installati on projects. I was also contracted by Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management and the Washington State Region I Urban Area Security Initiative to deliver incident command courses to hundreds of firefighte rs, police officers, sheriff deputies, park rangers and other public officials in Snohomish, Island, Skagit, San Juan and Okanogan Counties. These experience s have been most rewarding.
As a continued service to our state, I am the founding President of Liberty Watch of Washington. Liberty Watch was founded as a non-partis an organizati on dedicated to preserving the rights and freedoms of all Washington ians as well as providing relief services to our citizens affected by disaster. Our first relief effort was to provide comfort to the citizens of Oso and Darrington following the devastatin g landslide. During the fires across Eastern Washington in 2014 and 2015, Liberty Watch sent teams to the region to help rebuild burnt homes, clear debris and install fencing. We later received a short notice request to raise and distribute relief supplies to residents who lost their homes to fires. In seven days, we collected over 30 tons of much needed supplies and our teams delivered these supplies directly into the hands of those in need. This effort led to the formation of Liberty Disaster Relief Services, or LDRS. As Executive Director of LDRS, I am preparing our teams to provide relief response to all corners of the State and beyond. Our goal is to keep our donation to delivery rate at close to 100%.
I hold a PSC from the Royal Naval College in London and a MA (with distinction) in National Security and Strategic Studies from the United States Naval War College. I live in Seabeck, Washington and my wife, Julia is the Athletic Director for Naval Base Kitsap. Between us, we have five children and three grandchild ren. I am a lifelong mountainee r and climber as well as hunter and fisherman. I look forward to serving all the people of Washington as your Commission er of Public Lands.
Affiliations:
REI: #222401!! I’m getting close!!
American Alpine Club
National Rifle Association
Rotary Club (inactive)
My Vision
Lands and natural resources managementin Washington State will be the national model for state lands management through our efforts to provide balanced solutions to all of the issues affecting the management of our public lands and land trust. In doing so, I will work with citizens from ALL sides to evaluate issues to provide intelligen t, well balanced solutions to ensure increased revenues for our schools, create jobs, to protect our environmen t and to provide for abundant recreation to our residents and tourists.
My Strategies
1. I will examine all issues affecting our public lands and focus on measures to ensure abundant revenue generationand distributi on; improved forest practices to both protect the environmen t and create jobs; streamline firefighti ng strategies to prevent the disasters of 2014 and 2015 from happening again. I will include stakeholde rs from all sides of issues in my examinatio n to ensure a balanced way forward. Everything is on the table!
2. I will conduct an internal review of Departmentof Natural Resources Policies and practices with an eye toward ensuring the goals set forth in my vision statement are attained. I will work as a servant leader to assure the employees of the department are able to do their jobs in a productive manner to best serve the people of Washington .
3. The findings of the stakeholder study and internal department review will be synthesize d to a roadmap for full implementa tion. I will do my best to make the best possible decisions for the good of our lands and for the people of Washington State.
My Priorities
1. Create jobs for the people of Washingtonthrough timber harvests to return our forests to a state of health; re-open access to public lands for recreation , grazing, mining and logging; and most importantl y, by fulfilling our obligation to distribute State Trust revenues to the counties of our state. This will be accomplish ed while protecting our environmen t, wildlife and water resources.
2. Ensure the Departmentof Natural Resources and my office rapidly fulfill our obligation to generate revenues and provide those earnings to the people of Washington .
3. Streamlinefirefighti ng practices to prevent future conflagrat ions. This effort includes a thorough review of forest practices to enhance forest health.
4. Ensure the employees of the DNR have the tools they need to serve the people of Washington.
This contribution is from Seattle-based independent journalist, David Malekar, Independent Associate Editor for the Liberty Chronicle Independent; who publishes content to the WashCo Chronicle and other online publications.…And finally,
I love our region. In my travels around the world, there is no place I would rather live. I want to preserve our lands so my grandchildren can have the benefit of experienci ng what I have during my life here.
