Wednesday afternoon, May 10, 2017, Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) will visit Lopez Community Land Trust, a non-profit that works to provide affordable housing, sustainable agriculture, and other dynamic rural development programs. Larsen will hear from leadership about federal funding challenges for affordable housing and tour one of their projects. Last August, Larsen toured San Juan Community Land Trusts’ Sun Rise Neighborhood which also serves low income families.

Larsen will meet with San Juan County Public Works staff and tour the proposed Mackaye Harbor Road Relocation project at Agate Park. Mackay Harbor Road is the only road access to the county park, the San Juan Islands National Monument at Iceberg Point and private landowners and is currently threatened by bluff erosion due to tide and storms.

He will then join the Lopez community in the Watmough Beach Seine and to help pull in nets, sort fish and see what local Chinook have been eating. Surround by the San Juan Islands National Monument, this event is part of the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project, which aids in salmon recovery and sustainable fisheries.

Finally, Larsen will meet local leaders of Friends of the National Monument to discuss local efforts to preserve San Juan Islands National Monument which Larsen successfully fought to designate in 2013. This visit comes after the Trump administration’s recent executive order reviewing National Monument designations.