(1) GMA Goals. Encourage the involvement of citizens in the planning process and ensure coordination between communities and jurisdictions to reconcile conflicts.

Identify and encourage the preservation of lands, sites, and structures, that have historical or archaeological significance.

(2) Watershed Goals. Promote stewardship by residents, decision makers, visitors, and agencies in the Port Angeles watershed.

Protect beneficial uses of water from nonpoint sources of pollution, including the effects of pathogens, chemicals, sediment, and nutrients on both surface and ground water resources.

Ensure cooperation and coordination in resource management.

(3) Public Involvement. In the past, public involvement and education have often been viewed as luxuries that can only be carried out if staff time and budget permit. Or, they have been conducted only to satisfy the requirements of the law. Used correctly, however, public involvement and education are important strategies which can lead to more workable and lasting answers to local problems – answers that are arrived at with the help of a well-informed citizenry, through a process that goes well beyond the “one-way” communication of traditional public hearings. The Port Angeles Plan contains policies to foster effective public participation. The Plan provides for official recognition of neighborhood-based organizations. These organizations will be notified of Comprehensive Plan modifications, zone changes and development projects which could affect their neighborhoods. Official notification will allow local residents to be positively involved at an early stage in any change which could impact them. Proponents of change or development will be encouraged to work with neighborhood groups to reach mutually acceptable proposals.

Since nonpoint source pollution stems largely from human activity, watershed plans call for ongoing efforts to change people’s understanding and behavior The nonpoint rule requires public education measures in all pollution control strategies, and Clallam County recognizes that education is the most cost effective approach to pollution prevention. Because education and public involvement are closely linked, these activities are discussed together in this section.

With activism on the rise and the public’s increased understanding of the effect of environmental, land use, and transportation issues, citizen involvement starts way before final testimony at a public hearing. Effective citizen participation, whether by mandate or choice, expands the opportunities for citizens to discuss public policy and influence officials.

(4) Historical and Cultural Resources of Native Americans and other Residents of Clallam County. Native and non-native Americans in Clallam County are interested in preserving their history and culture. Historical and cultural resources include structures, landscapes, objects and areas with significance, some of which may not be physically apparent or measurable. Cultural resources have both a physical and social dimension, and are not limited to historical associations. Cultural resources connect special places, natural resources, and historic properties with the ongoing cultural practices of specific groups.

The tie between a resource and its cultural context defines why a resource should be preserved and which characteristics of the resource are most important to protect. Culture itself is a living, evolving process, and cultural resources traditionally identified by the tribes and others include regions, specific sites and landscapes where features are imbued with scenic, spiritual or mythological meanings.

Traditional cultural resources need to be defined, regarded and protected through a formalized procedure similar to that currently used to identify and protect archaeological and historical resources. Clallam County should expand and update its surveys of historic and cultural resources and use this inventory when evaluating the impacts of land use decisions.

The Lower Elwha S’Klallam Tribe exists as a sovereign government within what is now known as Clallam County, and is committed to helping identify and protect the region’s cultural resources. The Lower Elwha S’Klallam Tribe also desires to build an effective government to government relationship with Clallam County, based on collaboration and mutual respect.