Councilors on the Clark County Council agreed Nov. 5 to direct staff to send a letter to the county's legislative delegation asking lawmakers to restore funding needed to keep Skamania Fish Hatchery open.

The request stems from reductions the county says were applied to the hatchery in the state budget. Jordan, a county staff member who drafted the letter at council direction, told the council the document would ask the delegation to backfill the difference between what the legislature appropriated and the amount the hatchery needs to remain operational.

"It looks straightforward what we requested," Councilor Little said after reviewing the draft. Little noted the request follows the council's earlier conversations with the legislative delegation and that the county was the only region to experience that particular cut.

Council members had no substantive edits on the letter during the meeting and expressed support for sending it. The chair said staff should proceed to transmit the letter to the delegation; council recorded consensus support via thumbs up rather than a formal roll-call vote.

Staff said they will forward the final letter to council once any minor edits are incorporated and will pursue legislative support for restoring the funding.