By Tim Binnall
For the second year in a row, a county in Washington state has declared itself a refuge for Sasquatch after being lobbied by a class of fifth graders. The brainchild of teacher Andrea Andrews of the Lincoln Elementary School in the city of Holquiam, the unique civics lesson saw her students research the famed cryptid and then pen a letter to a local government body in which they argue that the creature needs to be "recognized and protected." In 2022, her class convinced the Grays Harbor County Board of Commissioners to unanimously pass a resolution wherein the county was decreed to be just such a Sasquatch "refuge area." Based on that success, Andrews brought the lesson back this year in the hopes of extending their efforts.
The 2023 installment of the project reportedly culminated earlier this month at a meeting of the Clallam County Commissioners wherein Andrews' class appeared before the board via Zoom and made the case for Bigfoot. In response, local officials passed a resolution observing that "legends, sightings, research, investigation" and recognition by other municipalities "support the notion that Sasquatch exists." The proclamation goes on to posit that if Bigfoot exists, then "it is likely an endangered species" by virtue of the sparsity of sightings and, as such, the creature should to be protected.
With that in mind, the board officially declared the county to be "a refuge for Sasquatch" and requested that all citizens recognize the creature's newfound protected status. While the resolution may not be legally binding in the sense that there is no specific punishment for any ne'er-do-wells who may somehow harm Bigfoot, the proclamation provided the fifth graders with a valuable lesson on local government. To that end, Andrews celebrated her students' success by marveling that "my class did it again. 5th graders are saving Sasquatch, one county at a time."