The Save Our Ferry group, a community organization trying to save the Anacortes to Sidney, B.C., ferry run, has been working hard to get the word out to residents that the run is vital to the region.

Those residents have been contacting their state legislators to gain support for the run, which is shut down in Gov. Christine Gregoire’s proposed biennium budget and the Washington State Ferries draft long-range plan.

And in turn, some of those representatives are making it clear to their fellow legislators how important the run is to not only the Northwest region but to the state.

The message is getting across.

“In this particular case I have to say probably more than any other ferry cut I’m familiar with in the past ... Sen. (Kevin) Ranker has kind of made it his mission one might say to really talk about the economic impact ... and timing from the standpoint of the impact of the Olympics,” said Sen. Chris Marr, a Spokane County Democrat who served on the Washington State Transportation Commission for seven years.

Ranker, a 40th District Democrat from San Juan Island, has also made it clear that the economic downturn has already hurt the local community, Marr said.

“The question is, do we want to exacerbate it at a time when there’s an opportunity to expand tourism travel?” he said.

That kind of response is welcome to SOF members as the ferry budget starts its way through the Legislature and the group steps up its lobbying efforts.

Rep. Mike Armstrong, a Wenatchee Valley Republican who worked for the Washington State Department of Transportation for 21 years, sees the value of the run as well.

“In times like this, this is when we need to have everything we can to provide some stimulus for the economy and shutting that ferry off is going to do just the opposite,” Armstrong said. “If we start closing ferries down, which are part of the highway system, where do we stop?”

Armstrong said the assumption that people in Eastern Washington don’t like the ferries couldn’t be further from the truth.

“I would hate to see that run canceled,” he said. “I know it’s tough times but we have an obligation I think to the folks who have built their lives around knowing that a ferry run is there.”

Marr said cuts could be made away from operations.

“I think the case has been made pretty clearly that although yes there does need to be some cuts within the ferry system we should not assume we start with, certainly not, those that aren’t economically justifiable,” he said.

Armstrong suggested looking at the transportation department as a whole for alternative ways to cut.

“I think there are some savings we should be looking at in other areas, other construction projects that maybe could be rethought a little bit,” he said. “Maybe have some savings in those projects to keep the rest of our highway system up and running.”

The transportation budget, decided separately from the state operating and capital budgets, was scheduled to be presented to the Senate Transportation Committee on Monday. The committee is required to write its own version based on the governor’s recommendations by March 2. The issue then goes to the House Transportation Committee for its rendering due April 6.

The revised version of WSF’s long-range plan was introduced to the Legislature on Saturday while the Senate Transportation Committee was set to discuss it along with the WSF Commission ferry survey during today’s work session.

“Unfortunately, but for the most part expected, the revised draft plan is virtually identical to the draft plan,” said Ferry Advisory Committee Chair Duane Clark in an e-mail to the SOF group. “Plan B is still there, including the elimination of the Anacortes/Sidney run and the reduction of service to the San Juans.”

To strengthen the SOF group’s chances of saving the run, lobbyist Mike Ryherd of Soren Northwest Inc. began working for the city in January under a three-month contract that will pay him $2,500 a month through donations from local businesses and organizations.

The tactic to use a lobbyist along with additional marketing resources will ensure the SOF group conducts an efficient and effective legislative campaign, said Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Mitch Everton in an e-mail to members last month.

Ryherd is the same lobbyist the city hired in 1997 during a previous attempt by the state to cancel the run.

“He did a great job for us,” said Mayor Dean Maxwell. “So much comes up on a daily basis at the capital, we can’t be there every day.”

That’s not to say they won’t be there some of the time. Visits to Olympia are already in the works for Maxwell, Everton and others with the SOF group.

Everton will be heading down Feb. 11 and is inviting other chamber members to join him for annual chamber day when representatives from throughout the state converge on the capital to meet with legislators.

Maxwell will join the Association of Washington Cities group in Olympia on Feb. 17.

Maxwell, Clark and Don Wick, Economic Development Association of Skagit County executive director, will go to Sidney Feb. 13. The Saanich Peninsula Chamber of Commerce invited the group for a community meeting facilitated by Mayor Larry Cross in its effort “to coordinate the Save Our Ferry effort from this side of the border,” said Eileen Leddy, the Saanich chamber executive director.

Clark hopes the meeting signals to Washington’s legislators Vancouver Island’s support for the international run.

A busload of people, organized by the SOF group, will go to Olympia, but probably not until later in the session to spread out the campaign, Everton said.

Everton said he wouldn’t be surprised if the session, scheduled to end April 26, extends into June, considering the complexities of the budget that must be finalized before the biennium begins July 1.

Sen. Marr said with the attention the Sidney run is getting and the strength of the argument, he doubts its elimination will be in the final budget.

“Of course things could always get worse in the budget, but I believe a credible case has been made for that not being an overall good economic decision for the state.”