Point No Point to Deception Pass: A little patch of nature worth fighting for

Published 1:30 am Saturday, June 20, 2026

The tree huggers were out in force in Langley on a recent Monday afternoon. A hundred or so of them paraded along Cascade Avenue from the library over to an old house and weedy lot that is being planned for development. Controversy over development in this town is nothing new. There is an even larger scale development over on Coles Road that has residents equally aroused.

The lot on Cascade in another era might have easily been built upon, as envisioned by the owners, with little or no controversy. But we live in a time when a great many people are deeply disturbed by the degradation of our natural environment. The coral reefs are dying. More plant and animal species than ever, mainly due to human activities, are endangered or threatened with extinction. News of the losses reach us on a daily basis, and we often feel powerless to do anything about it.

And then some, perhaps very nice family, proposes to extend the asphalt drive and erect a convenience store and a gas station on a little patch of land that has been given over to wildlife for decades, right on the edge of downtown Langley. The acre lot has supported a healthy population of birds, deer, rabbits, squirrels and, no doubt, rats and mice, along with a variety of native and non-native vegetation, including cherry, apple, hazelnut, rowan and cedar trees, blackberry, salmonberry and rhododendron bushes and native and non-native grasses and flowering plants.

They may not be able to save the whales dying from starvation near our shores this spring, or the amphibians dying in marshes worldwide as pesticides and other pollutants from agricultural and industrial activities run off the lands they were intended for. But, by God, they can maybe save a little wildlife habitat on a modest lot in their hometown from environmental destruction. And so, there they were, out in force, prior to a city council meeting in which a proposed moratorium on such development would be voted on, to give the city time to maybe sort out some of the issues involved in this latest controversy over a development.

As I mentioned, I can feel a bit bad for the family that wanted to do this project. They obviously didn’t have a very good sense of the environment, physically, historically, culturally, socially and maybe even economically here in Langley, when they wrote up their proposal. So naive. They must have thought that Langley was some ordinary town, with ordinary citizens, who would welcome businesses that can increase the economic prosperity of its people, providing jobs and adding new services and amenities to their small town.

Little did they know that the town is a raging hot bed of liberal discontent. Rumor has it that out of eleven hundred voters, a thousand of them voted for the Democrat in the last presidential election. Just a few weeks ago, most of this same crowd that came out for the council meeting, came out for the celebration of the completion of a 14-unit, new public private affordable housing project over on Second Street. What they were celebrating was housing for modest income working families that are the real foundation of this community’s economic life. They were particularly pleased that the new housing would never be subject to the whims of laissez faire capitalism. The nonprofit owners could see to it that these houses remained forever more affordable.

This little town is not everyone’s cup of tea. I get it. But for those who call it home, it is a little corner of a big world mostly beyond their control, where they get to mostly call the shots, and they readily make their voices heard when something doesn’t quite suit their tastes.

I can barely begin to try and predict what may eventually get built on this plot of land. It may be a few more affordable housing units, lord knows they are desperately needed here. It may be a new shop that fits in well with the commercial atmosphere of the town with its many handcrafted items, artworks, specialty foods, and the like. Or it may be a center for the promotion of backyard wildlife sanctuaries. Featuring educational displays about how to create a garden that supports native plant pollinators such as bees and butterflies. A place where tourists and school groups come for educational programs and play. What I don’t think that it will be is a gas station and convenience store with a new extension of Third Street out to Cascade Avenue. No, that is just too hard a sell to this community.