Editor,

I applaud you, Barbara Bennett, for focusing our attention on preserving and enhancing Whidbey and Camano Island’s natural resources in a “Sound Off” dated Dec. 6. As a community, we sometimes need to be reminded of our stewardship of this beautiful place we all are lucky enough to call home.

We also need to be reminded that citizen input into the development of the new Comprehensive Plan is critical, as the 2025 Comp Plan is designed to reflect what the citizens of Island County “value”; and those “values” are intended to guide our decision making for the next 10 years. If we value our 200 miles of shoreline, our critically sensitive wetlands and habitat areas, our lakes and water quality, we must ensure that these values are embedded in the planning process for the 2025 Comp Plan.

To quote the current 2016 Comp Plan, “Natural resource systems should be conserved and preserved in recognition of the irreplaceable character of such resources, and their importance to the quality of life of residents, visitors and the future generations of Island County. Provisions should be made for natural resources to meet human needs throughout the County to protect them and enhance enjoyment and appreciation of the environment.”

Enjoyment of our natural resources is clearly evident, but I would add that our enjoyment is often experienced without appreciation and protection; falling short of the values embedded in our current Comp Plan.

As intended, the values embedded in the Comp Plan should be reflected in our county codes, ordinances and regulations; the county’s role is to plan, adhere to and enforce our values. This is where I think we fall short. We can ‘talk-the-talk’, but we really need to step up our “walk-the-walk.”

A couple of examples on the South End of Whidbey Island Deer Lagoon Preserve – passive recreation activities at Deer Lagoon enable visitors to enjoy the natural beauty of both the environment and the wildlife that feed, breed, and nest there. Activities beyond walking, reading, bird watching and photography and other similar low impact activities should be prohibited as they degrade the conservation and education value of the preserve. However, many detrimental recreational uses can be observed at Deer Lagoon on a daily basis, including watercraft, both motorized and non-motorized, kitesurfing, paddle boarding, kayaking and electric powered bikes.

South Whidbey has a number of beautiful county parks with easy shoreline access. Although existing county codes, written in the 1990s, prohibit the use of fireworks in county parks, the county has chosen to look the other way for 30 years — and thus, in effect, allowed fireworks in county parks. Consequently, hundreds of “fireworks tourists” flock to our county park beaches for their days-long 4th of July celebrations. Fireworks pollute the air and water, contaminate our critically sensitive environmental areas and the ‘booms’ disrupt the wildlife that feed, breed and nest there. The detrimental effects of fireworks activity are inconsistent with the values embedded in our current Comp Plan, and, in fact, in violation of our county codes.

I am hopeful that we will strive to go beyond developing a well-written and value-based natural resources section of the 2025 Comp Plan; implementation and enforcement of the plan are equally important. This is our home, we live, work and play here; we are the stewards of this environment.

Your voice is needed now – comments can be submitted to the Comp Plan via email at CompPan@islandcountywa.gov and directly to the commissioners at CommentBOCC@islandcountywa.gov.

Jackie Lasater

Freeland