Hunters can get ready, take aim and fire on controversial parts of Island County’s off-road trails system once the commissioners adopt regulations.
The decision to allow hunting was announced at Monday’s meeting of the Island County commissioners, much to the dismay of several members of the audience who were against hunting in certain areas.
Statements by the commissioners suggested there is unanimous consent that hunting should be regulated but allowed in the Kettles Trail area of Central Whidbey, the Deer Lagoon area of South Whidbey, and the Camano Ridge area of Camano Island.
The commissioners added one other area where hunting will be allowed: the Goss Lake Woods area of South Whidbey, which had not been included in two well-attended public hearings on the hunting issue. “We totally overlooked Goss Lake Woods,†said Commissioner Mike Shelton.
No public testimony was taken at Monday’s meeting. That had been done earlier this month in hearings in Coupeville and Camano Island, where the majority of speakers were against hunting.
After Monday’s meeting, hunting opponents expressed surprised at the commissioners’ decision.
“It surprised me because of all the public input opposing hunting the trails,†said Darcy Patterson of Oak Harbor, a board member of the Island County Trails Council. The council had taken a position against allowing hunting in the Kettles Trails area, between Highway 20 and Fort Ebey State Park, arguing that hunting doesn’t mix with other uses such as hiking, jogging and bicycling.
“It really amazes me,†Patterson said, adding that she left the commissioners’ meeting “in shock, in disbelief . . . and now they want to add Goss Lake Woods to the list of huntable properties.â€
Dave Haworth, a property owner at Useless Bay near Deer Lagoon, also lambasted the commissioners’ decision to allow hunting there. “We are investigating legal action,†he said. “We’ll pursue it if they vote to proceed.â€
Duck hunting season opened last weekend in Deer Lagoon, resulting in a number of complaints to the Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Mike Hawley later told the commissioners he wants to be involved in regulating any hunting in the trail areas from the beginning.
In an e-mail he stated, “As you are well aware, I am not against hunting per se, but with my office’s limited resource, I am certain that the public would prefer us arresting drug dealers and burglars, rather than chasing birdwatchers and joggers off footpaths.â€
Haworth said the idea of purchasing Deer Lagoon with a combination of federal, state and local funds was “to make it a park.†Allowing hunting, he said, amounts to “malfeasance†on the part of the commissioners.
Commissioner Mac McDowell cited the long history of hunting in Island County and his desire that public resources be shared as his reasons for supporting hunting. Even with hunting, non-hunters will have the trails 80 percent of the time, he said, due to the limited hunting seasons.
“I don’t want to be melodramatic,†McDowell said, before going on to warn against “they tyranny of the majority where the minority shouldn’t have rights any more.†It seemed to be an acknowledgment that most of those who testified at the hearings were against hunting.
Mike Shelton said the decision was an effort “to strike some sort of a balance,†and emphasized that “public property is exactly that – to deny use to some taxpayers doesn’t make any sense to me.â€
Commissioner Bill Byrd said, “I do support hunting, but it’s not an either-or resolution.â€
In fact, the commissioners did not adopt either of the two resolutions that went to public hearing, one of which would have ruled out hunting on the Kettles Trails.
Shelton said the changes being contemplated are so significant that a new ordinance will have to be written, which will again go to public hearing for comments.
The new ordinance will include rules regulating hunting in all of the areas discussed. But, as things stood on Monday, hunting will be allowed to some extent in all of them. Work on the new ordinance will begin today, Oct. 19, during a staff session.
