Regulations won’t go unchallenged, WEAN vows

Environmental activists plan to challenge Island County in the Western Washington Growth Management Hearing Board again if major changes aren’t made to fish, wildlife and habitat regulations.

By Janis Reid • September 6, 2014 10:00 am

Environmental activists plan to challenge Island County in the Western Washington Growth Management Hearing Board again if major changes aren’t made to fish, wildlife and habitat regulations.

“We don’t have any choice,” said Marianne Edain of the Whidbey Environmental Action Network, or WEAN.

Commissioners plan to review and possibly approve a final draft of the county’s Critical Areas Ordinance under the state-mandated Fish and Wildlife Habitat Conservation Areas update.

WEAN said the county’s latest draft falls short of their court-mandated need to update environmental protections.

A Thurston County judge agreed with WEAN earlier this year that the county’s two ordinances dealing with wetlands on farmland must be revised. The lawsuit was originally filed in 2006.

County leadership said they disagreed with the ruling, but opted not to appeal and focus on addressing the issues during the fish and wildlife update this year.

While friction between farmers’ rights and environmental protections has been a key debate during the update process, WEAN said the county is avoiding the intention of the Growth Management Act.

“They’re failing the GMA,” said Steve Erickson, also of WEAN. “The county is continuing its long tradition of putting in the bare minimum protections and hoping it will squeak by.”

The group initially challenged the county’s treatment of wetlands on farmland back in 2000 and won. The Hearings Board agreed in that case that a county ordinance exempting all agriculture from wetland protection was contrary to the GMA.

Among WEAN’s top concerns with the county’s Critical Areas Ordinance, in addition to the protection of wetlands in agricultural areas, is the protection of prairie remnants, which Erickson said is among the rarest habitats in North America.

“They’re considered probably the most endangered habitat in Western Washington and the county is refusing to protect it,” Erickson said.

WEAN would also like to see the county create a protective designation for plant habitats and place a priority on the protection of the endangered Western Toad.

“The only way the county is going to protect the environment is if they are ordered to,” Erickson said.

WEAN has 60 days from the publication date of the updated ordinance to file a challenge with the hearing’s board.