Attend an Island County Open House on Comprehensive Planning

Island County is updating its comprehensive plan to guide growth in the county during the next 20 years. During an open house, the public can provide input on how and where growth should occur, and how their community may look in the future.

Participants in the open houses will learn more about the comprehensive plan, visit stations, talk with staff about specific elements, and provide input.

Meetings are scheduled at four times during the first two weeks of February, in locations including Camano, Langley, Coupeville, and Oak Harbor.

Say No to Sprawl in Rural Zones

Image from Futurewise

We joined Futurewise in their Connecting Communities campaign and traveled to Olympia last week, where WEAN Executive Director Marnie Jackson met with 10th Legislative District Representatives Dave Paul and Clyde Shavers to caution them of the threats posed by House Bill 2126. Read more from Steve Erickson, WEAN Founder, on the implications of passing these dangerous bills.

If passed, HB2126 and its companion bill, Senate Bill 6029, would allow detached ADUs (accessory dwelling units) to be added to every homesite in rural areas. This would increase urban sprawl, harm wildlife, farmland, and wetlands, and open Washington's real estate market up to speculative development by investors.

HB2126 goes to a floor vote tomorrow and it's vital to act now. For more on this issue and these bills, please read Futurewise's summary document.

This is a time sensitive issue. Please contact your legislators today!

Sound Waters University This Saturday

Image from Sound Water Stewards

Are you curious about the health of our seas, the impact of climate change, whales, and salmon habitat, or the status of seastars? Attend Sound Waters University (SWU) this Saturday, February 3rd, to learn more about this year's theme: You, Me, and the Salish Sea: Responding to a Sea of Change.

Celebrate 30 years of Sound Waters University with in-person classes, field trips, and more!

WEAN is one of dozens of organizations sponsoring Sound Waters University, an educational program and fundraiser for Sound Water Stewards. Stop by our table and say hi during SWU.

Comment on Shoreline Management by February 6

Notice of public hearing: Proposed Shoreline Master Program Updates

The Island County Board of Commissioners will meet February 6, 2024, at 10 am for a public hearing on proposed Shoreline Master Program updates. The Board will hear from the public concerning the proposed updates in person or via phone or video. You can also email public comments. 

If we are to preserve the health and the marine character of our Islands under threat of sea level rise, we have a particular imperative to preserve and expand the resilience of the dynamic habitat between sea and land through smart policies and activities.

Our Executive Director listened in on the BOCC's January 16th discussion on shoreline development and the Shoreline Management Plan and was disconcerted by what sounded like an intention to allow shoreline development that goes against recommendations from the Department of Ecology and our county’s Marine Resources Committee. Those recommendations are based on sound science and designed to minimize risks of tidal inundation of homes and the associated environmental and human health risks. We wonder how avoiding language in our Shoreline Management Plan that compels us to follow these recommendations complies with Island County's Health in All Policies resolution. The HiAP is our Commissioners' promise to consider health implications in all policymaking.

The Washington State Shoreline Management Act, to which we are legally bound, lays out that it is the state’s policy to “ensure the development of shorelines is done in a manner that will promote and enhance the public interest, and to protect against adverse effects to the public health, the land and its vegetation and wildlife, and the waters of the state and their aquatic life”. We might be treading in ethically and legally precarious territory if we were to attempt to ignore the state’s guidance on responsible shoreline uses, which is based on best available coastal and climate science data.

We ask Island County's Commissioners to hold to their promise to consider Health in all policies as they adopt a Shoreline Management Plan that supports us to restore and protect dynamic shoreline habitat while keeping humans safer from flooding by setting development back from the shore. 

Victory for Washington's Wolves

On January 14th, Governor Jay Inslee ordered the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission to develop rules to regulate when the state can use taxpayer funds to kill wolves in response to livestock conflicts.

Inslee’s order comes in response to the appeal by Washington Wildlife First, the Center for Biological Diversity, and nine other wildlife advocacy organizations of the October 28, 2023 decision by the Commission to deny the group’s rulemaking petition seeking greater accountability, transparency, and clarity concerning decisions made to kill state endangered gray wolves.

Read more about this victory.