Ecology seeking public comments on Grays Harbor County's proposed shoreline program

Grays Harbor County's proposed updated shoreline master program designed to
help protect, guide shoreline uses along Grays Harbor estuary.

We are seeking public comments until Monday, Dec. 3, about significant revisions that Grays Harbor County is seeking to make to its shoreline master program (SMP)—the locally-tailored set of land use policies and regulations designed to protect and guide how the county will develop, restore, and preserve more than 1,200 miles of marine and freshwater shorelines in and around:

• Grays Harbor estuary
• Pacific Ocean coastline
• Numerous rivers and streams including the Chehalis, Hoquiam, Humptulips, North, Satsop, and Wynoochee rivers.
• Six lakes including Wynoochee Lake

Grays Harbor County last amended its SMP in 1991. The proposed updated master program will replace the county’s current SMP. It is designed to:

• Prioritize water-oriented uses and development in Grays Harbor County.
• Provide for public access to public waters and shorelines.
• Support restoration actions consistent with the county’s shoreline restoration plan.
• Incorporate critical area regulations to ensure environmentally-sensitive areas within the county’s shoreline jurisdiction are protected.

Draft review documents available online or by appointment

The draft documents currently out for review and comment are available electronically through our website. Paper copies are also available for review, by appointment, at Ecology:

Washington Department of Ecology

Southwest Regional Office

300 Desmond Drive

Lacey, WA 98504

To arrange a time, please contact Ecology’s Kim Van Zwalenburg. Her phone number is (360) 407-6520.

The documents are also available by appointment at the county:

Grays Harbor County
Department of Public Services - Planning and Building Division

100 West Broadway, Suite 31

Montesano, WA 98563

To schedule an appointment, please contact Jane Hewitt at Grays Harbor County. Her phone number is (360) 249-4222

How to submit comments by Dec. 3

Comments only need to be provided once before the Dec. 3 deadline. While we prefer public comments be submitted through our online comment form, we also will accept comments by mail sent to:

Kim Van Zwalenburg

Washington Department of Ecology

Southwest Regional Office

PO Box 47775

Olympia, WA 98504-7775

Next steps

After the public comment period closes Dec. 3, Ecology will compare Grays Harbor's proposed SMP to the requirements of the state Shoreline Management Act and Shoreline Master Program Guidelines. Based on the comparison, we will decide whether to:

• Approve Grays Harbor County’s proposed SMP as is.
• Approve the revised SMP with recommended changes.
• Send the proposed SMP back to the county with required changes to meet statutory and rule requirements. Recommended changes may also be included with the required changes.

Ecology approves Pierce County's revised shoreline master program

Pierce County's updated shoreline master program will protect and guide

shoreline uses in the county, including these shores on the south end of Key Peninsula.

Photo courtesy Hugh Shipman.

 

On Oct. 12, we approved Pierce County’s updated shoreline master program (SMP), the first comprehensive revision to the county’s master program since 1975.

Pierce County’s locally-tailored land-use policies and regulations will protect and guide the use of 225 miles of marine and 880 miles of freshwater shoreline in the county, including the shorelines around or along:

• Anderson, Fox, and McNeil islands in Puget Sound
• The Tacoma Narrows
• Portions of Key and Gig Harbor peninsulas
• Chambers, Clover, and Spanaway creeks
• Carbon, Nisqually, Puyallup, and White Rivers
• Lake Tapps

The county’s revised SMP:

• Protects the county’s environmental resources in its shoreline areas for future generations.
• Provides for public access to public waters and shorelines.
• Plans for water-dependent uses such as aquaculture, maritime and boating activities, and shoreline recreation.

Pierce County's updated SMP takes effect Oct. 26, unless the joint local-state decision is appealed to the state Growth Management Hearings Board.

Protecting our shorelines for public and environmental benefits

This week, the Department of Ecology formally revised the state procedural rules for managing marine and freshwater shorelines.

It’s all part of the state Shoreline Management Act, which was adopted by voters in 1972. The overarching goal of the act is to prevent the inherent harm in an uncoordinated and piecemeal development of the state’s shorelines.

Under it, cities and counties are required to periodically review their land-use policies and regulations governing shoreline uses within their jurisdiction. These locally tailored shoreline master programs (SMPs) are adopted and approved by each local government and Ecology.

Local governments helped us revise the rules and we also factored in comments we received from the public. The updated rules:

• Define procedures for counties and cities to comply with a legislative requirement to periodically review local master programs on a repeating eight-year cycle. The first round of reviews are due in June 2019 for jurisdictions in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties.
• Outline a new optional process cities and counties can use for amending SMPs that reduces duplication by consolidating local and state comment periods.
• Incorporate recent state laws and adopt other “housekeeping” changes.

For more information about the revised SMP rules, please contact our senior shoreline planner, Tim Gates.

McCleary’s first shoreline master plan proposal ready for public input

The first of anything only happens once. So, here’s your chance to get in on the ground floor and comment on the first Shoreline Master Plan proposal for the City of McCleary. Public comments are open now through Sept. 26, 2016. The proposal addresses uses and development on Wildcat Pond and a small segment of the shorelands associated with Mox Chehalis Creek. If approved, the proposal would meet the requirements of the Shoreline Management Act and the Shoreline Master Program Guidelines. 

What’s a Shoreline Master Program?

Shoreline Master Programs are local plans developed by cities and counties to manage shoreline use. These local programs protect natural resources for future generations, provide for public access to public waters and shores and plan for shoreline uses and development.

City of McCleary’s shoreline plan

McCleary’s new shoreline program establishes vegetative buffers to accommodate existing development, reflects the city’s underlying zoning, and references a restoration plan that identifies potential projects for future restoration efforts. To schedule a time to read paper copies of the proposal, contact the City of McCleary or Ecology Regional Planner Kim Van Zwalenburg at the address below.

All comments should be sent to Kim Van Zwalenburg. There are four ways to do it:

By email:             kim.vanzwalenburg@ecy.wa.gov

By mail:                Southwest Regional Office

                              PO Box 47775
                              Olympia, WA 98504-7600

In person:            300 Desmond Drive
                              Lacey, WA 98503

By phone:            360-407-6520

Ecology must receive comments no later than 5 p.m. on Sept. 26, 2016.

Comment summaries and the city’s response will be posted to the City of McCleary Shoreline Master Program page on Ecology’s website.

By: Dave Bennett, Southwest Region communications manager

Water’s Edge: Planning for salmon farms

Science and the law leads the way in regulating salmon net pens

By Cedar Bouta, shoreline environmental planner

Alevin (newly hatched salmon) with yolk sac.
Photo: PNW Salmon Center.

Washingtonians are passionate about our salmon. We give smoked salmon as presents and take visitors to the Pike Place Market for salmon tossing. We also use images of them on beer, t-shirts and other products. In addition, native peoples harvest and consume wild salmon as an important part of their cultures.

Our conversations about wild versus farmed salmon are passionate too.

That’s why the University of Washington’s Northwest Environmental Forum sponsored a March 22-23 gathering that brought together about 65 stakeholders with differing perspectives about commercial salmon farming in Washington. The forum was a success in bringing together parties who – although on opposite sides of lawsuits or with differing points of view – were willing to come, learn and listen.

The forum highlighted:

• The stakeholders’ shared commitment to a healthy marine environment, recovery of native salmon, and local jobs.
• A growing demand for seafood and the health benefits of eating more salmon.
• The complex oversight provided by local, state and federal permits and authorizations for commercial fish farms.
• A need for more sharing of science and other information about Washington’s existing fish farms.

Commercial salmon net pens near Bainbridge Island, Washington. 

The state of salmon in Washington

Salmon are part of our state’s legacy. Washington has a coordinated, scientifically-rigorous recovery plan spearheaded by the Puget Sound Partnership to ensure wild salmon are part of Washington’s future. The plan contains programs and projects designed to restore native salmon runs and protect endangered and threatened stocks.

Many of the stakeholders represented at the March net pen forum have contributed to salmon recovery in Puget Sound and are working towards addressing urban runoff and other threats.

Feeding a seafood-hungry world

As committed as we are to our native salmon, forum participants learned that our hunger for seafood is growing and imported, farmed salmon is filling the gap. During the years 2000-2004, Americans consumed an average of about 284,000 metric tons (more than 617 million pounds) of salmon annually, of which approximately:

One-third of salmon consumed was wild and two-thirds was farmed.
One-third was domestic production (farmed and wild) and two-thirds was imported.

From January 2015 through March 2016, over 27 million pounds of fresh and frozen Atlantic salmon were imported from other countries through the Port of Seattle. This was almost twice as much as the annual production of commercial salmon farms in Washington.

Forum participants also learned that salmon aquaculture is one of the most resource-efficient sources of ways to produce protein.

Science leads the way, learning more about net pens

Ecology regulates net pen operations, like this one in
Port Angeles, through water quality permits
and shoreline master programs.

We have information describing our current approach to shoreline planning and commercial salmon net pens on our website. We also have video of scientific presentations and an expert panel discussing net pen operations, fish health, escapement, genetics, water quality and management tools.

Ecology will continue to let science and the law lead the way – adapting our findings and requirements as needed. Working together, we and other stakeholders can ensure commercial net pens do not put wild salmon recovery at risk.

Learn more about Ecology’s role
with net pens on our website.

Share your thoughts on Pierce County's shoreline plan

We want your comments on the Pierce County Shoreline Master Program. Join us Wednesday evening for an open house and public hearing to share your thoughts on the county shoreline plan.

Shoreline Master Programs help us plan to use our shorelines responsibly.

What's a Shoreline Master Program?

Shoreline Master Programs are local plans developed by cities and counties to manage shoreline use. These local programs protect natural resources for future generations, provide for public access to public waters and shores, and plan for shoreline uses and development.

Pierce County's shoreline plan

Pierce County's long-awaited shoreline plan is ready for your review and comment. The public comment period started March 15 and will run through April 29.

Public comment period: 

March 15 to April 29

Last year, Pierce County locally approved its shoreline plan for managing more than 700 miles of county shoreline, including all waters along Puget Sound, numerous lakes and rivers, and associated wetlands within the county. They then submitted their plan to Ecology for review and approval.

Join the open house

Learn more and comment in person at tomorrow's open house:

When	Wednesday, March 30, 2016 Open house starts at 5 p.m. Public hearing starts at 6:30 p.m.
Where	Pacific Lutheran University Chris Knutzen Hall 12598 Park Avenue South Tacoma, Washington 98447

Your input will help us as we decide to either approve the county's Shoreline Master Program as it is written, or request changes before it can be approved.

Learn more, review the draft plan and submit your comments online at http://bit.ly/PierceSMP.

Updating the county’s shoreline plan

This proposed Shoreline Master Program is the first comprehensive update to the county’s shoreline plan since 1975. If adopted, it will completely replace the existing program with updated goals, policies, regulations, shoreline environment designations, definitions and administrative procedures.

The new plan will advance shoreline habitat protection while guiding county planning for new development and public access.

Learn about shoreline planning on our Shoreline Master Program webpage.

By: Jessica Payne, Shorelands program communications manager