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County inviting DNR to add 90-year restrictions
to state-owned aquatic lands
By Sharon Kivisto
posted 09/05/2007
San Juan County Council has asked the state Department of Natural Resources to consider including all state-aquatic lands in the county in the Aquatic Reserve Program. Under the program, sites are managed for environmental protection under 90-year management plans. David Palazzi, DNR Aquatic
90 Reserves Program (ARP) manager said, "In the case of San Juan County it's all sub-tidal lands and quite a bit of tidelands."
County Councilmember Rich Peterson was the only councilmember voting against sending a letter to DNR requesting the county be considered for the program. He noted DNR now manages the aquatic lands under multiple criteria. According to the DNR Website:
- Encouraging direct public use and access;
- Fostering water-dependent uses;
- Ensuring environmental protection;
- Utilizing renewable resources; and
- Generating revenue (when consistent with the other public benefits).
Palazzi appeared before the council at the Aug. 14, 2007 meeting after Peterson raised questions at a previous meeting about the program. Reading from the material about the Aquatic Reserve Program, Peterson noted the sole criteria is environmental protection. "Other public benefits may occur only if they meet the criteria. "We're really changing our philosophy by entering into the aquatic reserve, aren't we?"He said, "It seems like the focus is away from the public."
Palazzi said, "I like to think environmental benefits are public benefits." The Aquatic Reserve would provide an eco-system approach to management. The county's development of the Marine Stewardship Area was important. "You've done a lot of work to identify areas. The San Juan Initiative plays in real well," he said. British Columbia's Southern Straits of Georgia Marine Conservation Reserve is being established and "would fit in nicely." It goes along the north and west boundaries of San Juan County.
Peterson had read the entire 140+ page plan governing Maury Island and asked how such a plan would effect a marina in the county.
Palazzi said, "Overtime we would expect that whoever is there would improve their operation as best they can. We aren't
expecting them to remove their operation if it is a viable business." He said comparing a plan for a small island with what the plan will be for San Juan County is difficult.
"I can give you an example of what is going to happen to Quartermaster Marina. I don't know if any of you have been there. It is a small marina in Quartermaster Harbor. It has been there for quite some time," said Palazzi said. "They want to rebuild their marina so what we are doing is having them do is integrate aspects to improve their environmental impact. They are going to move their marina to deeper water so they're not impacting the intertidal zone so much. Steel pilings instead of creosote. They're going to have grading at their docks. They are doing the work at the time of the rebuild."
Two years ago, DNR indentified a list of priority sites around Puget Sound which included six in San Juan County. The Marine Resource Committee recommended the county council include the entire county to the DNR instead of a few areas.
Councilmember Kevin Ranker said, "We're talking about all of San Juan County, a pure ecosytem approach. Where we are looking at it, some of these areas most likely, and if I have anything to say will be, excluded. Creating areas that will be protected, other areas will be excluded. We're applying for the whole county to be recognized. The entire county goes through the planning process. We come out with a network of aquatic reserves in the San Juan archipelago. Other areas are clearly industrial and should be recognized as such."
The management plans are reviewed every 5 to ten years for adaptive management changes. Once the Aquatic Reserves Plan is in place, the only way to remove it is through the State Environmental Review Process SEPA process. SEPA is a state policy that requires state and local agencies to consider the likely environmental consequences of a proposal before approving or denying the proposal.
Councilmember Gene Knapp wanted to know who is the final decision maker. The answer was the Department of Natural Resources.
"We won't go anywhere with this unless the county's supportive of this," Palazzi said. "That goes without saying."
"At this stage and the final stage, "Ranker asked. For instance today the council says go ahead and then during the planning process something goes awry and the council says we don't like final plan."
Palazzi said," That will have a lot of weight with what happens in the commissioner's (Commissioner of Public Lands) eye I am sure."
The August 14 meeting included comments in support of the proposal from Peter Dederich of the National Park Service, Ken Sebens of UW FH Labs, Jacques White from The Nature Conservancy. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, People for Puget Sound and the Friends of the San Juans also support the proposal.
If the letter of intent is accepted, a proposal will be submitted by the end of the year. At some point during the process public hearings will be held. They have not yet been scheduled.
Council Approves First Step Toward Countywide
Aquatic Reserve
COUNTY PRESS RELEASE:
On August 14, the San Juan County Council authorized taking the first step that could
result in having the state owned aquatic lands in the county declared an aquatic reserve, but in doing
so some Council members expressed misgivings. If the process moves forward to completion, San
Juan County would become the largest single aquatic reserve in the state.
Advocates on the council, including Council Member Kevin Ranker, argued that winning an
aquatic reserve designation would give the county a voice in determining the preservation and
future development of the aquatic lands in San Juan County. Council Member Rich Peterson
withheld his support, expressing concern that the designation could result in restrictions on the
ability of San Juan Countians to use and enjoy state-owned
waters.
San Juan County Marine Resources Committee (MRC) Coordinator Mary Knackstedt told
the Council that the letter of intent she will file by August 31, as a result of the Council’s vote, is
only the beginning of the process, and promised that the Council will have several opportunities to
review and intervene before commitments are made.
David Palazzi, a environmental planner for the state Department of Natural Resources
(DNR), described the state’s Aquatic Reserve program as an “ecosystem approach” that can do
planning and coordinate activities based on how upland, shoreline, tidal systems and bedlands
interact and react to different uses and influences. Currently, he said, most of the programs deal with
different parts of the total system on a piecemeal basis.
Peterson questions county asking DNR for Aquatic Reserve status
posted 07/31/2007
At the request of Councilmember Rich Peterson, the county council has tabled until August 14 approval of a letter applying to the state Dept. of Natural Resources for inclusion of all of the state-owned aquatic land in the county in the Aquatic Reserves Program. Councilmember Bob Myhr asked Peterson, "Is your concern we don't know what we are getting into?"
Peterson answered affirmatively and also wanted to know how the program fit in with all of the other layers of marine environmental protection the county already has in place.
According to DNR's Web site: The Aquatic Reserves Program is part of Department of Natural Resources (DNR) efforts to promote preservation, restoration, and enhancement of state-owned aquatic lands—sites that benefit the health of native aquatic habitat and species in the state. DNR is to establish state Aquatic Reserves to protect important native ecosystems on state-owned aquatic lands throughout the state. These are to be aquatic lands of special educational or scientific interest, or lands of special environmental importance.
County Marine Resources Committee Coordinator Mary Knackstedt said, "One of the things is, we are pushing the envelope, We intend to submit the entire county (instead of specific sites). I asked DNR what they thought of idea. They hadn't received a nomination that large before." She told the council DNR seemed open to the idea.
Councilmember Kevin Ranker cautioned Peterson against "diving too deeply into the details". He said, "Our Marine Resource Committee has done its work. We should move on this."
"Even if it has more restrictions than we have now," Myhr said. "We need to keep it (county's marine environment) pristine. This is a step in that direction."
The Aquatic Reserves Program has three types of Reserves: environmental, educational and scientific. The MRC is recommending the county apply for all three types. If accepted into the program. The state-owned aquatic land would be evaluated on a site by site basis and a management plan would be developed for each site. More information is available on DNR's WEB SITE.
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