Prevent irreparable harm to San Juan County shorelines and the Salish Sea.

In November, the San Juan County Council in Washington State released its first public review draft of the proposed update to the existing Shoreline Master Program with a minimal review period over the Thanksgiving holiday, and no opportunity for public dialogue with the Council.

The proposed changes have the potential to irreparably harm the shoreline environment. One change would remove the existing prohibition on underwater oil pipelines, removing a key roadblock to the proposed Canadian LNG pipeline planned to pass through our county's waters. Other changes would reduce the protection of critical shoreline habitat for forage fish that juvenile salmon feed on. The update is also flawed because it dos not adopt a prohibition on offshore fish farming as has been done by nearby Island County. It also allows offshore fish pens which have long proven to be seriously detrimental to the marine environment.

We respectfully request that San Juan County hold more public meetings to insure full participation by the community and that there be at least one additional public hearing no earlier than February 1 prior to adopting the Shoreline Master Program update.

These meetings are critical and necessary because of the complexity of the Shoreline Master Plan update and because more than two years elapsed between the last Planning Commission hearings on the update and the Council hearing held on November 30.

As concerned island residents, visitors, shoreline-lovers, and protectors of the fragile Salish Sea and its inhabitants, we want the opportunity to understand and participate in this comprehensive update that has such critical and long-lasting impact.