Shoreline laws draw county's criticism

By John Henderer, The Chronicle, 6/29/99

Revisions to the state's shorelines laws drew fire Monday from the Lewis County commissioners, who said the efforts go too far.

Commissioners signed a statement and passed a resolution Monday criticizing the state's laws for not including local advice, and for encompassing larger buffers along stream banks.

Revisions to the state's Shoreline Management Program under the state Department of Ecology are intended to help protect spawning habitat for threatened salmon and steelhead, and to help the species recover.

Commissioners, however, said the state's effort is "fatally flawed and beyond authorized scope and authority."

Commissioners opposed the state's decision to scrap the "ordinary high water mark" analysis used to determine setbacks. Instead, the state will use a "bank full width," establishing a larger buffer along some streams. This hydrologic analysis would need to support a 100-year-old conifer, commissioners said in a prepared statement.

Commissioners urged Ecology to establish consistent guidelines that limit confusion and costs to private landowners.

They also said Ecology should require full legislative review before taking official action.

They vowed to address Ecology's regulations at a 7 p.m. July 15 public hearing at Montesano City Hall.

In other action, commissioners:

- Agreed to close Highland Valley Road from Compton Road to U.S. Highway 12 from I p.m. to 8 p.m. July 18 for a soapbox race by the Morton Cub Scout Pack 93.

- Approved response procedures for repairing damaged traffic signs.

- Approved a new contract for 21 workers in the county's 9-1-1, emergency dispatch center, granting a 2.5 percent raise next year and a 3 percent raise the following year. No raise was included this year.

An entry-level dispatcher now receives a $25,400 salary with benefits. At the end of 2001, the most experienced dispatchers can be paid up to $34,100.

John Henderer covers county government and environmental Issues for The Chronicle. He can be reached by e-mail at jhenderer@chronline.com or by calling 807-8239.

Our Views

Guidelines go too far on buffers

THE POINT: Proposed guidelines would make survival harder for Lewis County farmers, foresters

The Chronicle, Editiorial, 6/30/99

Lewis County Commissioners Richard Graham, Russ Wigley and Dennis Hadaller, supported by county planners, deserve our appreciation for standing up to the state Department of Ecology on issues involved with 'proposed state Shorelines Management Program "guidelines."

One of these days if trends continue as now, government policy makers and regulators, in the name of the environment habitat buffers, fish, spotted owls, and various other flora and fauna and other causes exclusive of consideration of humans' overall welfare are going to ruin the natural resource-based portion of the economy of Lewis County. This will continue unless the people we elect to our Legislature and Congress collectively step in and impose some limits and at the very least fund local governments to comply with their mandates and compensate landowners for takings of private property.

The key word, the issue, is balance between the environmental and economic considerations, within reason, not one to the exclusion of the other. The guide should be common sense.

The commissioners this week called to our attention in a resolution they passed that the DOE is going off the deep end with its guideline proposal for wider buffers along streams in the state to protect fish habitat and recovery.

For example, the DOE is proposing to use 'bank full width" to establish the buffers rather dm the current "ordinary high-water mark' analysis used for nearly 30 years. The result will be wider buffers that will potentially be considerably costly to landowners both in terms of establishing the new buffers and in resources and land lost to their economic use on which they still must pay taxes.

Additionally, the county officials contend instead of by some arbitrary and questionable "potential tree height" as advocated by DOE, buffers should be defined by sub-basin, stream needs, water quantity and quality needs, topography and sort characteristics.

Such DOE buffer determinants are very likely to have major negative impacts on forest and agricultural land owners in this county. "These industries are already heavily regulated and their economic viability is marginal," the commissioners note. That is a major concern or at least should be.

Further, the commissioners advocate buffer definitions that are consistent among the various government agencies. Inexcusably, they are not now. And they rightly contend the Legislature should fully review the proposed DOE guidelines before they are imposed.

The county should follow up its concerns on these issues with a strong stand at a public hearing July 15 in Montesano on DOE's proposed shorelines proposals.