The Shoreline Managment Act: A Gift From the Past to Preserve

Over this holiday season, consider the gift which was given to us by the legislature and voters in 1971 and 1972 respectively:  the Shoreline Management Act, RCW 90.58.020.  The shellfish industry being unhappy with the current permitting process - a public process they have been involved in crafting for years - should not drive any attempt to minimize what has evolved.

The Shoreline Management Act was a direct outcome from an attempt to transform the Nisqually Delta into a deep water port.  This legislative act and the voters of Washington State said profits for a few should not drive development decisions within the shorline areas of Puget Sound.  The continuity of habitat functions for the future of everyone is far more important than simply "jobs and the economy."

From the Shoreline Management Act:
The legislature declares that the interest of all of the people shall be paramount in the management of shorelines of statewide significance. The department, in adopting guidelines for shorelines of statewide significance, and local government, in developing master programs for shorelines of statewide significance, shall give preference to uses in the following order of preference which:
     (1) Recognize and protect the statewide interest over local interest;
     (2) Preserve the natural character of the shoreline;
     (3) Result in long term over short term benefit;
     (4) Protect the resources and ecology of the shoreline;
     (5) Increase public access to publicly owned areas of the shorelines;
     (6) Increase recreational opportunities for the public in the shoreline;
     (7) Provide for any other element as defined in RCW 90.58.100 deemed appropriate or necessary.
Consider the gift we are being asked to leave the coming generations by "streamlining the permitting process" which is the major part of Governor Gregoire's and NOAA's "Shellfish Initiative."  Was it the intent of this legislative act and the voters who passed it to "streamline" a permitting process for an activity which fragments the intertidal habitat of Puget Sound as the current methods of shellfish aquaculture do?   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC1IjM45UbU&feature=player_embedded

The current industrial methods used by the shellfish industry are not those used by shellfish growers when the Shoreline Management Act was passed.  The focus on these current activties and the time being taken to determine whether they are in the best interest of all the people and Puget Sound's habitat, through the sound permitting process in place, is exactly why the Shoreline Management Act was passed. 

NOAA's attempt to "streamline" this regulatory oversight which has evolved over the past 4 years is being driven by the commercial shellfish industry for their benefit.   

Write to the Governor and your local, state and federal representatives and tell them this is contrary to what the Shoreline Management Act's purpose was and you do not support any attempts to "streamline" the permitting process. 
Preserve the gift which was given to everyone 40 years ago which has protected Puget Sound and prevented it from becoming Chesapeake Bay.