HomeMy WebLinkAbout42 EisenhourComments for the November 5, 2019 Planning Commission Hearing re: gun ranges in
Jefferson County:
I am here tonight to advocate for a required 500 -yard setback from shorelines (streams
and lakes) and wetlands/wetland-buffers for any scale shooting range facility in Jefferson
County - including the one being proposed by (Fort Discovery in Tarboo Valley. Isn't this
modest buffer the least that can be done to protect both the citizens of our county and
visitors alike?
I was on the Jefferson County Planning Commission when we adopted the first comprehensive
plan in 1998. 1 worked for hundreds of hours on the environment chapter in that initial plan.
Buffers were one of the considerations back then - and it feels ironic that here we are over 20
years later and we are talking about buffers again but this time in reference to a proposed large
scale gun range in rural Jefferson County. It seems that the recommended `bright line' rule of
500 feet would go a long ways towards preventing lead or copper pollution in waterways which
wildlife depend upon and protect the integrity of established public recreation areas for
enjoyment by the rest of us, the non -shooters. We should do no less!
A lot of effort by thousands of people in our community have gone into longstanding &
successful conservation efforts in the Tarboo Valley and adjoining Dabob Bay Natural Area. I
feel strongly that this is a thread of the story about Fort Discovery's work to build a gun range on
land west of Quilcene at Tarboo Ridge that seems it has received less than it's due airtime.
Why do I care about this patch of ground in east Jefferson County? Almost 15 years ago
conservation of the important habitat areas were catalyzed and stewarded through the
leadership of Northwest Watershed Institute. Starting in 2007, when I served as Executive
Director of Jefferson Land Trust, partners successfully focused on building support for expanded
conservation efforts in the Tarboo Valley and Tarboo / Dabob Bay areas. Without going into the
details of these efforts, suffice it to say that serious community effort, commitment and personal
investment went into achieving conservation wins in the Tarboo Valley and Dabob Bay areas in
this time.
I add my voice on behalf of the thousands of voiceless residents of Dabob Bay, Tarboo Creek &
Valley and their associated tributaries which include bear, bobcat, mink, cougar, deer, coho
salmon, fall chum salmon, resident and coastal cutthroat trout, brook lamprey, crawfish,
freshwater mussels, waterfowl, and other mammals and birds typically found in healthy Puget
Sound wetlands and forests. I hope these neighbors of ours are being considered when we
are deciding what are compatible and incompatible I. lafforson
County.
- Heidi Eisenhour
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