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Jeanie Orr
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From: Jeanie Orr
Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 8:09 AM
To: Michelle McConnell
Cc: AI Scalf; Stacie Hoskins; Jeanie Orr
Subject: FW: SMA - Comments
From: Tim Behrenfeld [mailto:tbehrenfeld@ptsdSO.org]
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 20098:30 PM
To: #Long-Range Planning
Subject: SMA - Comments
Dear Commission:
Since I am sending these comments during the public hearing, I believe they are still within the
official timeframe of the public hearing process.
I actually was attending the meeting tonight and felt the need to leave early and make a written
comment based on what I heard and what I have been mulling in my head these past few days.
First of all, I commend the commission for all of their work. Whenever the dander is raised within
the populations present at the meeting, I know you have been doing something right.
I noticed that, at the meeting, most comments in favor of reducing buffer set backs were always in
light of short-term gains - personal gains. What about the next generations? Are we serious about
cleaning up Puget Sound or are we not serious? There were many references to our shores as
"pristine" based on the comments of one gentleman who spoke earlier in the meeting - why was he so
strongly referenced and who is he to judge our shores to be pristine?
*The comment about taking rising sea levels into consideration due to global warming is a very good
idea - I think this concept should be seriously considered if you have not done so already. As sea
levels rise as predicted in the next 40 years, there could potentially be grave consequences with our
shorelines. This would require some real forward thinking on your part.
* As a former aqua culturist, pen farming of fish is a very dirty business. It is toxic, anoxic and
potentially hazardous to natural fish stocks and plant life around such business. This is not personal
opinion - it has been demonstrated time and time again in areas that once allowed pen fish farming
and no longer do so or are trying to get rid of them.
6/18/2009
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*Major geoduc harvesting is extremely damaging to our local stock and of other species that reside
close to these shellfish. As salmon harvesting dropped and geoduc harvesting took over, I have
watched the populations ofthese animals drop drastically since the mid 70's when I used to harvest
them on the Peninsula. Geoduc is a stock that could quickly become decimated as it already has in
many of the former geoduc beds around this area.
*Eliminate the capabilities of shore armaments and riprap. Building in areas that require such
structures should not be built there in the first place.
*1 agree with the prohibition of mining in river channels and the removal of critical rock, cobbles, and
gravel and from marine and lake shorelines.
But how to balance the economics with the environmental health? I am sure you are quite aware that
economics has had the upper hand over the environmental health since settlers first moved to this
area. It is time that the health of our own waterways - and the entire estuary system is taken seriously.
In the long run, it will be the health of our systems that will allow us to maintain a stable economy.
If we are really serious about making the necessary changes to ensure that our children inherit the
things that are truly important, then there will have to be some pain here and there. It needs to affect
me as well as shoreline property owners. The old paradigms - those clapped for numerous times at
the tonight's public hearing - will no longer work. Its time for a new policy design model.
No human mitigation has ever been able to replace the intricate balance that already exists. We still
do not have a clear picture of the intricate web of living and non-living components that make up our
environment.
We do not need another example of bad policy toward the long term stewardship of our environment. There are plenty of
them for our next generations to observe. We need more examples of good, visionary policy. What will be good for the
long term?
Tim Behrenfeld
57th Street
Port Townsend, W A
6/18/2009