LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Look at the bigger picture
Published 9:02 am Thursday, April 23, 2009
To the editor:
I find it necessary to respond to several letters to the editor in the April 18 edition of the Record.
First, “Criminals Pick Easy Targets” makes the claim that the sheriff protects our county’s environment.
Sorry, but the facts demonstrate otherwise. We often receive weekend calls about “recreational bulldozing.” Last year, I asked Sheriff Mark Brown if he would help us deal with weekend environmental abuses by having his deputies simply ask the person to hold off until Monday, when planning department staff could review the matter.
Sheriff Brown answered with an emphatic “No!” He said that he would not risk his deputies for mere civil infractions. So don’t look to the sheriff to protect our environment. It’s not on his agenda.
Then there’s “Lets Talk Beavers” which appears to advocate that we “control” all beavers to prevent future flooding.
First, some facts. The 90- to 100-acre-foot figure was roughly 10 times the actual amount of water. I spoke with Dr. Michael Pollock of NOAA Fisheries, who has visited the length of Glendale Creek and calculated the amount of water backed up. And Craig Williams, of Friends of Glendale, is right. Beaver dam failures are a part of the natural cycle, as are floods in steep narrow canyons.
Instead of trying to force nature into our pattern, we need to consider that nature will, no matter what we do, bat last. We should see how we can work with nature instead of against it to make the ecosystem function for all of us, beavers and steep canyons included.
One obvious step would be to build a bridge where the Glendale culvert blew out. Another would be to remove the culvert system under the Glendale community and give the creek a lot more room, so water can flush through. No matter what is proposed, though, the people of Glendale need to be a major part of the process, as do the scientists at NOAA Fisheries and Ecology.
And finally, “Now in Wonderland” takes a shot at commissioner Angie Homola.
The author obviously didn’t know that the county has been considering a surface water utility for the last 15 or more years. As it is, the public works department has to deal with surface water problems, as it is doing right now at Glendale. The whole object of a surface water utility is to be able to plan on a scale larger than the individual or neighborhood level.
Yes, we’re in tight times. Remember the saying “penny wise, pound foolish”? Ms. Homola is trying to work with the natural systems (see both preceding paragraphs) to reduce risk and cost.
Incidentally, this makes our islands much more livable. Yes, it will cost. But that cost will be very small by comparison with letting matters go and having to pick up the pieces afterward. The writer thinks that preventing a Glendale disaster is an Alice in Wonderland fantasy. How many years of surface-water management could we taxpayers have afforded for the cost of a single Glendale?
Let’s look at the bigger picture, see how the pieces fit together and get all the facts before jumping to conclusions.
Marianne Edain
Whidbey Environmental Action Network
