Save rules that buffer wetlands from homes

It’s not too late!

We have a housing crisis and are required to provide additional housing which includes smaller options such as cottages, accessory dwelling units, duplexes, and apartments. These housing types may not provide the profits that the developers prefer, but they provide more affordable options.

Using the best available science, the Washington state Department of Ecology develops straightforward guidelines that protect and mitigate the effects of encroachment on wetlands, creeks and streams. Ecology’s buffer recommendations are based on a moderate-risk approach to protecting wetland functions. This means that by adopting Ecology’s recommendations, there is still a moderate risk that wetland functions will be impacted. Adopting narrower buffers represents a higher-risk approach.

A choice will be made.

On one side, the Snohomish Wetlands Ecology Specialist, Snohomish County Planner, state Department of Natural Resources, Audubon Society and Tulalip Tribes are all stressing upholding the buffer protections that preserve our natural environment, before it is too late.

On the other side we have Master Builders applying pressure on our cities and couties to narrow the buffers and take the higher-risk approach, regardless of the outcome.

This choice matters! We are already seeing a steady loss of habitat and a decrease of salmon, birds, bees, etc. It matters because a high-risk approach means that once our fragile ecosystems are infringed upon and destroyed, the species dependent upon them are gone.

Let’s stick with the moderate risk approach that balances development while protecting the environment. Gone means gone, and then it’s too late.

Cathy Wooten

Stanwood

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Opinion

A semiautomatic handgun with a safety cable lock that prevents loading ammunition. (Dan Bates / The Herald)
Editorial: Adopt permit-to-purchase gun law to cut deaths

Requiring training and a permit to buy a firearm could reduce deaths, particularly suicides.

toon
Editorial cartoons for Thursday, March 20

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Fire District 4 shouldn’t need funding increase through levy

A recent Herald article led its readers to believe Fire District 4… Continue reading

Trump administration should make decisions with evidence, care

The Trump administration has embarked on a path of mindless cutting and… Continue reading

Comment: Roberts had to chastise Trump for threat to judge

Calling for the impeachment of judges over rulings has a long history, and it’s why the chief justice spoke up.

Comment: Anti-vax culture war on mRNA may end up costing lives

False theories are discouraging research and prompting legislation to block valuable vaccines.

Comment: DOGE’s real goal is to privatize government services

And it will be red states and rural areas that will pay more for commercial service for mail and more.

FILE - The sun dial near the Legislative Building is shown under cloudy skies, March 10, 2022, at the state Capitol in Olympia, Wash. An effort to balance what is considered the nation's most regressive state tax code comes before the Washington Supreme Court on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, in a case that could overturn a prohibition on income taxes that dates to the 1930s. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Editorial: One option for pausing pay raise for state electeds

Only a referendum could hold off pay increases for state lawmakers and others facing a budget crisis.

**EMBARGO: No electronic distribution, Web posting or street sales before Saturday at 3:00 a.m. ET on Mar. 1, 2025. No exceptions for any reasons. EMBARGO set by source.** House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, (D-NY) speaks at a news conference about Republicans’ potential budget cuts to Medicaid, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Feb. 27, 2025. As Republicans push a budget resolution through Congress that will almost certainly require Medicaid cuts to finance a huge tax reduction, Democrats see an opening to use the same strategy in 2026 that won them back the House in 2018. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)
Editorial: Don’t gut Medicaid for richest Americans’ tax cuts

Extending tax cuts, as promised by Republicans, would likely force damaging cuts to Medicaid.

Two workers walk past a train following a press event at the Lynnwood City Center Link Station on Friday, June 7, 2024, in Lynnwood, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Editorial: Open Sound Transit CEO hiring to public review

One finalist is known; the King County executive. All finalists should make their pitch to the public.

toon
Editorial cartoons for Wednesday, March 19

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Welch: Lawmakers ignore needs of families with disabled kids

Two bills would have offered financial assistance to families providing home care. Neither survived.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.