We’re baaaack. To the delight of many and the consternation of some, WEAN returns to its long tradition of the Annual Obnoxious Fundraising Letter. Steve, our impish, legalish elf is on strike, which leaves the letter writing to prosaic, practical me. I’m so prosaically practical that this letter comes via email as much as possible. It will save dollars, carbon emissions, and those blessed beings who provide the basic ingredients for paper as well.
2020 was a hard year for everyone, including WEAN. 2021 has followed suit. We’re all learning how to cope, kind of getting used to what appears to be the new normal. It is now normal that your nose itches all the time from that flaming mask, but you can’t scratch it – because of that flaming mask. It’s normal not to recognize people in the post office or the market – because of that flaming mask.
It’s also become normal to worry about how much smoke will choke us from the wildfires. Just as it’s become normal to go without electricity for days on end because of wind and falling trees and “atmospheric rivers”. Heat domes anyone?
But we’re over the initial shock. We’re adapting. In fact, we’re growing. More on that later. First, an update on what we’ve been doing, sequestered in our book-laden dungeon.
To begin, after more than 25 years, we’re seeing an end to our multiple lawsuits against Island County. We’ve got a few last loose ends to tie up on the “Toads” case, which turned out to be a major win with the state appeals court publishing the decision so it sets statewide precedent. The court directed Island County (and all other jurisdictions) to abide by “Best Available Science”, and then listed the sources of that science. If a jurisdiction wants to deviate from that Best Available Science they’d best have an ironclad reason. And then the court said that if the science wasn’t known, the jurisdiction would have to assume a worst-case scenario and plan accordingly. This is some seriously strong medicine and we’re proud to have been the cause.
There’s also the case of Wright’s Crossing. Remember that one? Developer Scott Thompson wants to build 1500 houses near Monroe Landing. Island County told him no. The Hearings Examiner told him no. The Growth Management Hearings Board told him no. Snohomish County Superior Court told him no. And now we’re waiting for the decision from the state Court of Appeals. It’s been nearly a year since the court asked all parties if they would let the court rule based on the briefing rather than a hearing – because of Covid. We all agreed, and we’re all still waiting. WEAN intervened in the case in support of Island County. Developer Thompson first ran his own candidate for county commissioner in 2020 and failed. He then ran the same candidate for Oak Harbor City Council this year and succeeded. Keep your eyes open for moves by Oak Harbor once again to try to expand down to Monroe Landing.
We’re involved in another lawsuit, this one against the State Parks Commission. We believe that the commission overstepped its authority when it approved a permit for the Navy to hold covert training in 28 of our shoreline state parks, including every state park in Island County. We also claim that they failed to perform adequate environmental review. That case is now scheduled for hearing on April 1, 2022. There’s a ton of work to be done before then and we super appreciate the volunteers who are scouring the 3200+ documents in the “administrative record”. We couldn’t do it without them.
The Growth Management Act is up for review and updating, both in the legislature and in the agencies. WEAN is involved at both levels. At the legislative end, we are part of a working group, which is part of a Task Force which will then propose amendments to the legislature. At the agency end, we are part of a review group of the Dept of Commerce, which proposes changes to the rules which implement the legislation. It is in this context that we are working to protect forests on islands.
And now for the big reveal: in the midst of all this, we are thrilled to tell you we have officially begun work to push WEAN as an organization to the next level. It’s time. No more aging hippies in the backwoods churning out legal briefs and calls to action. In fact, the catalyst for this effort is to assure that WEAN’s work continues, even after those same driven backwoods hippies fade gracefully into emeritus status. As the elders, we are central to this project, and rest assured, the donor who is making part of this possible, collaborates with us at every step. Though it is early days, one of the first steps involves digging out and organizing mountains of paper, with the intent to digitize it all to capture WEAN’s long and illustrious (but mostly unknown) history. That story needs to be known! We’re told that Whidbey Island would be a different place today without the work WEAN has done. We’re also in the process of expanding WEAN’s board and are moving to recruit people to take on the work. WEAN’s original aim back in 1989, was to preserve 1/3 of Island County for ecosystem functions and all the millions of our fellow species. We’ve made a start, but no surprise, there’s a long way yet to go. Stay tuned as we grow!
