— by Lin McNulty, Managing Editor —
Are you as weary as I am? It seems there is just too much going on right now, what with the Russia investigation (and the related ongoing/upcoming trials); nighttime ALL-CAPS tweets; famine, torture, and warfare (civil and otherwise) in Syria and adjacent countries; portions of the country (and the world) engulfed or enflamed in record-breaking heat waves; children being imprisoned in cages in our southern states and around the country; and the fact that I can’t find my favorite breakfast cereal on island. It’s just too much for an islander out in the middle of Salish Sea to take in.
And on Orcas Island, we have a new Orcas Airport Master Plan that we’re supposed to read, comprehend, and support? It seems to me, not based on anything I have researched because who has time for research, that Master Plans usually come due in the off-season, that they are something we rally around or argue over when things are quiet, rainy, or chilly. A new proposal that we can study (or not) while comfortably blanketed in a glorious foggy day when there is nothing more important going on.
But, no. Even though it is the busy summer season, we have pounced on this Airport Master Plan like yellow jackets on a picnic table. A recent report on Orcas Issues about the Port of Orcas Master Plan garnered, at last count, more than 90 comments from islanders who are passionate about this proposed change, a record for our news service.
I’m fairly certain I, personally, would not be in support of expanding the Orcas Airport, since I still subscribe to the Tom Tallman school of thought: Unpave the roads to decrease tourism. But to have to decide in the middle of summer? When the country may be on the verge of a Constitutional Crisis? When states around us burn? When children are snatched (separated is such a soft word) from their parents?
The airport Master Plan is just one of the “Masters.” If you’ve lost track, here are some of the Master Plans that float in and out of our consciousness in the San Juans.
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- Fairgrounds Master Plan
- Port of Orcas Master Plan
- Shoreline Master Plan
- Rosario Master Plan
- ORS/Exchange Master Plan
- Tourism Master Plan
Not to mention:
- Master Gardeners
- Food Masters
- Master Composters
Are we the ones who are bowing to Masters, or are we claiming our right to Masterhood? It’s all too much for me, so I bow to this Master:
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Sadly you have left out the most important of those ‘master’ plans: the update to the Comprehensive Plan (CP). The CP influences every single one of those (dare I say) lesser plans. It is the Big Kahuna.
The CP is the legal foundation for growth in the county. Growth of residents, part time property owners and tourists represent the elephant in the living room that few know about and virtually no one dares talk about (it’s the elephant! in the Living Room! It’s there but it is invisible!) That living room is your home. Not just your house and property line.
It is where you live, work, meet, shop, see (or not) eagles, hear (or not) birds or excavators, get (or not) a ferry reservation in the few seconds you have at 7am.
If you are cool with basically unrestricted population growth, as built in to—and not yet (or ever) on the table for conversation—the density map, say nothing. If you are unsure or, possibly, sure that you are not cool with seeing your island home transformed into a playground for others while many of the under 50 crowd squat on land, live in tents, and enjoy the benefits of as many minimum wage jobs as they can get just to live here, then you’ll need to step forward. Why, for example, did so many show up to protest the proposed expansion of the Eastsound airport? In the summer? When it’s busy?
Where to start on the issues related to the CP? Easy: KeepSanJuansWild.org Read it (there’s a lot); Take Action (there are many all set for your clicks); let others, particularly your County Council members know your concerns.
It is at the Council level where the rubber meets the road. Let them know how you feel. Not tomorrow, or this winter when you think you may have more time, but now. The CP update is happening now. Once it ratchets forward, it will be all but impossible to reverse course.
Yeah it’s summer. Yeah everyone’s busy. Yeah who cares about the CP? Who’s even read it? Worse, who really understands it? Your Council will tell you not to worry. Only you can make sure their words pass the smell test.
Your home: your call.
Thanks for drawing this picture, Joe.
Where is that line between a vibrant, ecologically sustainable, wild and pristine Orcas and the maximum human footprint load?
I’ll re-read “Keep San Juan Islands Wild” and hopefully I’ll be able to describe in clear terms where that line is and know better the course we chart.
My sense is that everyone should have that blueprint firmly imprinted in their minds and use it as we craft together our Orcas community.
The biggest elephant In the room happens to be the one that appears most invisible to most people:
When do we step up to a reasoned and rational way to protect our physical environment so as to ensure the continuity of our species and begin self-policing, self-criticizing and placing limits (or employing some kind of mechanism that’s non-Orwellian) to push back on the default assumption that nothing can be done about over-populating our planet (and island)?
Why can’t this discussion take place? After all, it’s our own superhighway to self-destruction.
As humans, we have no problem talking about an out of control deer or raccoon population; and what do the deer do? Eat our grass, nibble at our trees. (borrowed this from a comedian).
On the other hand, humans clog our interstate roads and highways with smog and traffic, use the ocean as a septic tank, dump hundreds of thousands of tons of plastics, toxins and other garbage and debris into our oceans and waterways— to name but just a few of the many horrendous results caused by there being too many of us on a finite plane with finite resources and finite abilities to sustain us.
The Kicker: unlike smaller-brand animals, we humans are quite conscious, deliberate and willful in failing to control our own numbers and causing the environmental damage we do.
Combine that with the far greater damage we cause to the environment, it’s hard to understand why controlling our excess isn’t a legal, moral and existential-social obligation.
I know many will say this is something we simply cannot control because people behave in ways that defy reason and subscribe to various belief systems that promote procreation without restraint, or are simply too impoverished, under-educated and suffer from various forms of arrested development preventing many from grasping much less handling this issue.
But does that mean we simply wait for destruction and do nothing?
Can you see why certain individuals who see this mass (suicidal) behavior do not want to be complicit in a form of “self-imposed extinction” but want to push back and find a solution that will more likely than not guarantee the survival of our species; and therefore call into question the default assumptions and positions that population growth and development at all costs is irrational and manifest “suicidal” behavior.
We can’t address the problem if we can’t openly acknowledge its existence.
The growth rate of the human population is perhaps the single most existential threat before us today.
Reason requires that we ditch the taboos and begin the uncomfortable discussion.
Reason also requires that we placed limits on the development of orcas island in how we fund and initiate infrastructural improvements through various master plans and use the proverbial ecological/sustainable “line“ to help guide us away from excess and towards balance—for all of our sakes.
PS—on the one hand I could say who cares?—I won’t be here when the —— hits the fan; on the other hand, I can step out of turn, take some flack / flak and promote the discussion of this uncomfortable topic. You can be sure that in the future very Orwellian tactics will be employed and I’ll be thankful not to be here to experience any of it. But what if we can do something now to avoid that future nightmare? That’s all I’m suggesting. You thought recent political events weren’t possible; Europeans in the late 30’s thought certain events could never happen…that we aren’t capable of such babarity. Think again! Don’t be paranoid, don’t be pessimistic— be active (and happy) as you sculpt the future you want for your children! Most of all, be rational!
The county government cannot be blamed for what citizens themselves have the power to do. I know how frustrating it is when we act individually only to have our efforts undone by someone else’s lack of mindfulness, but regulation and government are the lesser portion of the solution. The solution, in spite of our frustrations, two steps forward, one back, is us. Nothing beats example and community consensus and consequent community pressure. We aren’t bad people when we think, even though we live in a civilization that seeks to muffle mindfulness and rewards immediate gratification that erodes our community and environment.
The Comprehensive Plan is not of itself regulatory. Its legal function is to directs what public funds, including paid staff time, can be expended on. If it isn’t in the ComPlan, the county’s budget can’t include it. In this regard, no matter how burdensome review and comment may be in our hectic summer season, no concerned person who is physically and mentally able to exercise judgment as a citizen can legitimately say “I’m too busy.” Participate fully in this process or it shall be done unto you.
There is no going back. Nevertheless, we can steer, starting with ourselves, our families and proceeding to the county. This “they” we blame so much on, is us. The tools are there. Lift them, heft them, use them.