The Significance of Lily Point Comes Into Question
Everyone is starting to become concerned about the 103-unit home subdivision recently designated by Whatcom County’s Planning Department to have an environmental “Determination of Non-significance,” which supposedly means the project will not create significant negative impacts and that the site and its surrounding area is environmentally “insignificant.” However, many of us totally disagree with that determination.
The proposed project will take over the western portion of Lily Point and have a big impact on the health of the tidelands and riparian forest that are essential to the sustainability of the critical habitat. So instead of feeder bluffs providing nutrients to the spawning herring and juvenile salmon, the waters below this development will be fed a steady diet of toxic storm water runoff. In fact, the more people that live on the shoreline, the higher the level of mercury and PCBs we find in our local fish. The general recommended limit for humans to consume fish throughout the region? One meal per week. So what does this mean for the Orcas and eagles that eat fish everyday? It’s obvious questions like these that are not being addressed in the planning process that has everyone so concerned.
Where do all these contaminants come from? PCBs usually come from legacy industrial sources but other contaminants come from the streets and homes of our neighborhoods. They come from fertilizers we put on our grass; detergents we use to wash our dishes, cars, and clothes; pharmaceuticals we flush down the toilet; and oil and gas that leak from our cars. All this and more shows up in the wild fish that swim our waters, bite our lures, and end up on our dinner plates. So why are we even considering putting 103 homes in the middle of critical habitat? Oh yes, Whatcom County needs the money it has already spent, and doesn’t have for tomorrow.
A scientific report commissioned by the Puget Sound Partnership estimates that each day 150,000 pounds of toxins spill into Puget Sound through polluted runoff. It’s hard to get our minds around 150,000 pounds of toxins a day, particularly when we live in a rural county with a relatively small population. So it is equally as hard to get our minds around a planning department that wants to approve developments that have been identified as detrimental to the ecosystem, and then place them on our most sacred and environmentally sensitive land. Some have said that is why Whatcom County has gone through two Planning Directors in the last three years, after each Director became fed up and frustrated with being forced to make short sighted decisions. Without a Director or any support for current trends in correcting past bad development patterns, it seems things are only going to get worse for local residents and efforts to restore the Salish Sea to acceptable health levels.
Bald Eagles Indicators of Troubled Process
The developers are well aware of the significance of the rich tapestry of life that supports Lily Point, but when they filled out the SEPA questionnaire, they purposely failed to mention the presence of Bald Eagles on the property. In fact, they inaccurately identified squirrels and song birds as the only wildlife on the property. After the developers were required to answer the question for the third time, they decided to acknowledge the presence of eagles. Presumably someone at the County noticed that there was a Bald Eagle Management Plan prepared in 2007 by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW), and that eagles have been observed nesting in several locations on the property since the mid 90’s.
It seems that nobody at the County has actually read the Bald Eagle Management Plan, or they would have noticed that it clearly states that the eagle nest location was not located at the time the plan was written. This kind of begs the question — How do you devise a plan to protect the eagles and their nest when you don’t know where it is? The reason the nest location is not known is because the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) agent visited the property in September, when all the Point Roberts eagles have long since flown north to catch the summer salmon runs. The agent actually states, “We didn’t see any nesting activity.” Well, anyone with a basic knowledge of eagles knows that nesting season is from February to July.
In the wild eagles are considered an indicator species for the health of the ecosystem. As a predator they are at the top of the food chain; consequently, anything harmful in that chain will make its way to the eagles’ diet. Apparently eagles are also now an indicator species for “overlooking environmental impacts” in planning major developments, as the Bald Eagle Management Plan with no nest location was followed with a traffic study that doesn’t mention the impact on border crossings, which is really the “only” traffic issue in Point Roberts. Additional failings are a geological report that doesn’t address the 40 acres proposed for development in Phase One, and a septic plan that sites a drainfield for 103 homes in a location that, according to the State of Washington Department of Health, is unsuitable for its stated purpose in two-thirds of the drainfield area. What about the handling of the storm water runoff, the big pollutant in the Sound? There is no mention of that in any of the developer’s reports of course, because then the developers would need to write a report to find out what the impact would be on the Lily Point Marine Reserve that taxpayers ponied up $4.2 million to protect in 2008.
Taxpayers and Experts Tell a Different Story
So as the County planners try to give the developers a free pass to go ahead and destroy the “insignificant” trees, feeder bluffs, marine habitat, and eagles, I thought I would bring in my own expert to talk about the significance of Lily Point. It seems kind of surreal that anyone would have to do this, because when the eastern portion of Lily Point was being considered for State acquisition funding in 2007, 24 scientists came to Lily Point and identified it as one of the most significant shoreline ecosystems in all of Puget Sound. Furthermore, in a salmon restoration fund application, Lily Point was ranked second in priority out of 73 applicants covering 2,500 miles of shoreline in Puget Sound. For all the money spent by the State in the last two years on restoration and preservation, the $4.2 million paid to acquire and preserve Lily Point represents 27% of all the money paid to over 50 projects. Suddenly even the word ’significant’ seems inadequate and lacking in trying to explain just how important Lily Point is. Maybe that was in the report that State planners sent out, but was missed by County staff members who were out that day for a seminar on smart growth.
So I will try and humor the County and pretend that we don’t already know about all the environmental report’s inaccuracies and the true importance and significance of Lily Point. I now feel the need to add an interview with David Hancock to the blog, and let the voice of an expert explain why Lily Point is one of the most significant eagle habitats in the North Pacific. Many of us already understand this, as we have monitored 10 active eagle nests in the five square miles of Point Roberts and have counted between 30 to 70 eagles feeding daily in the tidelands of Lily Point. We have observed that on the property slated for 103 homes that there is an eagle night roost and two eagle nests from the pair that has lived there for the last 15 years. (Yes, we actually know where they are!) So the official state Bald Eagle Management Plan for eagles on the property continues to be unaccountable for the three eagle nests and their locations.
Please watch and listen to David Hancock and let me know if the word “insignificant” comes to mind. David has been studying eagles for 50 years — he’s a biologist, writer, lecturer, and runs the Hancock House publishing business. He’s on the Board of the American Bald Eagle Foundation and is considered one of the top eagle experts in North America. I’m sure if the County asked, he would correct the Bald Eagle Management Plan, and then they would know what a real management plan looks like — and it would include the three eagle nests that the developers, their consultants, and the WDFW can’t seem to find.
Part 1
LPC Science Series Hancock Part 1 from Alexander Stratford on Vimeo.
David Hancock discusses eagle’s and the habitat around Lily Point, and why it is one of the most significant eagle territories in North America.
One of the reasons that many people are trying to persevere this land and protect it.
Part 2
LPC Science Series Hancock Part 2 from Alexander Stratford on Vimeo.