Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission is on the brink of implementing irreversible plans for major development of Miller Peninsula State Park.
This unique 2,800-acre state park, with miles of trails, is a haven for horseback riders, bike enthusiasts and low impact hikers.
It has been maintained and improved on by groups of dedicated volunteers.
Now the commission is plowing ahead with plans to turn the area into a major destination park with lodging, RV sites, paved roads and zip lines; all at a cost starting at 25 million dollars.
These plans were designed in 2005.
As with most everything, 20-year-old plans for the future are blind to the realities of the present.
No comprehensive data has been collected on the projects impacts, regarding traffic on U.S. Highway 101 and Diamond Point Road, aquifer depletion, wildfire danger, climate impact, wildlife, forest habitats.
To date, no on-the-ground surveys have been conducted, no EIS (environmental impact statement) and SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act) reports, it has been reported.
Parks and Recreation is set to purchase an additional 21 acres to expand the park, at a price of more than 1 million in taxpayer dollars.
If this purchase goes through, the state will have no other option than to make the major development a reality.
The state is acting inappropriately with our money.
The plan is ill prepared, outdated, incomplete and does not acknowledge Washington state’s goals for future planning, including stated climate related policies.
We need our state parks looking to the future, not the past.
Dean Massey
Sequim