Hood Canal and its surrounding watershed have been nominated as
a Sentinel Landscape, an exclusive designation that recognizes both
the natural resource values and the national defense mission of
special areas across the country.
USS Henry M. Jackson, a Trident
submarine, moves through Hood Canal in February on a return trip to
Naval Base Kitsap – Bangor.
U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Cmdr. Michael
Smith
If the designation is approved, it will bolster applications for
federal funding to protect and restore important habitats and to
maintain working forests in and around Hood Canal. Given the
uncertain budget for environmental programs under the Trump
administration, it wouldn’t hurt to have the Department of Defense
supporting the protection of Hood Canal.
The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership involves the U.S.
departments of Agriculture, Defense and Interior. The idea is to
coordinate the efforts of all three agencies in locations where
their priorities overlap, according to the
2016 Report on Sentinel Landscapes (PDF 5.6 mb).
The Navy is continuing its efforts to control commercial
over-water structures in Hood Canal. The idea is to buy subtidal
conservation easements from the Washington Department of Natural
Resources, which owns these deep-water areas.
Proposed Navy easement in
Jefferson County
The first easement was proposed for the Jefferson County side of
Hood Canal (map at right). The easement application is now working
its way through a formal review process. The proposal received a
lot of attention when it was announced in May, in part because of
the potential to derail the controversial pit-to-pier project. A
story I wrote for the
Kitsap Sun on May 15 describes the overall goals of the Navy’s
program and its potential effects.
After that initial announcement, I was surprised that the Navy
and DNR seemed reluctant to talk about the next phase, which turned
out to be a second easement along the Kitsap County shoreline from
the Hood Canal bridge to the county line near Holly. I described
that proposal in a story I wrote for the
Kitsap Sun yesterday (subscription).
Both proposed easements fall under the Department of Defense
Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative (REPI).
Liane Nakahara, spokeswoman for Navy Region Northwest, said the
need for the Kitsap easement, like the one in Jefferson County,
relates to protections of Navy operations, including testing and
training in legally defined ranges:
“The proposed restrictive easement over the bedlands would
protect these ranges from incompatible development that may limit
the Navy’s ability to use the approved ranges and continue
operations in the future. In addition to the protection of the
Navy’s military operating areas, the proposed easement will provide
new protections for sensitive marine ecosystems.”
I’m not sure where the Navy will go with its next easement
proposal. Work continues on upland properties in some areas. See
reporter Ed Friedrich’s story about a related agreement two years
ago, when the Navy began buying easements in the Dabob Bay area of
Hood Canal
(Kitsap Sun, Oct. 8, 2011). Officials are saying almost nothing
about the next steps. But I have seen a map that purportedly shows
the “area of interest” regarding the Navy’s REPI efforts. The area
outlined includes all of Hood Canal and the regions around Indian
Island, Keyport and Bremerton.
For the Jefferson County easement, the DNR issued a
“determination of nonsignificance” during the environmental review.
An appraiser has been hired to estimate the value of the easement
and determine what the Navy should pay the state for lost
revenue.
Thorndyke Resource, which proposed the pit-to-pier project, has
been pushing for increased environmental review, rather than the
limited review undertaken so far by the DNR. It appears that if the
proposal moves forward, the Navy and DNR are likely to face a
lawsuit from the company.
Here are three recent documents related to the proposed
Jefferson County easement:
