Publication Summary

Recommends state wetland policy improvements.

In the mid 1990s, numerous citizens throughout Washington complained that wetland protection programs were not working well in this state. Frequently mentioned problems included: poor coordination among different levels of government; unnecessary duplication among programs; failure to achieve the goal of "no-net-loss" of wetlands; and complexity of the permit process.

In response to these concerns, the departments of Ecology and Community Development (now Community, Trade, and Economic Development) jointly applied for and received a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop the State Wetlands Integration Strategy (SWIS). The goal of SWIS is to "develop and implement a more effective, efficient, and coordinated system to better protect the wetland resources of Washington State."

The SWIS grant funded two separate components: 1) four local government demonstration projects; and 2) six work groups. The four local governments which received grant funding are the cities of Camas and Everett, Clallam County, and Whatcom County. Each jurisdiction is designing a different wetlands program tailored to meet their individual circumstances. These pilot projects will demonstrate creative and effective wetland management strategies that can be used around the state.

The second SWIS component involved six work groups, each addressing one of the following wetlands topics: Regulatory Reform, Planning, Technical Aspects of Wetlands, Economics, Education, and Non-Regulatory Actions.

The goal of these work groups was to achieve consensus on recommendations for change. Five of the groups achieved consensus on all of their respective recommendations. The sixth group, dealing with regulatory reform, reached consensus on a majority of issues.

The individual work group reports have been integrated into this single document which is supported by a majority of all work group members.