STEP 1 - Information Gathering

To begin the restoration planning process, local government must first gather information about a variety of subjects, including its existing land use patterns; its critical areas; its degraded areas with restoration potential; its special Page 3 interest areas for priority species and habitats or special uses; its public access areas, channel migration zones, and patterns of rapid change. WAC 173-26-201(3)(c). In doing so, it will be asked to identify areas with potential for restoration. WAC 173-26-201(3)(c)(iii) (Local government shall identify “Degraded areas and sites with potential for ecological restoration.”). More importantly, local government must identify “where such [shoreline ecological] functions are found to have been impaired based on analysis described in WAC 173-26-201 (3)(d)(i).” See WAC 173-26-201(3)(c) (quoted above).

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