To The Eagle:

The May 11 article regarding the Shoreline Master Program (SMP) significantly understates the areas of the county that are impacted. By state law, shorelands are not limited to just 200 feet from the ordinary high water mark of certain designated waterways as the article suggests, but also include any associated wetlands and their buffers. If any portion of a wetland falls within the 200 foot shoreland boundary, then the entire wetland is under the jurisdiction of the SMP regardless of how far from the stream that is.

For my property, the wetland boundary extends to 800 feet from Salmon Creek. Additionally, all wetlands have buffer zones which can add up to an additional 300 feet in which development could be impacted. If you want to see where wetlands exist on your property, that information is available at http://www.fws.gov/wetlands/.

Chuck Hendrickson

Naselle