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08/25/2007: "Some MRC Members Say Local Control Will Remain"

To the Editor:

There was a basic misperception in Gordy Peterson’s Column "Local Control", which appears on The Island Guardian.

An Aquatic Reserve designation would in no way diminish local control over the waters that surround San Juan County’s islands.

Currently, the state Department of Natural Resources exercises unilateral authority over the management of state-owned shorelines and bedlands in San Juan County, and an Aquatic Reserve designation would affect only those state-owned resources. Nothing more.

If the designation is granted, for the first time, San Juan County will have a say in the management of the largest portion of the waters that surround our islands.

Kit Rawson
Jim Slocomb
Mary Masters
Jonathan White
San Juan County Marine Resource Committee members