PPF Signs on to LTE Regarding Tarboo Lake Shore Gun Range

Tarboo Lake has long been visited by locals for swimming, paddling and fishing. It’s a serenely quiet place where non-electric powered boats aren’t allowed. Consequently, it was very disheartening to learn over a year ago that a that a gun range/militia training site was to be sited on its north shore. A group of neighbors formed Tarboo Ridge Coalition to deal with this development. Protect the Peninsula’s Future joined other Peninsula individuals and environmental organizations in signing on to the following letter to the editor of The Leader:

To The Editor:
We are writing to support the Board of County Commissioners’ decision to declare a 6-month moratorium on permit applications to develop commercial gun ranges. This interval will allow the county to create an effective response to the recent Growth Management Hearings Board decision that invalidated both ordinances passed by the BoCC in December, 2018. To get it right this time, we urge the commissioners to listen to the community, then rise to the challenge of making policy that protects our waterways, wildlife, forests, and families.

Gun ranges have a place in a rural county like ours, but they need to be located and operated using the types of clearly defined, not-to-be-argued-with, “bright line” regulations recommended by our own Planning Commission last November. No military training should be allowed on private, commercial gun ranges—Washington state already has over 940,000 acres of military bases where our service men and women can train in safe and secure surroundings. Jefferson County should require 500-yard setbacks from public lakes and other recreation areas, to protect waterways and allow our kids and families to enjoy the best of the outdoors. And to protect neighboring residents and roads, there should be no nighttime shooting, no aircraft, 16’ noise barriers, and 8’ security fencing.

The December 2018 Title 8 and Title 18 ordinances opened up 76% of unincorporated land in the county to commercial weapons training facilities of unlimited scale and intensity. That is not the vision for Jefferson County that we and many, many others have been working toward. Fortunately for us, but unfortunately for the commissioners and county staff, those ordinances turned out to violate state law. It’s time to learn from those mistakes, and develop a policy that protects the land and people of Jefferson County for generations to come.

Judith Alexander
Michael Aubin
John Austin
Jean Ball
Patti Barrett
Will Barrett
Susan Biskeborn
Melinda Bryden
Dan Burden
Lys Burden
Mark Cooper
Sue Corbett
Richard Dandridge
Sarah Dean
Elaine Donato
John Fabian
Connie Gallant
JD Gallant
Bob Gebo
Jill Hamilton
Glenn Hartmann
Kathy Hartmann
Linda Herzog
Sue Heston
Lillian Hilton
Cindy Huffman
Manning Jacob
Lianna Johnson
Diane Jones
Patricia Jones
Ken Kiesel
Kris Kiesel
Gerald Lasser
Susan Localio
Elisabeth Mention
Gerald Merritt
Bill Morris
Roxianne Morris
Stanley M. Nealey
Norm Norton
Andy Okinczyc
Cyne Okinczyc
Olympic Environmental Council
Robin Ornelas
Ellen O’Shea
Jock Patton
Protect the Peninsula’s Future
Tom Richardson
Anne Ricker
Darlene Schanfald
Sierra Club North Olympic Group
Sarah Spaeth
Fred Stern
Sonia Story
Beth Stroh-Stern
Kerry Tremain
Laura Tucker
Richard Tucker
Phil Vogelzang
Hank Walker
Ann Waldron
Nicola Yarbrough
Carl Youngmann
George Yount