Once again, our Valley faces a gravel pit project that could damage the character, safety and environmental integrity of a rural area and waterway. This time, the proposed project is the Miles Sand and Gravel mine along the Samish River, accessed off of Grip and Prairie Roads.

After reviewing incomplete, outdated material, Skagit County determined the project will not have a significant impact and issued a “Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance.”

Yet the value of our Valley’s rural lands and waterways cannot be overstated – no project should be green-lighted without thorough assessment. This is one of county government’s crucial responsibilities.

I know this landscape well from hiking on its forested hillsides. I have seen tracks and signs of cougar, bobcat and bear – animals requiring large territories and accessible corridors. The river is home to designated Oregon spotted frog habitat, listed as endangered by the state and as threatened at the federal level. These are a few of many reasons, including water and air quality, that an environmental impact statement is needed.

Despite this, the County has granted an exception to its own critical areas ordinance, which requires a 300 foot buffer adjacent to high intensity land use. With insufficient study, the County agrees to reduce this to 200 feet. Make no mistake, this is high intensity use – a 60 acre mine site on 700 contiguous areas, going 90 feet deep, with over 11,000 truck trips per year for 25 years.

Such heavy traffic leads to another concern: road safety. Grip Road is steep, twisting and narrow, with insufficient shoulders. The traffic impact analysis shows places along the route where gravel trucks will encroach into oncoming traffic, an accident waiting to happen. More information is needed before this project’s impact is deemed “insignificant.”

No matter what pocket of the valley we call home, we take pride in Skagit Valley’s rural identity – the places where wildlife, forests, pastures, river and people coexist. An application to change the character, safety and integrity of these areas should be assessed with all of the tools the County possesses.

The comment period is open until April 30.

Beverly Faxon

Burlington