Subject: Re: Bowermand Basin Boondoggle
Date: May 1 17:28:17 1995
From: Jon Anderson - anderjda at dfw.wa.gov


I agree with Bert Guttman that there is a tremendous need to educate the
public, and that allowing the public to view the wildlife and habitat
resources is one of the best ways to give them "ownership".

However, the Bowerman Basin is relatively small (acres <hectares>
anyone?) and funnelling folks to and through the tidelands _may_ not be
the most appropriate way to allow them to view the marsh or the birds.

Consider this alternative:

Develop turnouts along Highway 109 with the appropriate interpretive
signs and viewing towers. This would not only keep folks *out* of the
marsh, but would also be accessable to many more locals and tourists than
access from the airport.

Similar access and viewing along the airport fill should be explored, but
I still maintain that public access to the marsh is uneccessary in a
*Wildlife Refuge*. If people want to see mudflats and salicornia
marshes, there are lots of places to view them (Oyhut Wildlife Area at
Ocean Shores, etc.) without increasing human pressure on one of the
premier shorebird sites on the coast.

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, WA
anderjda at dfw.wa.gov