Judge James Dixon of the Thurston Co. Superior Court ruled that WA State Parks Commissioners were arbitrary and capricious when they allowed the military to use our state parks for military training. He agreed with Zak Griefen (Bircklin and Neumann) that there was no better word than “creepy” that citizens would feel in parks with military around. He cited the RCWs under which Parks is allowed to operate and that Parks decision was clearly erroneous and violated its purpose in this case; they violated provisions set forth in the SEPA Act.
The citizens are entitled to attorney fees.
Background on this, years ago, when the military first proposed this, it was argued to the Jefferson County Marine Resources Committee (of which I was the chair) and which included one of the “good old boys” from the Port, that this was outrageous and should be challenged by us and denied by the Port. The Port Commissioner just laughed and said that he could see “nothing wrong” with the idea. No one else in the MRC thought it was worth challenging though it was our charter to protect the waters of the county. It’s nice to see that the legal system stood up for our rights when finally taken to court. As has been said many times here, it appears the only way to really protect the environment is to take the offenders to court. There seems to be no appetite by most of the “environmental” community on the Olympic Peninsula to take public sides against these outrageous acts. The days of environmental groups fighting for our environment seem long gone, except for a few exceptions. You can help by funding the ones that still fight in court. That will do far more than anything else you can do.