One of the many comments about the PROS Plan delivered to the Planning Commission Hearing on the PROS Plan: 5.20.25

To the Kitsap County Commissioners and Park Planner:

My husband and I were drawn to Kitsap County due to the community’s commitment to the natural spaces here. Before moving here full time, we took WSU Water Stewardship programs, learning how vital it is to protect wild corridors not only for their beauty and the species found in them, but for our own health, flourishing and quality of life. Those experiences changed our whole way of thinking.

You see, we moved from an area of the southwest where most people have very little connection to wildlife, water resources and the lands that are quietly being converted to shopping centers and recreational complexes. This is often at the expense of soils, vegetation and water pathways that took centuries to form. The worst part is that many people in those places are so uninformed and uninvolved that they have no idea what they are losing.

Here, we know how spectacular, yet fragile, this special place is. Kitsap has a natural inheritance that is unimaginable in most parts of the country. I have also met so many wise and generous people here who literally spend their lives working for the health and wildness of our parks. What a resource we have in them.

Look at Bainbridge Island. Their commitment to wild places is one reason why it is one of the most desired places to live on the West Coast. They also welcome community input and involvement with hundreds of local citizens who regularly and passionately volunteer in their natural spaces.

We may not have the resources Bainbridge Island has, but we have more parks and hundreds of passionate community members who have worked for decades to preserve and restore the health of wild spaces in our county. They know these places by heart and are highly motivated to work to preserve them. Please keep those people involved in what they know and love. You can’t buy or hire that kind of life-long commitment.

Kitsap County is growing and some upgrades to our parks are definitely needed. But the more man-made structures we build and visitors we attract, the more monitoring, maintenance and cleaning services will be required.  If the county parks department is already under-staffed, that issue must be addressed and funds generated.  Cleaning up overflowing trash cans and bathrooms is a job that volunteers won’t and shouldn’t do. Most of them want to help nature clean up after itself and educate the public on what “ecosystem services” means and how to sustainably meet needs with cutting edge low impact systems.

Our park system stands as one of the only places where we, the people, still have a collective voice to speak on behalf of the wildlife, native vegetation, flowing waters and wildness that are disappearing all over the world at an alarming rate. They are also living classrooms for teaching our citizens about the importance of the natural environment in preserving the healthy way of life we take for granted here.

Let’s try going in a different direction and become known as the county that took the high environmental road when it comes to the PROS Plan. Let’s be a pioneering example to other counties, not a passive follower. We can always change course and do what everybody else is doing. It will take real courage and vision to do something different with the unique living resources we have in Kitsap County before it is forever altered.

I end with a quote by Dr. Suess’s Lorax, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”  

Thank you for your time, and I wish you great wisdom as you lead.

Respectfully,

North Kitsap County Resident

Send your own comment by email to the Planning Commission by May 27, 5 pm.

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