Local resident Gail Sheikhizadeh, an extremely active and wonderful person, has created a new online resource for homeowners living on or interested in Eld Inlet. Gail has created Eyes Over Eld, at http://www.eyesovereld.com/. I urge you to become an active follower and to give your input whether you agree or disagree with the topics at hand so that progress can be made for the good of all.
Gail is working hard gathering facts and support for the need of a no shooting/controlled shooting zone and to convince the Commissioners it’s overdue in Eld Inlet and the surrounding area. Work is being done with Karen Valenzuela and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to establish not only a no shooting zone in Eld Inlet, but a safer shooting zone on the interior lands of the area.
Ours seems to be one of few states that have no regulations on how far away a hunter needs to be from a residence for hunting practices. With rapid population growth in our area, this is a much needed change in how we look at hunting laws as they exist today in this state. What has been learned so far is that it’s up to individual counties to decide on a safe distance for hunting and then have it implemented either for that county alone or to take it to the next level to get it enacted as a state regulation. This is in no way a measure to impede your rights to defend your property, take care of domestic animals or to go “plinking” in your backyards (in moderation, please) but rather, a way to have a say in where hunting can and cannot take place in this ever growing peninsula which extends via water to Cooper Point and other areas.
As an attendee of the recent meeting at the Griffin Fire Station concerning this matter, it has become all too apparent that we need reform or, at the very least, hunter enlightenment. And it has also become all too apparent that there are waterfowl that may need to be placed on the protected species act instead of having their declining numbers completely ignored, allowing hunting of them into extinction.
No one is trying to abolish hunting; this is a simple matter of safety. I hope that all of you will either contact our county commissioners via email in support of this effort, or voice your concerns about this proposed change. All thoughts and opinions need to be fairly considered before a decision can or should be made.
If you agree with this endeavor, please go in and sign the online petition (all links are provided on Eyes Over Eld). Thanks to all of you who have already signed both the paper and online version of the petition. For anyone interested in getting their name on the petition but not on the online form, there will be an email link coming soon and I’m sure that a paper petition can be brought in your direction upon request.
This is going to be an ongoing topic for our commissioners in the months ahead and we need to thank Gail for having the guts to get this topic on the agenda with a public meeting at Griffin Fire Hall. The meeting was attended by Commissioners Karen Valenzuela and Cathy Wolfe (Commissioner Romero was out of town that day), Sheriff’s Dept’s Deputy John Snaza., WDFW agent Duane Mackoviney, Robert Smith from Thurston County Development Services, and Mike Gaffney (the Associate Director of the WSU Deptartment of Governmental Studies & Services).
Thank you, Gail, for building this new website with the advantage of bringing up any and all other topics for this area that do not belong on the agenda of the Griffin Neighborhood Association.
As Gail continues saying, “It doesn’t get any closer to home than this.”
By MARY SKELTON
Local residents can also join the social networking site, “Eld Shoreline Community,” created by Gabrielle Byrne, Community Educator for People For Puget Sound. Click here to see our prior post describing Eld Shoreline Community.