Swim Against the Current for Sake of Survival

Let Other Communities Bite the Hook Baited with Biomass

Submitted to Shelton Blog by Tom Davis Mason County Progressive

According to the Washington State Dept. of Social and Health Services, Mason County ranks poorly in almost every category tracked, especially those relating to health, economics, high risk profiles and accidental deaths. Such statistics are a dismal reflection of our current priorities.

It would seem that much of what works in our County derives from caring individuals moved to participate in programs like Mason County Literacy, S.O.C.K., Mason Matters, St. David’s Outreach, Habitat for Humanity, immigrant rights advocacy, local food banks, and other social aid efforts.

Clearly, there is no shortage of good people in our community, only a shortage of good political leadership.

From 2000 to 2006, our County experienced one the biggest and longest periods of prosperity in its history, yet by 2008 we were already mired in economic hardship. That’s what poor leadership looks like in dollars and sense; no plan, no future. Just as with our own, personal finances our first course of action should be to stop digging ourselves into a hole. Yet, just last week the BOCC authorized over $108,000 for new courthouse security (real cost, about $150,000). In an effort to save money, public services are being cut and street lights turned off, but two of our three County Commissioners still find ways to waste public funds on programs of which there is no immediate need.

In this age of shifting priorities our officials need to back away from policies that have failed not only the public, but the business community as well.

Tourism, timber, and shellfish industries play an important role in any economic recovery effort, but our current path toward biomass to power plants will sharply curtail tourism, jeopardize the shellfish industry and use our forests as fuel for the proposed Adage and Simpson plants. Make no mistake; immature trees are already being harvested for that purpose.

As a result, future tourism will likely be pushed far north of Shelton, polluted storm-water will continue to attack the Oakland Bay shellfish, and poor forestry practice will result in excessive erosion and a nutrient starved ecosystem.

But it doesn’t have to be that way; there are other, more viable options available.

Starting this year, eight to ten thousand Baby-Boomers will turn sixty-five every day, and this trend will go on for the next eighteen years; the largest demographic with the most personal wealth our country has ever produced. Many of these folks will be looking to relocate to more rural communities, but few will want to live in the shadow of towering smokestacks emitting pollutants from the incineration of biomass.

The fact is, most people prefer standing trees to those going down the road on the back of a truck, which means forests are a source of revenue even before the trees are harvested.

If even a small fraction of Boomers choose to relocate to Mason County, the economic benefits will be dramatic, long-lasting, and could easily result in putting our financial house back in order.

The timber industry plays an important role in this new paradigm, maybe even the biggest role. My wife and I moved here in 2005, partly because we loved the idea of living in an area where people used local resources in a sustainable and responsible manner. We viewed the Simpson train that periodically stops traffic across Railroad Avenue as an attraction, and still do.

As a member of the first wave of Boomers (1946), we brought our money, our enthusiasm, our skills and our dreams to our new community; creating jobs as we remodeled homes and developed property. No other demographic embodies the entrepreneurial spirit more than Boomers. And like many to follow, we also have a need to contribute to our community through participation in volunteer programs.

But biomass to power plants will put an end to that, and to any possibility of Shelton becoming a community that attracts new people with new ideas. The real tragedy is that we also lose an opportunity for economic growth from new entrepreneurial ventures that would have brought more employment opportunities than could ever be gained from the biomass industry.

Mason County can overcome its challenges without losing our identity, but we need to diversify our economic base if we are to benefit from a rapidly changing business environment.

‘Adapt or Die’ is the law of nature as it is the rule of capitalism; it matters little if we like it, but it will matter greatly if we ignore it.

Now is not the time for followers, but the time for leaders with the courage and vision to chart a new course toward a more promising future. Let other communities bite the hook baited with biomass, committing themselves to cycles of poverty. Mason County should heed the instinct of the salmon our area is famous for, and swim against the current for the sake of future survival. The old gives way to the new; it is simply how the world turns, and those who come to terms with it sooner than later will prosper or fail, accordingly.