In recent weeks Washington State Parks has put forward plans to redevelop the Marine Science Center and adjacent boat ramp at Fort Worden, hosting a series of public meetings here to present them and to seek input.

Alternatives for the boat ramp include (1) replacing it with a modern, elevated ramp, (2) leaving it as is, and (3) removing it altogether. Puget Sound Anglers supports replacing the existing ramp with an elevated boat launch that will provide access to the water for small trailers & boats while minimizing its impact on the beach ecosystem. We agree that we must strive to improve habitat and plan for sea level rise, while controlling costs.

Puget Sound Anglers is a local fishing club with over 70 members in our local East Jefferson Chapter, and over 5,000 in many other chapters around the Salish Sea. We are a Washington nonprofit corporation dedicated to preserving, protecting, and enhancing thriving populations of salmon and other species in healthy marine and freshwater environments. In so doing, we help preserve traditions of engagement with wilderness, and of sport fishing as recreation and food source for our families, that have been passed down through generations as part and parcel of our Pacific Northwest culture.

We appreciate the state’s thoughtful analysis and planning to improve the Fort Worden beach and Marine Science Center. For the past couple of years, the boat launch has been unavailable due to the loss of the hydraulic permit that allowed accumulating sand to be scraped off periodically, while more and more people want to get out on the water in small boats to fish, crab or shrimp, or simply to explore and enjoy some time on the water. Ours is a beautiful area with many recreational opportunities.

The Fort Worden boat ramp is an important recreational asset for this area. An elevated ramp would solve the issue of accumulating sand by allowing the natural movement of beach sediment to continue under the ramp. This will make the beach a healthier place for forage fish to spawn and, with the removal of the break wall, restore the natural beach ecosystem. It is in an ideal location, next to the Marine Science Center, to showcase how properly thought-out recreational facilities can be made to work with the environment rather than against it. Its location is also ideal for safely launching the small recreational boats that fish Point Wilson and Mid Channel Bank since it is directly adjacent to both.

Some local residents favor removing the boat ramp because it does not conform to their idea of a pristine beach. But the State Parks system is not a nature conservancy: Its central mission is to provide opportunities for recreation to all citizens of Washington State. Boat ramps play a crucial role in fulfilling that mission because public access to the water is so limited and it is extremely difficult to permit new ones. There are fewer ramps now than 40 years ago, however there are substantially more trailerable boats. These facilities are for all people, yet we, in Port Townsend, are the folks to whom the parks’ outreach is directed. So, it is up to us to have the input to affect the ultimate decisions. We believe that the ramp should be retained and improved, and that it can be done with very low environmental impact. It’s important to proceed with the new elevated ramp.

(Russ Howell is a member of the board of the East Jefferson chapter of Puget Sound Anglers. After 35 years in the corporate real estate world, Russ found the end of the rainbow here in Port Townsend, where he is quite happily retired.)