Last night Jim Nolan of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency came to the Greater Maple Valley Area Council that represents the interests of the unincorporated residents of the Tahoma School District. It was a good meeting overall.
Lots of people showed up to express their dislike for the proposed burn ban and to express their dislike for governmental regulations in general. Jim Nolan took quite a bit of time to listen to people express their opinions.
Jim had a number of good points that he wanted to make, and I thought they're worth sharing here:
- He recognizes the importance of outdoor burning in King County and now sees that there aren't alternatives for many property owners. He said he doesn't ever anticipate a time in the future that all properties in King County will have reasonable alternatives.
- He approves and appreciates people using wood to heat their homes. He recognizes firewood is a renewable resource that is in abundant supply here in King County.
- He is scaling back the recommendation to only ban burning on the most dense portions of the rural areas. He is asking rural residents to define what they consider to be rural. People volunteered that rural communities don't have street lights or sidewalks, they often have animals, and rural communities don't have lots that are under 10,000 square feet in size.
Jim Nolan will come back to the meeting in August and present the new recommendation to the PSCAA at that time and get any additional feedback prior to making the recommendation to King County.
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