Clean air, water, and soil are essential to the health of our community.  With fact-based planning, our watersheds will produce clean drinking water and abundant salmon.  Our prime soils will support agriculture and timber that provide wildlife habitat, rather than McMansions.  Investment in energy-efficient and compact town centers will put fewer emissions into the air, reducing our contribution to climate change and sparing our children’s lungs from harmful pollution. 

The following General Plan Elements will impact our clean air and water. Click on any element to download the most recent draft from the County's website.

• Air Quality Element
  We must monitor and improve air quality as part of our commitment to public health and our contribution to combatting global climate change. We need strong policies to cut air pollution, especially carbon emissions.
• Water Resources Element
  We must ensure that our watersheds continue to produce clean water for those that rely on it. Clean water will also help salmon to reproduce and recover.
• Forest Resources
  We must work to maintain healthy forest ecosystems that provide clean water for drinking and for wildlife. This section is part of the Land Use Element.
• Land Use Element
  By investing in our villages and small towns, we can reduce our dependence on automobiles and cut emissions, preventing air pollution related diseases like asthma and slowing climate change.
• Biological Resources
  We can maintain clean air and water by ensuring the ecosystems around us are healthy: working and wild forests, agricultural soils, and salmon-bearing streams. This element has been combined with the Conservation and Open Space element.
• Energy Element
  By encouraging investment in efficiency and alternative energy, we can keep our air clean and prevent asthma and other diseases in our children and our community.

It's up to us to speak up for this vision and ensure that the General Plan Update provides the blueprint for a future that is healthy for us all. You can help by getting involved today!