I am someone who strongly believes we must be good stewards of the environment. However, it is time to reevaluate our priorities as it comes to our flood plains.

We are now at a crossroads where we must make the choice about either fixing the capacity problems in our rivers or abandoning all lowland properties and move everyone to higher ground.

The City of Pacific has in its emergency management plans the priorities of life, property and the environment. Contrary to what the National Marine Fisheries Service may desire, my concerns about our rivers will remain in that order.

When protection of fish becomes a higher priority than the protection of life and property, then it is time for Congress to look at changes in the Endangered Species Act.

Now, I do not mean that we need to just go into our rivers and strip away good fish habitat. I believe that good management practices could remove debris without releasing silt downstream and provide for new engineered log jambs that create habitat without clogging the river channels. In fact, I believe that proper management of our rivers actually will result in improved habitat and restoration of capacity.

I believe the recent letters to the mayors of Auburn and Kent to cease and desist reinforcing the levees to fight the threat of flooding on the Green River, is an example of how out of touch with reality National Marine Fisheries has become. I agree that salmon and other species of fish have an important role to play in our ecosystems, but so do our citizens. The damage that could result from flooding, release of hazardous materials into the environment and the impact that flooding has on those same species should demonstrate that the hands-off policy is not working.

I call on Congress and our elected leaders in all levels of government to support common sense application to the Endangered Species Act. We do not need to sacrifice fish or people; we just need to use real science and real river management practices.

It is clear that the way we are currently operating is not working. Let’s fix the problems now by management before it costs us millions of tax dollars more in repairs and failed mitigation.

Pacific Mayor Richard Hildreth can be reached at 253-929-1100 or pacificmayor@aol.com.