More lighting in Eastsound is unnecessary. The existing lighting is causing light pollution now. It is more difficult to see the stars at night. Anytime I walk in town at night, I don’t have a problem with seeing where I’m walking and I’m not a “spring chicken.”

Sometimes I wonder why in the world people move to an island 30 or so miles from the mainland and want all of the amenities one would get in a city. The sense of peace, of the quiet and to look up and be able to see the stars is a part of living on an island. The very qualities that drew people to Orcas are negated when we indulge in creating an environment that is “enhanced” with more pavement, more lights, more concrete and more people who “want what they want, when they want it.” Can’t we release the old paradigm of using and abusing our Mother the Earth, for our little egoistic desires?

When I arrived on Orcas 29 years ago, I bought a postcard that said “Orcas At Night” and it had a black background with a few pinpricks of light here and there. I know it won’t be like that again, but why exacerbate the light pollution with more lighting in Eastsound? Is it because in other parts of the island it is dark at night and it doesn’t matter to those people that residents in Eastsound are plagued with light pollution? Or is it because the Growth Management Act mandates build-out in The Urban Growth Area (Eastsound)? And with build-out comes more light pollution? Maybe it is time to opt out of the Growth Management Act. We can do that!

Must we take from our future generations what was once a heart-centered, Earth-centered, inclusive, community-centered island? I say no.

Spirit Eagle

Eastsound