Something like 50 of 172 islands in this county are available for private development. There are about 112,000 acres above high tide in the county. Back in 1999, of nearly 15,000 legal parcels, more than 8,000 (about 60 percent) were undeveloped. The average density in 2011 is 90.1 people per square mile making it the 10th most dense county of 39 in the state.

There are on average 50-60 structures per square mile. I think that I have heard that the county government plans in terms of currently being about 50 to 60 percent of potential build-out in terms of dwellings and parcels.

Think about it. Do you take from this data, along with what you have seen in your lifetime anywhere in America, an impression that setting aside for public benefit some 4-8 percent of private parcel acreage (that is often in low tax status anyway) by us for us will strangle the opportunity for business, real estate transactions, sustainable construction jobs and growth while the population doubles out here?

Do you doubt for a minute that tourism to “the crown jewels of Washington” will decline with the buildout and “no trespassing” signs unless there is also adequate open space and farmland that preserves “island character”?

I think that nearly all of the evidence and a clear-eyed analysis points to the need for increased protection for key parcels of public interest lands in order to balance the inevitable development that will again accelerate.