San Juan County is mailing letters to nearly 1,000 county residents asking permission to include their property in a wetland study that will help provide local data for the “Best Available Science” used in preparing the update to the County’s Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO).

The requests are going to the owners of land parcels selected by wetlands specialist Dr. Paul Adamus of Oregon. The letters ask landowner’s permission to access their property to document and map possible wetland features.

The information gathered will be incorporated into a study that is part of a San Juan County project to insure the scientific research referenced in updating the CAO takes the County’s unique topography, geology and environment into account.

The San Juan County Council asked that additional work be done on the scientific aspect of the update after some citizens groups protested that development buffers and other possible regulations were based on research not applicable to San Juan County. In April Dr. Adamus, who guided the development of wetlands regulations based on local science for Island County’s CAO, was contracted to do similar work for San Juan County.

Owners of the parcels identified by Adamus should receive the request letters during the week of May 30. A representative number of parcels to study will be selected from those whose owners agree to participate. The surveys and mapping work will be done between June 15 and September 30.