Grab your field glasses. Break out the microscope, and rinse off those petri dishes.

The county has thrown open the doors in its search for “best available science” for the pending update of its critical areas ordinance.

On Feb. 9, the council set in motion a process by which it will determine what research will be used for the pending CAO update. That process will include setting a deadline for submissions of CAO-related science, hiring a consultant to paw through the material and to determine the best of the bunch, and a decision as to what scientific criteria will be used in fulfilling the state-required update.

State law requires all counties and cities whose long-range planning efforts are dictated by the Growth Management Act to revise their regulations protecting critical areas. As defined by state law, critical areas include wetlands, critical aquifer recharge areas, fish and wildlife habitat, steep or unstable slopes and conservation lands. Updates must be done through the use of “best available science.”

The county, which embarked on the CAO update in 2003, was supposed to have it completed by 2005. The council decided previously to finish the upland portion of the CAO update and revise the shoreline portions in conjunction with the update of the local shoreline master plan, which is due to the state by 2012.

In a 5-0 decision, the council voted without dissent to establish a menu of locally based best available science by following that three-part process. The process is expected to be completed by Sept. 15.