I am 60 years old.

When I was born there was 2.5 billion people on earth, now we have just hit the 7 billion mark and are still growing.

This is the largest growth increase in a single generation ever before seen in human history.

Things are simply not the same as it was when we Baby Boomers were kids, much less our parents’ time.

More than ever we need to plan in such a way as to lessen impact on the environment we all depend on. Growth planned like this is called sustainable development.

Planning for a sustainable future makes sense to most people, but it has become a target of certain tea party groups who believe that the 20-year-old United Nations Agenda 21 Plan for Sustainable Development is a formula for U.N. take over of the USA and that local planning and zoning commissions are the U.N.’s tools for this take over (Mencimer, Mother Jones, April 2011).

False.

This is a general plea to accept that we, as a society, do need regulations, at least reasonable ones.

Unfortunately, there are always those that, if they have the means, will do whatever they want with no regard for others or the future. Eelgrass and wet lands, for example, are important in the big ecological picture and need protecting.

Property rights are important to me too, but all these parcels add up to one island and we need to make sure that the cumulative effects of individual choices do not ruin important natural systems.

The issue is to devise a well crafted but effective CAO, not to not have one at all.

Please do not let a small but vocal minority derail a reasonable but effective plan to protect our environment for future generations.

Christopher Wilson

San Juan Island