Here’s what was decided on Navy’s request to train SEALs in Washington’s state parks
The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission on Thursday approved a request from the U.S. Navy to use some of the state’s parks for special operations training.
In a 4-3 vote, the commission approved the request, which received backlash from some members of the public. Commission chairman Steve Milner voted to approve the proposal alongside vice chair Michael Latimer and commissioners Lucinda Whaley and Mark Brown. Commissioners Ken Bounds, Diana Perez and Sophia Danenberg opposed the proposal.
“We’re not being asked to judge whether the training is necessary for the Navy or which of the parks are appropriate for this training,” Bounds said during Thursday’s meeting. “What we’re being asked is whether military training is especially suitable or compatible with the mission of the state parks. The clear majority of park users don’t think so.”
On Tuesday, Jan. 26, the commission held a special meeting to hear public comments on the proposal. Of the 62 people who gave comments during the meeting, fewer than 10 supported the Navy’s proposal.
In a statement to The News Tribune, the People for Parks and Nature Coalition condemned the commission’s decision to grant the Navy’s permit request.
“This is the first time that the public has been allowed to weigh in on military training in state parks,” said Steve Erickson of the Whidbey Environmental Action Network who formed the People for Parks Coalition. “By allowing this incompatible use, they have created a precedent for public lands throughout Washington and allowed damage to our treasured state parks that could be irreparable.”
The Navy plans to conduct five types of special operations training in Washington parks for up to five years. Types of training include:
Insertion and extraction training where trainees might approach or depart an area using submersible craft or watercraft.
Combat swimming or diver and swimmer training where trainees would be confined to the ocean or inland water areas.
Over-the-beach training where trainees would exit the water, cross the beach and continue to land-based activities.
Surveillance and reconnaissance operations where trainees are taught techniques for conducting reconnaissance without alerting anyone to their presence or location.
The 28 parks where the Navy could conduct the training include Blake Island, Cama Beach, Camano Island, Cape Disappointment, Deception Pass, Dosewallips, Fort Casey, Fort Columbia, Fort Ebey, Fort Flagler, Fort Townsend, Fort Worden, Grayland Beach, Hope Island, Illahee, Joseph Whidbey, Leadbetter Point, Manchester, Mystery Bay, Pacific Pines, Scenic Beach, Sequim Bay, Shine Tidelands, Skagit Island Marine, South Whidbey, Triton Cove, Twin Harbors and Westport Light.
After hearing public comment, the Washington State Parks staff made changes to the conditions and limitations under which the Navy’s permits would be granted.
Jessica Logan, the environmental program manager at Washington State Parks, and Steve Brand, the planning, partnerships and real-estate program manager at Washington State Parks, presented the changes to the commission prior to the Thursday vote. Changes included:
The Navy must provide park management, local law enforcement and tribal law enforcement with notification of training events at least two weeks prior to the event.
Trainees are restricted to developed trails in areas where sensitive plant or wildlife species are present
All climbing activities at Deception Pass must stick to established trail routes
Alteration of vegetation is prohibited, including mosses and lichens
No boats will be landed within shores designated within the Natural Areas classification
Sightings of marine mammals, including the Southern Resident killer whales, must be reported to the Ocean Wise Research Whale Alert System
The Navy is prohibited from conducting training during nesting windows for protected species and species of conservation concern
The Navy is prohibited from entering within 330 feet of nest sites for identified raptor species during breeding seasons
The Navy will respect any tribal request to avoid culturally significant locations of special importance on state park property and will not interfere with Tribal fishing or shellfish harvesting activities
Brand said the result of these conditions would mean a reduction in the number of training sites. The Navy originally requested permits for 28 state parks and about 14,000 acres of land.
“Based on a preliminary review, by modifying the (mitigated determination of non-significance) the number of training sites will be reduced to about 16 or 17,” Brand said. “Total area will be reduced to about 8,500 acres but after a further environmental review that will likely decrease further.”
Logan clarified that the passage of the Navy’s proposal today did not mean the Navy would immediately receive the permits. Permits are reviewed by park staff on a park-by-park basis.
That review will include getting permission from the Army Corps of Engineers and the National Park Service, since some of the parks the Navy wants to use for training are leased by Washington State Parks from those entities.
Brand said at least two properties are leased from the Army Corps of Engineers and three of the parks — Cape Disappointment, Fort Casey and Fort Ebey — are part of National Historic Areas operated by the National Parks Service.
“Our lease with the National Parks Service would likely prohibit the kind of activity the Navy wants to do, but we would consult with them and consider their recommendation,” Brand said.
In an interview with The News Tribune, Commissioner Brown said it’s now up to the Navy to decide whether it would still like to pursue the permits given all the new restrictions and limitations.
“I take no pleasure in knowing my vote is not in line with what some members of the public wanted, but sometimes you have to think beyond what is good for the parks and think about what is good for the state and for the nation,” Brown said. “If we can provide a small sliver of state parks where they can do that training, then I want to do that.”
The Navy has been conducting training exercises in state parks for years. In 2015, the Naval Special Warfare Group 3, based at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in San Diego, California, was granted a five-year permit to conduct training in five Washington parks: Blake Island State Park, Fort Flagler State Park, Illahee State Park, Mystery Bay and Scenic Beach State Park. That permit expired in May 2020.
Prior to 2015, the Navy said it worked directly with park managers to get permission to use various parks. A spokesman for Washington State Parks said the Navy’s use of the parks “predates agency records” but estimated it goes back at least 30 years.
The Navy said Washington’s unique environmental conditions provide SEAL operators with critical development.
“No other region in the continental United States provides our naval special worker operators the same atmospheric conditions,” said Warrant Officer Esteban Alvarado, the representative for Naval Special Warfare Group 3, during a November parks commission meeting. “While training in state parks, the objective is for our trainees to remain undetected, leave no trace and no presence and at the conclusion disappear back beneath the water.”
Alvarado said the Navy’s training on federal property — such as one of the Navy’s four bases in Washington — is highly restricted.
“Although Navy property is large in mass, the facts are, training areas are small and limited,” Alvarado said. “They provide little diversity and little complexity.”
Trainees at the state parks would not have real weapons or ammunition during exercises but would have simulated weapons.
