Deer Lagoon: Stuck Between the Tides without a Plan
The following opinion piece was published in the South Whidbey Record on August 5, 2026 and is reprinted with permission.
Deer Lagoon is an area of natural beauty with an abundance of wildlife, but it needs to be properly managed to preserve its special qualities. Deer Lagoon Preserve is unique because it is a public location with a primary function of protecting and preserving wildlife and their habitat rather than encouraging recreation. A detailed site-specific management plan is needed to fulfill that prime responsibility, and we call on Island County to prioritize the process to adopt a plan for Deer Lagoon Preserve.
Until the 1870's, Deer Lagoon was part of an approximately 1,500-acre estuarine system that extended from Useless Bay in the south, to Double Bluff in the west, and to Lone Lake in the east and north. North-to-south dikes constructed in the early 1900's cut Deer Lagoon into three portions in attempts to claim agricultural land. Approximately half of this estuarine system was lost, and the eastern portion remains drained land today. The western portion is a brackish lagoon, while the central portion is the only part that remains fully tidal. Waters from the western marsh flow east to the tidelands via tide gates which are maintained by Island County Public Works.
Even with the loss of the eastern portion, the Deer Lagoon system was recognized as one of the last remaining estuarine systems in Island County. Its strategic location makes it accessible to juvenile salmon out-migrating from the Whidbey Basin and Puget Sound. In the 1980's, Washington State identified Deer Lagoon as the single most important site on Whidbey Island for waterfowl. The National Audubon Society declared it an Important Bird Area. Because of its unique and special characteristics that benefit wildlife, 379 acres were acquired in 2004 by Island County with funding from local, state, and federal sources.
The federal grant requirements for that 2004 acquisition were to preserve Deer Lagoon's undeveloped wetlands and/or to improve its function as fish and wildlife habitat, including limiting activities that impair or diminish its ecological value. This requirement distinguishes Deer Lagoon Preserve from other Island County Parks because its primary purpose is to protect and preserve wildlife and habitat.
Island County has not implemented or enforced those original binding grant requirements. Hunting and shooting in Deer Lagoon were officially prohibited in 2009, but only after extensive public and legal protests. Because Public Works maintains the tide gates to the western portion, the entire 379 acres are formally managed by Public Works, a department that typically handles road maintenance, county buildings, and other human-built infrastructure. Currently, there is no adopted written plan that clearly identifies permissible recreational activities or to ensure Deer Lagoon Preserve is properly managed specifically for conservation and wildlife habitat preservation.
Shaping an appropriate management plan is a careful process that needs to include input from stakeholders including the public. A comprehensive draft management plan for Deer Lagoon Preserve describing stewardship principles, ecological features, existing infrastructure, and uses consistent with a wildlife preserve and the federal grant requirements was provided to Island County Public Works over a year ago, but no action has been taken to publicly review that document. A formal County commitment with a specific timeframe for public hearings and eventual adoption and implementation of a management plan is the needed first step forward.
Increasing inappropriate recreational use of Deer Lagoon Preserve undermines the original purpose of this beautiful natural area and underscores the need for a management plan to protect and preserve its function as a wildlife preserve. Deer Lagoon Preserve supports a high abundance of invertebrates and fish that are food sources for wildlife including birds and resident mammals such as river otter, and juvenile chum and pink salmon have used the central marine portion. Over 215 year-round and migratory birds are documented there, including waterfowl, shorebirds, songbirds, and raptors. Deer Lagoon Preserve is a unique and rare Island County treasure that requires and deserves the protection of a well-developed management plan.
By Carlos Andersen, Frances Wood and Linda Rhodes
The authors are long-time residents of Whidbey Island, members of Whidbey Audubon Society, and have professional backgrounds in birds, fisheries and natural ecosystems.
Shorelines Addendum to the published opinion piece:
This opinion piece intends to increase awareness about the need for the management plan and the fact that a draft already exists. There are several options that members of the public can take to encourage Island County to move forward with the adoption of a management plan for Deer Lagoon:
1. Public comment at the Commissioners’ weekly regular session. Island County Commissioners are the public figures who can move the management plan forward through instructions to staff. Individuals can provide public comment directly to the Island County Commissioners at their weekly regular session each Tuesday (here is the link to the Board’s schedule. Public comment begins promptly at 10:00 a.m. and is limited to three minutes per person.
Specific instructions for public comment are published in the regular session agenda:
"10:00 a.m. Public Input or Comments
The Board values your ideas and sets aside this time for members of the public to speak to the Board about subjects of concern or interest, or items on the agenda. Comments on matters scheduled for Public Hearing will only be heard during the hearing. Public comments are limited to 3 minutes, and commenters should state their name clearly for the record before giving their statement. If you have any documents to present to the Board, please hand them to the Clerk of the Board prior to speaking.”
2. Letter to your Island County Commissioner. Individuals can submit letters directly to their Island County Commissioner. Each Commissioner’s email can be accessed from this webpage: Meet the Commissioners | Island County, WA.
3. Letter to the editor of the local newspaper. Individuals can submit letters to the South Whidbey Record or Whidbey News-Times. Maximum length is 250 words, and it can be submitted on-line here.