A clear baseline is important

Lasers used to renew Sound shoreline

The Army Corps of Engineers flew over Puget Sound yesterday, blasting away at the shoreline surrounding Skagit Bay with laser beams aimed at correcting decades of human environmental abuse. ... "We're trying to map the areas that scientists believe are most critical for understanding the natural processes," said Bernie Hargrave, manager of the Army Corps' role in a multiagency effort aimed at improving the environmental health of the Puget Sound. ... The problem with the goal of restoring the shoreline to its natural state is that nobody really knows what "natural" means. With all the homes, bulkheads, piers, docks, waste streams, drained wetlands and developed estuaries, there just isn't that much natural shoreline left around Puget Sound.