So it should come as no surprise that much unintended ecological damage has been done by our attempts to maintain a static landscape, he says. Mankind and nature are in a constant battle for control, and nature always gets the last word.
We can live more successfully along the shore when we understand coastal processes and act in harmony with them, rather than try to stop them.
Dramatic examples are readily visible in Island County, with its high bluffs, beaches, estuaries and lagoons, and on the nearby river deltas of the Skagit, Snohomish and Stillaguamish.
See Hugh's blog, Gravel Beaches for some fine pictures and discussion of Whidbey shoreline.
