T&T: anchoring vs existing mooring

[Terry Neill]

It has become apparent that the regulation of anchoring and mooring  
varies widely from state to state. In Washington State approval for a  
mooring or any other 'structure' on or over navigable water, tidelands  
or beaches must come from the State Department of Natural Resources,  
which in turn requires the applicant to obtain permits from the local  
governing body (County or City in most cases), the State Department of  
Fish and Wildlife and the Army Corps of Engineers. Some of the permit  
applications require such details as a survey of the bottom within one  
hundred feet of the mooring by an approved biologist surveyor. This  
for the protection of eelgrass etc.
After obtaining the permits and setting the mooring buoy in the  
approved manner the state prohibits commercial use of the buoy and  
living aboard while using the buoy. It limits boats to sixty feet in  
length.
Obviously the bureaucrats have been busy.

On a related subject, I am not aware of the existence of any  
'designated anchorages' within the State of Washington. Indeed, there  
are very few on the West Coast, especially when compared with the  
proliferation in the Northeast.

Terry
Tamarack