Since 2020, Navy SEALs have been unable to stealthily train at Washington state parks. That pause could become permanent if an April 1 ruling from state Superior Court Judge James Dixon is not overturned on appeal.
Navy SEALs first began training at state parks in the early 1980s, and appeared poised to expand that use from five to possibly 17 parks or more under a motion approved by the state Parks and Recreation Commission in January 2021.
It was a high-profile, controversial decision that drew hundreds of public comments. The SEALs training exercises are intended to be undetectable by the public. Critics have opposed the training as a kind of militarization of state parks and were upset about the idea that part of the exercises would have included surveillance of park activity.
In a scathing verbal opinion from the bench, Dixon found that the Legislature never granted the authority to permit military uses of the state Department of Parks and Recreation.
"It's not even a stretch. It just does not exist, either in real words, or by implication," Dixon stated in his bench ruling that found the commission in approving the Navy's use of the park was "outside its statutory authority."
The judge also concluded the commission violated a state environmental law by not analyzing "the creep factor" referenced by plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the Navy's use of the parks, according to an official transcript of the hearing made by a court reporter.
"Over the past few days this court has spent some time trying to articulate another definition or phrase that might adequately describe the emotional impact ... something other than 'creep factor' because it's a long way from a legal term. But I can't find one. It is creepy," Dixon said.
Washington state has long offered wide-ranging military training opportunities in the air, at sea and on land, and the judge's decision marked a rare moment when a state court set a limit to where such exercises can take place.
"Washington laws are clear, and Judge Dixon just enforced them. Parks are not for military use," said Steve Erickson, litigation coordinator for the lawsuit plaintiff, the Whidbey Environmental Action Network.
The decision could be appealed, but what happens next is unclear.
The judge asked the attorney for the Whidbey Environmental Action Network to draw up a proposed order to implement his ruling from the bench. A draft will be circulated among litigants and submitted to the judge for his signature.
Becki Ellison, executive assistant to the Parks and Recreation Commission, said the court's ruling will be reviewed. "We will post updates to our Navy webpage as information becomes available," Ellison said.
In a Jan. 29, 2021, written statement announcing the 4-3 vote to approve the Navy use of state parks, the commission stated that permits to use parks will begin to be issued to the Navy "in the next few weeks."
But Ellison said Friday that no permits have been issued and no Navy training is now occurring in state parks.
SEALs are elite special operations forces. Navy officials say their request reflects the imperatives of finding more diverse and challenging areas to conduct important training that is not intended to be visible to visitors and will not interfere with the public's use of the parks.
The training involves submersible vessels that navigate through offshore waters and unarmed SEAL team trainees in groups of six to eight who then make their way to shore, typically under the cover of darkness. Once on land, they conceal themselves for 24 to 48 hours to conduct surveillance, then depart by water.
"These aren't the guys that are your Rambo guys. ... These are the guys who ghost into the environment and just disappear," Chief Warrant Officer Esteban Alvarado said at a November 2020 meeting of the state Parks and Recreation Commission.
Opponents of the Navy's use of parks argued the Navy should find other coastal areas for the training.
Navy spokesperson Joe Overton, in a written statement, said that no single site provides the full range of environments needed for training to be as realistic as possible. The Navy uses military as well as private and public properties where permissions have been granted.
"With the State parks unavailable, the military members who need this critical training, which takes place only a few months each year, will have fewer options to hone their unique skills," the statement said.
