Expert Dr. Sarah Cook says peer reviewers sampled the wrong spots in Silverview wetland remand

At a June 3, 2025 hearing before the Kitsap County Hearing Examiner, wetland scientist Dr. Sarah Cook told the panel she had documented a larger wetland on the Silverview property than found by the developer's consultants and that reviewers' attempts to re-sample "adjacent" plots did not visit the same locations she recorded.

Cook testified that she visited the property in September 2020 when vegetation was identifiable and soils were hydrated, recorded 23 field data plots with a submeter GPS, and used standard hydric-soil guidance when she filled data forms. "I have 39 years of experience in wetlands and ecological research," Cook said during direct examination. She added that she recorded GPS points with submeter accuracy and that she would have provided those coordinates to other parties on request: "I would have shared that data. No one called me to ask for it."

Why it matters

The remand ordered by the hearing examiner required party reviewers to re-check locations Cook listed in earlier testimony and to confirm whether hydric-soil indicator A11 (a depleted matrix within the top 12 inches in certain soils) was present at those spots. Cook told the examiner that focusing narrowly on A11 during a remand is not best-available practice in meadow wetlands, where vegetation and seasonal groundwater are critical context and where hydrology may be present only part of the growing season. That dispute matters because the county's designation of wetland area affects mitigation requirements, allowed site layout and building footprints.

What witnesses said

- Dr. Sarah Cook (appellant witness) said she…