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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY <br />ES-3 <br />MITIGATION GUIDING PRINCIPLE, GOALS AND OBJECTIVES <br />The following guided the steering committee and the planning partnership in selecting the initiatives <br />recommended in this plan: <br />• Guiding Principle—Through partnerships, reduce the vulnerability to natural hazards in order <br />to protect the health, safety, welfare and economy of the communities within Kittitas County. <br />Based on this guiding principle, the following goals were established: <br />1. Protect life, property and the environment. <br />2. Continuously build and support local capacity to enable the public to mitigate, prepare for, <br />respond to and recover from the impact of hazards and disasters. <br />3. Establish a hazard and disaster resilient economy. <br />4. Promote public awareness, engage public participation and enhance partnerships through <br />education and outreach. <br />5. Encourage the development and implementation of long-term, cost-effective mitigation <br />projects. <br />Objectives were confirmed from the last plan and modified minimally to meet multiple goals, acting as a <br />bridge between the mitigation goals and actions and helping to establish priorities. The objectives are as <br />follows: <br />1. Reduce natural hazard-related risks and vulnerability to populations, critical facilities and <br />infrastructure within the planning area. <br />2. Minimize the impacts of natural hazards on current and future land uses by encouraging use of <br />incentives for hazard mitigation (e.g., National Flood Insurance Program, Community Rating <br />System). <br />3. Prevent or discourage new development in hazardous areas or ensure that if building occurs in <br />high-risk areas it is done in such a way as to minimize risk. <br />4. Integrate hazard mitigation policies into land use plans within the planning area. <br />5. Update the plan annually to integrate local hazard mitigation plans and the results of disaster- <br />and hazard-specific planning efforts. <br />6. Educate the public on the risk exposure to natural hazards and ways to increase the public’s <br />capability to prepare, respond, recover and mitigate the impacts of these events. <br />7. Use the best available data, science and technologies to improve understanding of the location <br />and potential impacts of natural hazards, the vulnerability of building types, and community <br />development patterns and the measures needed to protect life safety. <br />8. Retrofit, purchase, or relocate structures in high hazard areas including those known to be <br />repetitively damaged. <br />9. Establish a partnership among all levels of government and the business community to improve <br />and implement methods to protect property. <br />10. Encourage hazard mitigation measures that result in the least adverse effect on the natural <br />environmental and that use natural processes.