Remembering Elaine Somers, an environmental leader and First Lady of Snohomish County
Elaine Somers, of Monroe who served as Snohomish County’s first lady since 2016, died Oct. 25 at age 73. Somers was a career environmental professional whose work at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Pacific Northwest Region 10 shaped how infrastructure projects account for wildlife and habitat. She joined the agency in 1983 after earning a bachelor’s degree in botany and a master’s in forest resources management from the University of Washington, with a focus on natural ecosystems, wildlife and conservation biology. Over more than three decades she reviewed major projects under the National Environmental Policy Act, pushed for earlier integration of environmental factors into transportation planning, and served as the region’s beneficial landscaping coordinator, advocating practices that protect habitats, wildlife and water resources.
Snohomish County, WA · 8h
