The Squaxin Island Tribe and the Capitol Land Trust are hoping to purchase and protect an important piece of forestland between Henderson and Budd inlets as part of a joint effort to restore and protect habitat between the two south Sound inlets.

“In total, we would protect almost 60 acres,” said John Konovsky, resource protection manager for the Squaxin Island Tribe. “Most importantly, the property contains more than 10 acres of a vital 70 acre wetland.”

The purchase will largely be funded by a grant the tribe received from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The balance of the funding would come the LOTT Clean Water Alliance, the local wastewater utility.

Protecting the forestland and shoreline between Budd and Henderson inlets is a high priority for both the tribe and the land trust because the area is relatively undeveloped. “Since this area is so close to an expanding urban center, it’s important to protect as much as possible before it is destroyed by development,” Konovsky said.

In addition to land purchases, the partnership could also lead to habitat restoration projects, such as culvert removals.

The unique partnership between the tribe and the land trust is key. “The tribe has expertise with research and directly managing natural resources, while the land trust has worked with hundreds of landowners to protect important areas” Konvosky said. “The tribe and the trust have a long-time working relationship.”

The Squaxin Island Tribe has been studying deep South Sound for decades and recently completed a habitat assessment of Budd Inlet, where the tribe has been monitoring juvenile salmon populations.

“Protecting and restoring habitat is the single most important thing we can do to restore salmon and to bring Puget Sound back to health,” said Andy Whitener, natural resources director for the tribe. “Restoring salmon and repairing Puget Sound is a massive undertaking. It’s great that we have been able to find partners in the community to help us out.”

“Protecting our treaty-reserved right to harvest depends on a healthy ecosystem, we appreciate the support we get from our neighbors,” Whitener said.

We have learned that the Thurston County Commission intends to support using Thurston Conservation Futures money to support “preserving” land for an urban park in downtown Olympia. This appears to fail the test of the intended use for this funding source and does nothing for conservation. If this is how money will be doled out, then the Tribe has been duped into supporting this funding program.

The Conservation Futures Program is established by State law to acquire interests or rights in real property for the preservation of open spaces. Funds are acquired through a property tax levy, in Thurston County 3.85 cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation, and are used to purchase the land or the rights to future development of the land.

Conservation Futures is a land preservation program that protects, preserves, maintains, improves, restores, and limits the future use of threatened areas of open space, timberlands, wetlands, habitat areas, culturally significant sites, and agricultural farmlands. It was foreseen as a tool to help offset the impacts of urban sprawl by acquiring properties outside the urban area and in recognition of the Growth Management Act principles for increasing density within the urban growth boundaries.

The Legislature found that Conservation Futures are a useful tool for counties to preserve land of public interest for future generations and are encouraged to use some conservation futures as one tool for salmon preservation purposes.  It is one source of funding that many partnerships have looked to help fund acquisition of land for habitat purposes. Clearly, if money is used to acquire already developed urban land for conversion to parks, there is less money available for acquiring land and habitat and easing the tension from landowners who feel their land is being taken by regulatory fiat without compensation. Projects like protection of the valuable pocket estuary at Gull Harbor or the acquisition of Woodland Creek riparian corridor will fall by the way side as funding is redirected to questionable projects.

But don’t take my word for it. Check out the funding criteria developed for the newly implemented project selection process. Does the project preserve unique or critical habitat? Does the project preserve unique natural features and or natural resources? Does it preserve critical or sensitive lands like wetlands? How did an urban park ever acquire enough ranking points to be considered a priority?

Conservation Futures is a valuable tool for conserving fish habitat and protecting open space in a county under extreme pressures from population growth. It would be a serious waste of resources and a kick in the gut of open space advocates to misuse this funding source to appease the advocates for expanding the State Capitol Campus.

From the DNR blog Ear to the Ground: http://washingtondnr.wordpress.com/

DNR and its partners have removed 3,150 square feet of overwater docking structure — the last remaining overwater structure on Squaxin Island. Removed were 48 creosote treated wood pilings and 84.6 tons of creosote treated wood.

The dock, which provided tribal members access to an old long house on the island, is the second phase of creosote removal for this project. A 400-foot rock bulkhead along the Squaxin Island shoreline, adjacent to the dock, was also removed by the South Sound Salmon Enhancement Group.

Squaxin Island has documented surf smelt spawning habitat in that area. Removal of the treated wood and over water structures will improve the habitat for the smelt, as well as other species, such as migrating salmon.

Large structures that are built in the nearshore environment have been known to cast large shadows in the shallow waters that are used for migrating fish. These shadows are seen as a threat causing the fish to swim around them into deeper water where predators can eat them.

By keeping the nearshore clear of overwater structures that block sunlight and don’t contain toxic chemicals, we can help improve migratory corridors for our fish that we depend on.

Photos courtesy of Monica Shoemaker/DNR