Hello friends, The Clean Water Act is one of the cornerstones of water protection for the entire country. Now, Trump’s EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is working to undo years of work by removing critical wetlands and streams from the act’s protection. We can’t let this happen. Urge the EPA to keep wetlands and streams under…
Category: Ecology
Spanaway Lake Watershed
As promised, the draft Spanaway Lake Watershed-scale Stormwater Management Plan is available for review on our website: http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/spanawaywatershedplan Background: The Spanaway Lake Watershed-scale Stormwater Management Plan is a requirement of the Washington State Phase I Municipal Stormwater Permit (2013-18). The Permit requires watershed modeling to predict whether water quality standards for temperature, copper,…
Next Lake Kapowsin Cleanup July 15
Hello All: We had a great work party last Saturday (5/20/17) at Lake Kapowsin boat launch with a total of 19 volunteers. Thanks to all that helped!! Fish and Wildlife access managers Derek Hacker and John Evans also came and worked on the parking area green spaces to increase visibility for security. We cleared about 740…
Community leaders stress quality of life to County Executive
On May 26, 4 community leaders from Midland, Frederickson, Waller and Spanaway met with County Executive Bruce Dammeier and Dennis Hanberg, Director of Planning and Land Services (PALS) and Public Works. The message was simple, our quality of life matters, we need roads and other infrastructure if you build out the Centers and Corridors project,…
Environmental Small Grants Program for Chambers-Clover Creek Watershed
–Applications for 2017 Grant Applications Now Available– The City of Lakewood and Pierce County are partnering to provide $25,000 in grants this year to support environmental projects up to $2,500 in the Chambers-Clover Creek Watershed. View the grant announcement, criteria, and downloadable application form online at: https://www.co.pierce.wa.us/1872/Small-Grants-Program Applications are due June 1, 2017. New this…
Nisqually Land Trust Work Party May 24
Join us along the Nisqually River for another fun-filled morning of invasive weed control! Wednesday, May 24th from 9:00am to 12:00pm. This week we will be at our Thurston Ridge protected area pulling Scotch Broom. This is another important step forward in the restoration of this site, and we could use your help! If interested,…
Nature Walk on Saturday, May 13
Upcoming events for the Nisqually Land Trust Join us for our first Nature Walk on Saturday, May 13! River Walk at Nisqually River Shoreline near Yelm Saturday, May 13, 10 am – 11:30 am George Walter, board member and founder of the Land Trust, will guide the walk and share stories about how this forested shoreline was preserved….
Fir Meadows and Oxbow flooding in Pioneer Valley
By Marianne Lincoln Flooding continues to plague the Pioneer Valley area in Spanaway/Frederickson. Fir Meadows, which was built in 1968, has closed roads and swift water flowing in from the flooded playfield near the railroad tracks on Knoble Road. Electric vaults are underwater, yet people are still driving through the closed signs and even wading…
OK Highway Floods at Thrift
By Marianne Lincoln UPDATE 3/21/17: The OK Highway is still closed. Crews were working on a big hole in the ground, so they most have gotten the pole removed and are repairing the pipes. Vactor trucks are still removing material around the drainage pipe. — THRIFT, WA — Since Friday March 17, the Orting-Kapowsin…
Pioneer Valley Oxbow flooding
By Marianne Lincoln FREDERICKSON, WA — Near Liberty Middle School and Pioneer Valley Elementary School there is a wetland that crosses under 204th Street and under Eustis Hunt Road. This area, called an oxbow has a rising water table when the groundwater reserve is full. The heavy rains we have had this winter, combined with…
Annual county roadside herbicide applications start March 28
[Editor note: I would rather title that, annual poison application on the roadside plants, just keep that in mind for your pets & children. Also, if you see the county contractors spraying where they should not, like in wetland areas, please photograph and/or report it!] County roadsides will get an annual makeover this spring and summer….
Growth – Is it managed in Pierce County?
Back in the early 1990’s the Washington State legislature passed the Growth Management Act. Since that time in Pierce County lot sizes have grown much smaller, there is more traffic congestion in unincorporated areas and now there are restrictions on who can get a well put on their property in rural areas. Did ‘we’ preserve our…
