It has been a very dry year, perhaps a record. We lost a lot of aquatic creatures to dry creeks. There is a week of rain coming, that rain will move salmon up the river and creeks. So get out your raingear and your fishing poles. From Al Schmauder, noted Clover Creek walking steward: My…
Category: Ecology
Vanishing water – bits from other stewards
To whom it may concern: My name is Diane Dumond. I lived on carp lake for 15 years. I was a stream team volunteer taking water samples from the lake for 17 years. I have worked in the field of water testing for over 40 years. There seems to be a question as to whether…
Veto Override today? Aug. 22, 2023
By Marianne Lincoln UPDATED Spanaway, Parkland and Frederickson, being unincorporated urban communities get many promises for infrastructure and services. Since the 1980’s, the Cross Base Highway was promised to help alleviate traffic from all the housing developments the County allowed to squeeze into the area. The highways project meetings went on for decades, involving community…
Editorial
[Please read the article – Not This Time – before these comments from Cindy Beckett to understand what is going on.] By Cindy Beckett I keep saying this ad nauseum……I don’t care who it is – the Tacoma rescue bunch, the executive and his lying planning dept, or the so-called lead for HUD in WA…
Not This Time
In case you have not seen it, Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier wrote an op-ed in the Suburban Times of Lakewood. If you are from Parkland-Spanaway-Midland, it is critical you read it. If you are a county voter, you should also know this about what is happening in the county. Here is a previous press…
Help or a grandfathering trick?
Stripping Away the Protections of the Residential Resource Zoneby Claudia Riiff Finseth In March, the County Council amended the Residential Resource code for Parkland-Spanaway-Midland (PSM) to allow “shared housing,” that is, high density micro-home villages on an important and fragile Spanaway wetland.Once the tiny home village development was vested as a done deal, the County…
More than a risky, bad idea, developing in critical wetlands
The proposed Tiny Home Village, or Pierce County Village that the County and Tacoma Rescue Mission are working to locate between Spanaway Marsh and Spanaway Lake is addressed in these comments by Cindy Beckett, Master Watershed Steward. In Cindy’s words: I hope you know that this is being challenged in a court with representation by…
Letter: Waughop Lake’s Demise Assured
By Don Russell, Lakewood A Significant and Questionable EventOn May 4, 2023 the City of Lakewood requested proposals for professional services from qualified contractors for the purpose of an alum treatment for algae control in Waughop Lake. The alum treatment prescribed in this RFP is for the application of aluminum sulfate (alum) and sodium aluminate. …
Cyanobacteria Treatment for Spanaway Lake – Public Meeting June 22
By Marianne Lincoln There is a Spanaway Lake Cyanobacteria Treatment Briefing Thursday, 6/22/23, 5 p.m., at Sprinker Recreation Center. This is a public meeting for the Spanaway Lake Management District, if you are interested in hearing what is proposed and give input. “Join us Thursday, June 22 to discuss the upcoming Lake Cyanobacteria Management Plan. We’ll be…
Pierce County needs to use more caution with our water resources
By Cindy BeckettEPA certified Watershed Manager, WSU certified Master Watershed Steward Why are we still losing our water resources in this county? “They” claim we must build housing fast enough to meet the need – to be precise, our share of the claimed 1.1 million homes the State says we (all counties together) need to add in the next 20 years, according…
Water, water isn’t always everywhere, there’s nary a drop to drink
By Marianne Lincoln Land use planning meets sole source aquifer and the fight is on The Pierce County communities of Midland, Summit, Waller, Parkland Spanaway Frederickson, Graham, Elk Plain and South Hill along with Lakewood and University Place have one thing in common, they sit on a sole source aquifer. That means, their only supply…
May is “Wildfire Awareness Month”
County Council Proclaims May as Wildfire Awareness Month and Invitation to Participate in Wildfire Ready Neighbors Pierce County, WA – The Pierce County Council issued a proclamation at its May 2nd meeting announcing May as “Wildfire Awareness Month.” The proclamation underscores how wildfire risk and severity in Western Washington is increasing, along with the need…
Pierce Prairie Post 