WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE — Join us for an upcoming community session to provide your input on Commerce’s environmental justice assessments for programs and projects that could impact your community. The HEAL Act implementation team has partnered with Commerce’s Community Engagement Unit to pilot a process for community participation in program design and development. …
Category: wetlands
Apply today! Grants for watershed improvement projects open now
PIERCE COUNTY — Pierce County is partnering with watershed councils, regional nonprofits, local governments, and other entities to fund a small grants program supporting community projects that improve habitat and water quality across the county. The 2025 cycle will award more than $70,000 total to projects in four watersheds: Key Peninsula-Gig Harbor-Islands, Chambers-Clover Creek, Puyallup-White…
Dead fish conundrum at Spanaway Lake
By Marianne Lincoln Small fish, four to eight inches in length are rolling around, disoriented and flopping over on their backs and dying in Spanaway Lake. Reports have been coming in for a month in online social media. At the recent Chambers Clover Watershed Council meeting, a group of experienced water watchers came together to…
Why is the cost of environmental justice so high?
by Kirk Kirkland and Claudia Finseth Two neighborhood groups in unincorporated Pierce County have recently paid very high prices to attempt to protect their communities because the county is not doing it. Both were to try to stop two different kinds of large projects from dramatically changing their valued open space. Both proposed projects were…
Is the “Good Neighbor Village” being a good neighbor?
By Spanaway Concerned Citizens As concerned citizens, we rely on our elected officials to make decisions regarding topics that significantly impact the well-being of our communities — addressing critical issues such as providing housing for our chemically dependent, chronically homeless individuals is undoubtedly important. However, does this effort justify compromising regional environmental integrity and public…
Our Watershed, “WRIA 12” January 15
It is called a Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) by the Department of Ecology. The Chambers Clover Watershed includes Parkland, Spanaway, Midland, Collins, Frederickson, part of South Hill and NW Graham as well as Lakewood, McChord Field, Fircrest, Steilacoom, Dupont, and University Place, Below is a map of the WRIA’s in Washington State. Look for 12….
Jan 22 Spanaway Court Appeal to be heard
[Updated with corrections.] At 9 a.m. on January 22, 2025, the Spanaway Concerned Citizens administrative appeal to the Pierce County Hearing Examiner decision regarding the permitting of the Good Neighbor Village will be heard at the Pierce County Annex. The event will be available on Zoom if the public wants to watch. The meeting room…
Prickly Pete is homeless
It’s a bit ironic and terribly sad if you love wildlife. All the neighbors tried to explain to the Hearings Examiner what the Tacoma Rescue Mission and the former County Executive just refused to get through their heads. The Spanaway Marsh property already had numerous residents. Residents that could not attend the hearings or testify…
Restoring the people’s faith in Pierce County government: What I would like our new government to know.
by Claudia Riiff Finseth Pierce County will have a new government this month. What will the next four years be like? Will they be more of the same as the last eight years? I have great hope that they will be different. Different, first and foremost, in restoring a healthy county democracy. This can be done…
Pierce County’s Non-Significance
One of the hallmarks of the past eight years under County Executive Bruce Dammeier was the prolific use of the DNS, Determination of Non-Significance. It is a term used in land development after an environmental review form is filled out and a plan for development is submitted. In the past eight years, I cannot recall…
Jan 9 – Youth Environmental Council
The South Sound Youth Environmental Council is coming to town! They are planning a first meeting on Thursday, January 9, from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Zoom. Yes, this is a virtual meeting! You can join in wherever you are if you have Zoom on your smart phone. This will be the first ever…
Spanaway Lake, now it’s the beavers
Over the past several years Spanaway Lake has been having issues. For us swimming as children, it was the “duck itch” caused by a parasite getting under our skin if we didn’t dry off well with a towel after swimming. Over time, the swimming beaches became less popular, the diving docks were removed, and the…
Nov. 30 Fundraiser at the Flying Tomato
171st and Pacific Avenue, at the parking lot of the Flying Tomato, will be the site of a fundraiser on Saturday, November 30, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. You can stop by for treats, hot cocoa or cider and peruse an array of wreaths, swags and gift baskets for sale. Volunteers can show up…
Aerial photos of the watershed in jeopardy
Spanaway Concerned Citizens got drone footage from the area where the Good Neighbor Village is being constructed under “Executive Privilege” in Pierce County. We all hope that there can be solutions for our unhoused citizens, but a wetland that is the watershed for Spanaway Lake is not popular with the community. To make it easier…
When the faucet is dry…
By Marianne Lincoln Where did the water go? That is a question a lot of us have been asking for years. It is the end of November. Clover Creek is still dry in From Brookdale Golf Course to Midland and Spanaway Loop Road. The Chambers Clover Creek Watershed is based on a Sole Source Aquifer….
Puyallup Watershed Symposium, Dec 5
The Puyallup River Watershed Council is presenting the Puyallup Watershed Symposium on December 5, 2024, from 1:00 – 6:00 pm at the Pioneer Park Pavilion (330 S Meridian, Puyallup, WA 98317). The presenters’ abstracts can be accessed using the QR code on the poster or using this link. To register, you can do so by…
Groundbreaking for Good Neighbor Village draws supporters and protestors
By Marianne Lincoln Good Neighbor Village, the village of tiny homes that the Tacoma Rescue Mission and the Pierce County Executive’s office are trying to build in Spanaway, had a groundbreaking today, November 21, 2024. The event was an invitation only event at the farm site near the intersection of 176th and Spanaway Loop Road….
Clover Creek, groundwater, urbanization, beaver dams, watershed issues discussion Nov 20
Clover Creek is dry most of the year. Water companies are extending water lines across the county to other water company areas to provide water for new construction. Surface water runoff from Military Road is pouring straight into Spanaway Creek. Beavers are trying to build a dam between Spanaway Lake and the little Spanaway Lake…
Flett Creek Habitat Restoration Nov. 16
By Derek Faust There will be a habitat stewardship event on Clover Park Technical College’s (CPTC) Flett Property this Saturday, November 16th from 9:00 AM to noon. Below is the flyer with pertinent details and all of the 2024 dates for our remaining habitat stewardship events. For this event, we will focus on removal of invasive plant species. We will provide…
Watershed Issues Forum Nov. 20
The Chambers Clover Creek Watershed Council will be presenting their annual Issues Forum on November 20 at Sprinker Recreation Center. The event will begin with an optional field trip at 1:15 p.m. and followed by the presentations in the Rainier Room upstairs starting at 2:30 p.m. Registration is required, link provided below. Theme: UrbanizationSchedule1:15pm Optional…