Submitted By the Clover Creek Restoration Alliance Pierce County’s lakes, wetlands, and aquifers quietly hold our communities together. They supply our drinking water, support wildlife, buffer floods, and sustain the landscapes that define our region. Because these systems often operate out of sight, it is easy to overlook how essential they are until the signs…
Tag: environment
Boeing Frederickson 2025 contamination periodic report
Adapted from the Department of Ecology Reports. Link to current Periodic Review for the Frederickson Industrial Park, May 22, 2025. Data here is excerpted from Department of Ecology report. You can find them in their entirety at the DOE web links.I have the supplemental EIS for the site but am still trying to locate the…
News: A salmon was spotted near the small dam in Chambers Creek. This is since the recent allowance of 532 Chinook salmon over the Dam at Chamber Bay. Conversations are occurring online between the members of Pierce County Surface Water Management (PCSWM), the Chambers Clover Watershed Council (CCWC), and the Clover Creek Restoration Alliance (CCRA)…
Condition of Spanaway Lake
UPDATED: Corrections to current data.) These pictures are the condition of Spanaway Lake four weeks after the second EutroSORB G application this year to prevent Spanaway Lake’s annually recurring harmful cyanobacteria blooms, September 9, 2025. The Health Department closed the lake on August 20, 2024. https://tpchd.org/news/spanaway-lake-closed-because-of-toxic-algae/ In 2025, the lake has only been under an advisory. https://tpchd.org/environment/surface-water/advisories/…
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…
Jan 29 – Your Septic System
Oversight of the operation and maintenance of your septic system is one of the tasks the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department (TPCHD) performs. On January 29, 2025 at Sprinker Recreation Center there will be an open house for homeowners regrading septic systems. Because of the proximity to lakes, creeks, and waterways, Parkland and Spanaway may…
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….
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…
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…
Recounting eight years of Dammeier
By Marianne Lincoln Each new Pierce County Executive brings changes to the County. Although we have a County Charter, the Executive is the chief department head approving job and volunteer appointments and legislation from the Council. Thus, that person has a significant influence on who holds a job almost anywhere in County Government offices. Leadership…
Watching a dry creek getting some rain
By Marianne Lincoln On November 29, 2024, I took a drive out to a few locations on Clover Creek to see where there was water and where it ended. I started near Canyon Road and ended near Pacific Avenue. The water in the South Fork disappeared just after Golden Given, where there are a number…
WDF&W receives $1,499,300 grant for oak habitat, prescribed burning and other salmon enhancement on base
As part of a package of $18.5 million for conservation grants, JBLM will receive almost $1.5 million for expanding partnerships, landowner outreach, plant production, and prescribed burning. There are 13 sites and 829 acres where oak habitat and ecosystem enhancements will take place. Here is the portion of the press release noting the local project….
Pierce Prairie Post 