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Sage and Danny, thank you for scrambling to pull together and share updated information on this destruction of our local environmental habitat. I am concerned that the DNR authorization was provided without an adequately thorough investigation of the potential impacts of this project. I hope the City of Olympia will consider addressing the disconnect you mentioned for having no input on major projects like this within the City limits. I respect DNR, but this is our city and we should have more opportunity for input.

Dan Einstein, the well respected president and CEO of Olympia Coalition for Ecosystems Protection, provided the detailed assessment of the potential impacts below. I hope that your readers will read these and consider joining the appeal by e-mailing Charlotte Persons (cpeople2u@gmail.com) before COB Monday, June 27th as well as to consider e-mailing their comments to the three agencies related to this issue, noting “Re: Forest Practice Application #2422931 - Cooper Crest, Olympia WA”:

-Pollution Control Hearings Board - pchb-shbappeals@eluho.wa.gov.

-Office of the Attorney General, Natural Resources Division -

serviceATG@atg.wa.gov

-Department of Natural Resources, South Puget Sound Region -southpuget.region@dnr.wa.gov

Dan Einstein’s Initial Assessment of Potential Clearcut Impacts:

The clearcut would destroy a legacy forest within Olympia city limits in the Green Cove Creek Basin that borders the Cooper Crest Open Space and Green Cove Creek, and is close to The Evergreen State College's environmental preserve and old growth forest. The site is a critical area for aquifer recharge, provides habitat to threatened species, and stabilizes the slope to prevent landslides. The loss of this forest would create conditions that greatly exacerbate the possibility of flooding, fire, landslides, contamination of ground and surface waters, damage to road and culvert infrastructure, and destruction of fish habitat in the federally protected waters of the United States. The naked top of this highest hill in Olympia would be the site of the first slash burn in more than a decade and is to be replanted using chemical herbicides, seriously endangering water quality and salmonid health in the basin.

Further downstream, the County is dealing with a collapsed culvert under Country Club Dr. NW situated on an extremely steep slope. The County is in the midst of restoring fish passage at this junction at the cost of millions of dollars to accommodate the more than 1000 salmon that made it to the culvert this past year in search of upstream habitat that they could not reach. At present, another big storm could potentially cause a landslide that would completely block the stream and/or damage the present bridge.

Increased runoff from the logging of these 22 acres is inevitable and a direct threat downstream to the integrity of Green Cove Creek, to property and infrastructure, and to fish habitat, all of which the County is spending millions to enhance and protect just from the rainfall alone. Since this area has an extremely high pressure aquifer where water comes up out of the 320-foot high hill and flows in all directions, water is likely to come up and out faster when the ground is cut open by logging skidders.

From: Surprise logging operation in west Olympia has galvanized neighbors

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