Protecting wildlife habitat

Respect for private property is among the fundamental founding principles of the United States. It’s no exaggeration to write that private ownership has been essential to building the middle-class American dream and our 250-year history of economic growth.

However, placing too much emphasis on “private” sometimes results in ignoring important “common” property — essential natural resources that benefit everyone. These commons include the air, water, fish and wildlife — and enough habitat to sustain them — that we have come to expect our government to protect. But, as I argued in my last column, these protective regulations are often criticized in order to promote “reducing regulation” and “privatization.”

We have an entire banking industry available for acquiring and developing private property. But it’s a challenge to fund the commons, especially the good-quality habitat essential for birds and other wildlife. This column is about the various ways we are accomplishing this goal here in Thurston County.

One approach is moving habitat lands from private to public ownership, and that usually takes money, sometimes big money. Purchase in 1974 of the land for our Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge came initially from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (click here) and subsequent acquisitions has been added from federal “Duck Stamps” revenue and the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund.

While these federal conservation funds are major and essential, over the years our state and local government habitat protection programs have been equally successful. In 1971, the Washington State Legislature authorized counties to create and implement a Conservation Futures Fund, dedicated to buying land and development rights to protect their permanent conservation value. The authorization was optional, but our Thurston County government immediately embraced the opportunity.

Our Conservation Futures program was initially funded from a real estate transfer tax, and later the county expanded funding to the general real estate levy. Conservation Futures projects, both large and small, are found all over the county.

Cackling geese in the Nisqually Valley.

George Walter | The JOLT News

Have you ever noticed that within the Nisqually Valley south of Interstate 5 there are vast stretches of agricultural lands? Ducks and geese certainly notice. From time to time, I’ve seen flocks of thousands of cackling geese flying from the refuge to the farmlands to feed. These working farmlands are huge part of the habitat that attracts waterfowl to the Nisqually Valley each winter.

A cackling goose on the wing.

Liam Hutcheson | For The JOLT News

Waterfowl, and we bird watchers, can thank the Thurston County Conservation Futures for all this open habitat. In 1998, the county purchased the development rights from 948 acres of these farmlands. The total cost was over $2.2 million — your local tax dollars at work for permanent protection of conservation and wildlife habitat land.

The county’s purchase of land and development rights, at Nisqually and elsewhere, means that important habitat areas will continue to be available for birds and wildlife, and for us as well, and not be converted to suburban housing developments or shipping warehouses.

IRS rules establish land conservation as a charitable purpose, and across the U.S. there are charities called land trusts working toward this end. Most of them identify with specific local areas. In Thurston County, since the 1980’s, we have benefitted from having two land trusts working for the protection of habitat.

The Capitol Land Trust was established in 1987. Over the years, its geographic focus has expanded from Thurston County to include surrounding counties in southern Puget Sound and the Chehalis River watershed. Many of CLT’s protected areas include great bird habitat and are open to the public. Click here for more information.

The Nisqually Land Trust, founded in 1989, initially focused on the Nisqually River watershed and primarily pursued projects to protect salmon habitat. Its mission and areas of concentration also have expanded. It owns spotted owl forest land near Mount Rainier National Park; it also works to protect marine shorelands of the Nisqually Reach and the Nisqually Reach Aquatic Reserve. Click here for more information.

Spotted owl — an old growth forest bird.

Liam Hutcheson | For The JOLT News

What is most important about both these organizations is that they are able to take on projects that might not have the size or scope to attract major governmental funding. Time and again they have put together habitat projects, sometimes funded from multiple sources, to protect a critical niche habitat site.

Land trusts offer opportunities for all of us to get involved in providing permanent protection for critical bird habitat. There are numerous volunteer opportunities; there’s nothing like spending a Saturday planting trees or cutting back invasive plants to feel like you’re doing something substantial for the future. These nonprofit organizations offer an opportunity to leave a natural-world legacy.

Protecting bird, fish and wildlife habitat also helps protect our air and water, the most essential of all the commons. It also helps assure that all the species we share this land with will have room to thrive far into the future.

Thurston County residents can be proud of our local civic efforts to find a healthy balance between private property and protection of our common heritage.

George Walter is environmental program manager at the Nisqually Indian Tribe’s natural resources department; he also has a 45+ year interest in bird watching. He may be reached at george@theJOLTnews.com

Bird photos for this column are provided by Liam Hutcheson, an 18-year-old Olympia area birder and avid photographer.