The Tumwater City Council authorized Mayor Debbie Sullivan to sign an agreement with ICF Jones & Stokes LLC to work on the fourth phase of the Bush Prairie Habitat Conservation Plan.
The city council approved the agreement at a meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 18.
The contract is for $509,000, which the city is funding primarily through a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The grant, which is for $410,000, required a $149,500 match. As Tumwater is working with the Port of Olympia for the habitat conservation plan, the two parties evenly shared the cost of the required match.
The habitat conservation plan would allow for the city to issue permits for developments in areas where there are species listed under the Endangered Species Act occur.
Fees would be collected from permitted developments in order to fund areas that will be used for the conservation of four species, namely the Olympia pocket gopher (Thomomys mazama pugetensis), the Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa), the streaked horned lark (Eremophila alpestris strigata) and the Oregon vesper sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus affinis).
The scope of the fourth phase includes completing the third draft of the plan and conducting an environmental assessment, as part of the National Environmental Policy Act review process.
Tumwater Planning Manager Brad Medrud also told the General Government Committee on Feb. 18 that they are on schedule to complete the draft this year, with a goal to initiate the national review process within the same year.
The last draft, published in February 2023, is available at bushprairiehcp.org. A newer version would incorporate feedback from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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RondaLarsonKramer
People should be aware that approval of this Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) by the federal government will likely lead to Tumwater's main source of drinking water being threatened by chemical spills at the airport. Similarly, it will likely reduce the amount of drinking water available to Tumwater's residents and businesses. And it also will likely hurt salmon runs in the nearby Deschutes River. See https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-olympia-airport-growth?clear_id=true
All of these ill effects would follow adoption of the HCP. That's because the HCP's overriding purpose is to enable development of the airport. By claiming to "mitigate" the killing of thousands of pocket gophers at the airport, the HCP would allow the Port to pave over thousands of acres of their habitat and build airport infrastructure.
The airport sits in a critical aquifer recharge area--extreme. That means drinking water at Bush Wellhead, Tumwater's main source of drinking water, is highly susceptible to being reduced and/or contaminated due to the Port's planned increase in impervious surface (i.e., asphalt) and planned activities like a de-icing station (i.e., nasty chemicals).
As for salmon runs, a 2001 study found that there are a ton of seeps and springs just east of the airport at the river. These feed the river water with groundwater. See https://www.upnotout.net/_files/ugd/f1b9a1_645c0ecc63684bdca75111d09841e140.pdf?fbclid=IwY2xjawIj7sVleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHd6ytjouDnLkYlmG0oaxdp-AAv-7MAb6PxRZTEFIJSGioIhqTBu7B6SONQ_aem_geMIGVRfliSmozCdrF67bg.
In fact, in south Tumwater, most of the river's water comes from groundwater, other than in the winter when it comes from rain. See pdf page 10: https://www.upnotout.net/_files/ugd/f1b9a1_57c21363bfd141b1a0966610a1000307.pdf?fbclid=IwY2xjawIj7xBleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHejOqNUsx_4jwNbqmzXMZiGFZD2QeYru16vGJSnWMvcRRwSOduJxBZCx6g_aem_z1g0TjpDIdK3LFtzMc6cog.
When you pave over the critical aquifer recharge area--extreme, you decrease the water seeping into the river. Less water means higher temperatures, which in turn means harder conditions for salmon to survive in. The Dept. of Ecology has already deemed that river to be high risk in terms of lacking enough water (i.e., instream flows).
What can you do about it? Get educated and talk to your city council members at Tumwater. They answer to the voters. And most importantly, come to the Port's public hearing on March 24, at 5:30 pm, at the Port's headquarters, and tell Port Commissioners to vote to have the Airport Master Plan Update redone so that the Port cannot expand the airport. Read more here: See https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-olympia-airport-growth?clear_id=true
Saturday, February 22 Report this
PissAnt
I just don't see the need to expand the airport. There is no market for this. Any money put into this, including the $700,000 mentioned above for a Habitat conservation plan, is a waste. They have tried running smaller jet flights out of the Airport and couldn't continue the flights, no demand. The demand is low. why do this now of all times? Bad timing. Work on building market housing. Thats what you need to do.
Monday, February 24 Report this
SBirds
The Bush Prairie Habitat Plan for the city of Tumwater is a cooperative plan developed with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. It is designed to optimally protect species threatened with extinction. Tumwater is one of only 4 cities in the US to have four unique species within the city limits that are placed on the Endangered Species List. This is a red flag requiring tangible, meaningful conservation action through habitat conservation.
The plan is not designed to effect any one piece of property. It is a long term land use plan that supports habitat conservation.
Some areas- like the Port have many issues concerning development- and that includes water usage. These are important issues that cannot be overlooked.
However the Habitat Conservation Plan is not being designed for a specific nefarious purpose. It is being designed to support the life of our Oregon Spotted Frog, the Olympia Pocket Gopher, the Streaked Horn Lark and the Oregon Vesper Sparrow.
Please read the entire Bush Prairie Habitat Conservation Plan online, for a full understanding.
Tuesday, February 25 Report this
RondaLarsonKramer
@SBirds, I would have to respectfully disagree with the statement that the HCP "is designed to *optimally* protect species threatened with extinction." Warren Hendrickson stated on 2/27 at the Port's Town Hall that the kind of mitigation the Port has in mind is not protection or even translocation of the thousands of gophers at the airport prairie, but rather enhancement of existing gopher habitat somewhere else. In other words, the thousands of gophers at the airport prairie would be killed. The airport prairie is the largest contiguous high-quality habitat for this protected subspecies (Olympia pocket gopher (Thomomys mazama pugetensis)).
It's not possible to get anything better than the airport prairie in terms of size of quality habitat. Size does matter when it comes to avoiding extinction in this particular subspecies. The Port and Tumwater cannot take a forest and turn it into gopher prairie, unfortunately. Because the airport prairie is the best and largest habitat for them anywhere, any mitigation would be a net loss for this subspecies.
Why Do They Need Large Spaces?
1. Burrowing and Foraging Needs – They require a network of burrows for shelter, nesting, and food storage. Their diet consists of roots, tubers, and grasses, which they harvest underground.
2. Territorial Behavior – Pocket gophers are solitary and territorial, meaning each individual requires its own space. High population densities can lead to conflicts.
3. Genetic Diversity & Population Health – Small, isolated populations are vulnerable to inbreeding and genetic bottlenecks, making large, connected habitats critical for long-term survival.
4. Avoiding Predators – Open spaces allow them to maintain their burrows without excessive human or predator interference.
As to the claim that nothing nefarious is going on, I would also disagree with that. My involvement in litigation against Mayor Sullivan (and by extension, City Administrator Lisa Parks) for almost a year now is what informs my view. Recall that the mayor hired Parks in June 2023 directly from Parks' job as Director of Executive Services at the Port of Olympia. The next month, Parks began a concerted effort, with the mayor's assistance, to create a pretext for removal of the tall historic tree called the Davis Meeker oak, which stands at the airport (where tall things are a problem if you want to develop an airport). The second risk assessment recently gave the tree a clean bill of health, but only after the mayor had already cost the city perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars in litigation fees and staff time and had lost the public's trust.
Recall that a few months after Parks began working toward removal of the oak tree in mid-2023, she began working on an agreement that would allow the city and the Port to prevent the public from having any insight (and therefore input) into how the habitat conservation plan was shaping up. https://www.thejoltnews.com/stories/tumwater-approves-confidentiality-agreement-with-port-of-olympia,12498.
You may not be aware but the city (I'm not talking about council members) has a track record of violating the Public Records Act. Aurthur West just settled with the city for $5,000 because they refused to disclose facts and data about the oak tree risk assessment, claiming it was part of the deliberative process. The Public Records Act does not allow facts and data to be withheld. The HCP confidentiality agreement will make it harder for the public to fight similar violations of the PRA with regard to the HCP.
Just for perspective, imagine the county saying that the public was not allowed to be privy to updates to the county comprehensive plan. We would never stand for that. Public involvement leads to better results for citizens because it makes it hard for developers to insert provisions into planning documents that make it easier to make a lot of money from development to the detriment of the greater good. Secrecy leads to an imbalance between special interests and public interests.
Tuesday, March 4 Report this