Local Land USe Policy Under Fire (Long Post)

Over the past several months, as I have driven to work or to play, I have been noticing some signs popping up around the area. The signs are eye-catching but a little difficult to read as I sped by at 50mph. Several weeks ago I received a mailer from the organization that had been placing the signs around the area. The group was going to host a series of Town Hall meeting in various communities in the area.

After I received the mailer I decided to dig a little deeper into what this organization was all about. As I read the postings on their website and news stories that had made the local newspaper I began to get a clearer picture of what these activists were trying to get across.

In recent years the county in which I live has been attempting to regulate how private landowners can use their lands. Some of these policies and regulations have been fairly mild such as increasing or implementing fees to do basic upgrades to your property such as adding a deck or a patio and charging a fee to provide input to policy at public hearings. Other policies have been much more invasive like the Oak Tree Prairie Habitat, which not only can penalize the land owner who has the oak tree, but any neighbors who might be within 600 feet of the tree(s).

In recent months, the Thurston County commissioners have been attempting to strengthen three highly restrictive land use polices into that fall under the umbrella of something called Critical Area Ordinance. As required by law, this ordinance must be reviewed every seven years. Now is the time for the review. In conjunction with this review the county commissioners are attempting to further consolidate these restrictive policies through a cumbersome (900 pages) and over-reaching policy. Over the years, there are many restrictive policies that have been enacted by Thurston County leadership; however, there are three policies that are probably most restrictive and harmful to property owners.

The Dam Has Been Breached

Here is a quick update to a post I made earlier this week about a dam here in the PACNW being knocked down for a couple of fish.

The Condit Dam on the White Salmon River has been breached.

  

The reservoir behind the dam has already emptied and the river is its channel.

Time lapse of the reservoir emptying:


Also, in the earlier post I questioned how salmon that have never been above the dam will migrate to locations beyond were the dam used to sit. Well, it seems that prior to the breach, fish biologists hand carried salmon to a point above the dam. This was done for two reasons. First, due to the heavy silt that was going to head down stream due to the breach, all river life was going to end. Fish, frogs, water skippers, salamanders, and what-have-you-not were not going to survive the muddy, turbulent flow. Secondly, the salmon were moved in the hopes they would establish themselves upstream from the old dam site. I guess this makes sense. As I mentioned, Salmon return to the place they were hatched. If they are further upstream, then it stands to reason they will return there in a few years. This remains to be seen.