Friends of the Lower White River

Our Mission is to protect the biodiversity and health of the Lower White River Basin and it’s communities through Education, Supporting scientific research, Fostering citizen participation in government, and Buying and holding in trust, for the Public Good, critical areas, aquatic & riparian wildlife habitat, and other lands of ecological significance”.
Our Motto is "Water for Life

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Check-out the new Pacific City Signal Community News and events blog:
http://pacificcitysignal.tumblr.com or email pacificcitynews@gmail.com

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White River Contributes to Economic Viability of Region!
The White River Basin (sub-watershed) comprises almost 1/2
of the Puyallup River Watershed, draining ~494 square miles of
"natural infastructure" which provides flood control, forest, agricultural and fisheries products, clean water in aquifers, clean air, and carbon-sequestering.....to name a few ecosystem services.

Read more in the press release below about
"The Puyallup River Watershed: An Ecological Economic Characterization."
Links to the full Report: http://issuu.com/earth_economics/docs/puyallup_river_watershed
and Executive Summary: http://www.eartheconomics.org/FileLibrary/file/Reports/Puget%20Sound%20and%20Watersheds/Puyallup/Puyallup_Watershed_Report_Exec_Summ.pdf
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Earth Economics Valuation and Report on the Puyallup River Watershed

Puyallup River Watershed ecosystems worth $13 billion to $120 billion, underpinning local economy First economic evaluation of watershed's 'ecosystem services' offers essential guide to cost-effective policy decisions (Tacoma, Wash., 2011) Treated as economic assets, the forests, rivers, wetlands, mountains and marine waters of the Puyallup River Watershed would be valued between $13 billion and $120 billion, according to a report released today. These natural resources, largely within Pierce County, produce a steady flow of economic benefits ranging from $566 million and $5 billion a year, according to "The Puyallup River Watershed: An Ecological Economic Characterization." (PDF version available here http://www.eartheconomics.org/FileLibrary/file/Reports/Puget%20Sound%20and%20Watersheds/Puyallup/Puyallup_Watershed_Report_Online_Version.pdf and executive summary available here http://www.eartheconomics.org/FileLibrary/file/Reports/Puget%20Sound%20and%20Watersheds/Puyallup/Puyallup_Watershed_Report_Exec_Summ.pdf )

These natural benefits include flood control, water supply, waste treatment, climate stability, fisheries, food production and recreation, among others. The economic value of the "natural infrastructure" from Mount Rainier to Puget Sound should be taken into account in making public policy decisions and investments in matters such as flood protection, forest management, pollution control, land use planning, salmon restoration, farmland preservation, and economic development, the report contends. The report by nationally recognized Earth Economics, a Tacoma-based nonprofit, used established economic methods to assess for the first time the economic benefits of the 1,053 - square mile watershed's natural assets.

According to Earth Economics Director David Batker, the report demonstrates the wisdom of protecting natural resources from an economic standpoint as well as the intangible values of appreciating nature. “In many instances it is more cost-effective to maintain an environmentally healthy watershed than to build more costly infrastructure such as levees and stormwater systems” Batker said. Allowing natural systems to degrade actually imposes costs and hurts the regional economy. Earth Economics produced a similar analysis last year for the entire Puget Sound basin, pegging the economic value of its natural systems at $300 billion to $2.6 trillion.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have now widely accepted that the loss of Mississippi Delta wetlands exacerbated the storm's destruction in New Orleans, and that wetland restoration is key to securing hurricane protection. Earth Economic produced a widely quoted report in 2010 on the economic value of restoring the Mississippi Delta in 2010.

The new Earth Economics report on the Puyallup River Watershed is "a great step for our community," says David Seabrook, member of the Puyallup River Watershed Council. "The report is very timely as we struggle to address the long-term issues of flooding and continued sediment transport into our populated areas. It is also highly relevant to our efforts to recover our salmon and other wildlife habitat. It turns out that the simplest actions now are likely to be the most expensive in the long run by thwarting the watershed's ability to provide the services it has been delivering for thousands of years."

The Puyallup Watershed study was funded by grants from the Sequoia Foundation and the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, both of Tacoma, and the Norcliffe Foundation of Seattle. Batker, cofounder of Earth Economics, has worked for 20 years in more than 30 countries on environmental aspects of economic policy. A Pacific Lutheran University graduate, he has worked in the oil and mining industries and for the World Bank, Greenpeace International and the Philippines Rural Reconstruction Movement.

Earth Economics research analyst Rowan Schmidt co-authored the Puyallup Watershed report. More information is available at www.eartheconomics.org.

Rowan Schmidt | Research Analyst
Earth Economics
1121 Tacoma Ave. South
Tacoma, WA 98402
T 253-539-4801 | F 253-539-5054 www.eartheconomics.org

IMPORTANT:
Ecology is in the process of changing the language in Western Washington Phase I & II National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits regarding Low Impact Development techniques to reduce pollutants in stormwater. According to the Carnegie Group of Olympia, the new language will "permit" additional wetlands and stream function loss. Itentifed as unintended consequernces are the lack of forest retention, increase in impervious area, and substitution of engineered storage of stormwater inplace of natural infiltration and modulated groundwater release to streams (aka instream flow). Pasted in is their letter to Governor Christine Gregoire. I personally concur with the Carnegie Groups conclusions. My letter will follow theirs, when "easy edit" works (in a blue moon). jeanne.

(from)

The Carnegie Group of Olympia
Buck’s Fifth Avenue
209 Fifth Ave. SE
Olympia, WA 98501
29 July 2011

Governor Christine Gregoire
Office of the Governor PO Box 40002 Olympia, WA 98504-0002

Dear Governor Gregoire:
SUBJECT: Department of Ecology’s (DOE) Proposed Low Impact Development Standard Will Not Protect Watersheds

We urgently ask that you intervene to prevent the adoption of a proposed rule that most likely will spell the demise of Puget Sound by failing to protect tributary watersheds.
In August, 2008 the Pollution Control Hearing Board (PCHB) issued a ruling declaring effectively that DOE’s storm drainage regulations did not adhere to requirements of the federal Clean Water Act. It ruled so because the board was convinced that AKART (All Known and Reasonable Technology) must include low-impact-development practices. (Such practices are not required in today’s standards.) In response, DOE formed a technical advisory committee in October 2009 to define "low impact development" and to determine criteria for feasibility of low impact development. The committee finished its work in summer 2010.
As a result of this overly long process, DOE now proposes to write a perplexing version of "low impact development" into National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits for municipalities. The proposed standard offers no improvement over the existing standard. The existing (and proposed) standard can be summarized using the numeric shorthand invented by King County: DOE proposes the 0/100/100 standard. That is, on any development site, zero forest retention is permissible, 100% hardened surfaces are acceptable, and 100% discharge of precipitation to surface water is OK. (The proposed DOE standard requires only that storage of stormwater be provided before discharge.) For perspective we note that a perfectly healthy watershed would be characterized by the 100/0/0 standard (that is, 100% forested, no hardened surfaces, and no overland flow discharge). DOE’s proposal is therefore the exact inverse of the characteristics of a healthy watershed. It is thus a virtual certainty that watersheds built-out LID Stormwater Standards

Page 2 of 3 using the proposed DOE standard will suffer near complete degradation, as have all watersheds that have been urbanized to date. DOE proposes that the 0/100/100 rule be incorporated into NPDES permits that will be in effect until 2019 (and probably longer).
Moreover, the predictable massive removal of forest from developing sites, inevitable with DOE’s rule, coupled with DOE’s proposed emphasis on infiltration, will result in an attempt to greatly increase the volume of infiltrated water. This strategy will likely fail. On the shallow soils over hardpan that predominate in the Puget Sound Basin, the attempt to infiltrate more water than would occur under natural conditions makes landslides and surfacing "boils" of water a certainty on many sites. Examples abound of such failures, and these have been called to our attention by several engineers on DOE’s Technical Advisory Committee.
The science of watershed health is clear: forest disturbance results in stream degradation. Many studies over the course of decades have noted stream destabilization and loss of habitat with increasing urbanization. Booth, Hartley, and Jackson (2002) have written:
"Twenty years of empirical data display a good correlation between readily observed damage to channels and modeled changes in flow regime that correspond to loss of about 1/3 of the forest cover in a "typical" western Washington watershed. A similar degree of observed damage also correlates to a level of watershed effective imperviousness (EIA) of about ten percent."
A recent study by Dr. Ryan King (Baylor University and University of Maryland, Baltimore) notes: "…that aquatic life actually shows significant loss of biodiversity with less than two percent of developed land in a watershed." (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110608122958.htm)
In deference to such studies, several jurisdictions in the Puget Sound Basin have adopted ordinances that provide developers an option that would preserve at least 65% of forest cover on a development site. Indeed, even the Department of Ecology in its Stormwater Management Manual for Western Washington offers an optional "best management practice" (BMP T5.30) that would cause 65% of forest cover to be preserved on a development project. However, it should be emphasized that applying BMP T5.30 to a watershed would likely degrade the stream to the very brink of destabilization. There is no safety margin.
In conclusion, it is clear that DOE’s proposed standard for LID is far too weak and permissive to prevent fatal damage to Puget Sound and watersheds. Because NPDES permits have a nominal five year life and an actual life of perhaps 8 to 10 years, it is highly likely that we will lose the rest of the watersheds in the path of development by 2020. If the last streams with habitat are lost, Puget Sound will not be far behind. We suggest that the state take the following action as soon as possible: LID Stormwater Standards Page 3 of 3

1. DOE must be prevented from amending NPDES permits as they have proposed. New NPDES permits must impose a low impact development standard that acknowledges the characteristics of a healthy watershed.

2. "Low impact development" should be defined to mean development that adheres to BMP T5.30 (effectively the 65/10/0 standard) in the Department of Ecology’s stormwater management manual. It is further suggested that stream buffers not be counted as contributing to the 65% forest set-aside (in acknowledgement that 65% forest reserve, more likely than not, provides inadequate protection to streams).

3. Place a moratorium on greenfields development outside city limits in the Puget Sound Basin. Many scientists recommend that all remaining good habitat for anadromous fish in the Puget Sound Basin be set aside and protected from further development. The moratorium should remain in effect until those watersheds with good or excellent habitat can be identified and permanently protected.

4. All major re-development projects should cause a net increase in forest cover in the Puget Sound basin. Department of Ecology’s BMP T5.30 should apply to all major redevelopment projects. Please take action now. To delay is to allow an already dire situation to worsen and to make the death of Puget Sound the only possible outcome.

Sincerely,
Carole Richmond, President
Carnegie Group of Olympia,
Carnegie Group of Olympia is a voluntary organization of citizens concerned about the financial, social, and environmental costs of growth at the local, regional, and state levels.
Friends of the Lower White River

C/O PO BOX 1173, MILTON, WA 98354 Phone (253)833-0977, Cell (253) 653-1000 pacificnaturalist@clearwire.net

August 16, 2011 Governor Christine Gregoire Office of the Governor PO Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504-0002 Dear Governor Gregoire, Friends of the Lower White River is a local grassroots group founded in Pacific, WA. Our mission is to preserve the health and biodiversity of the White River basin between Buckley and Sumner.

To that end we support Low Impact Development techniques as a good option for developing communities. LID best management practices can help preserve habitat, protect water quality, and modulate stream flow needed by endangered species….which are just a few of the elements needed to restore the health of the Puget Sound Bioregion. The Department of Ecology’s proposed regulations for Low Impact Development in the new NPDES permit will not protect watersheds and streams. They will likely contribute to the death of Puget Sound over the next decade. Therefore I concur with the Carnegie Group’s letter to you dated 29 July 2011.

Sincerely, Jeanne Fancher,
FLWR Co-founder and e-News Editor www.flwr.wetpaint.com. www.twitter.com/FLWReditor 2007 recipient, Puyallup River Watershed Council “Citizen Watershed Steward Award” 2009 recipient, Senator Maria Cantwell “Women of Valor Award for Excellence in the Field of Environmental Leadership” “ Water For Life!”
Share FLWR's webpage using twitter:
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Coming October 22, 2011:
2011http://www.usaweekend.com/section/MDDAY
Any ideas for a 2011 project?
(At Pacific Meadows Wetlands in October 2008, over 40 volunteers from the WRVLions, Pacific Meadows Homeowners Assoc, Auburn Riverside High School SkillsUSA Chapter members (career club), Pacific Partnerships and FLWR saved the city over 90 hours of Crew time planting native trees and shrubs in the Meadows. Conservatively, at $40 per hour FTE (full time equivelent) , that's $4,200 saved!)

Help Trout Unlimited!
Volunteer!
Contact- T.U. Conservation Director Mr. Rosendo Guerrero Rosendo64@yahoo.com Cell 253-861-8964



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Ongoing
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Be Part of the Pollution Prevention Solution!!!
Connect to the Puget Sound Starts Here website.
Look for coupons for discounts on "Your Rewards" for yard care, car care and pet care products or services that reduce pollution going into our lakes, streams and Puget Sound!

http://www.pugetsoundstartshere.org/




Follow "Puget Sound Starts Here" on Twitter: http://twitter.com/PSStartsHere

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Puget-Sound-Starts-Here/135802909534

On MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/psstartshere

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Your FLWR e-News Editor is twittering for the Watershed!
Get Information and Updates in smaller doses with your cell phone' rel=nofollow target=_blank>http://www.twitter.com/FLWReditor


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Low Impact Development (LID) research continues
at WSU-Puyallup Extension Campus with funding of
Washington Stormwater Center and Green Infastructure Partnership

http://www.wsutoday.wsu.edu/pages/Publications.asp?Action=Detail&PublicationID=26264&PageID=21

Green Infrastructure Partnership, a group consisting of agencies from the Tacoma and Pierce County region along with the Puyallup tribe, (is) working to address modern challenges associated with water pollution, particularly that caused by stormwater runoff.

(editors note: quote taken from the press release (link) dated May 20, 2011). Program unveiled June 21, 2011)

Saving Puget Sound hinges on how well we can keep pollutants out of our lakes, rivers and streams,
Unforunately, run-off from impervious surfaces (roads, roofs, parking lots and compacted soils) convays pollution to drainage ditches and stormwater facilities. This untreated stormwater is then discharged into our lakes and streams.

WSU-Extension Puyallup is one of many partners in EPA and state supported initiatives focused on a local Puyallup River Watershed "poster-child" urban stream. Clark's Creek flows through the WSU-Puyallup campus. The Clarks Creek Initiative, along with the Washington Stormwater Center and Green Partnership initiative, will be a test of our ability and commitment to protect and restore an urbanized stream. Actions will haver to include stream-side residents adopting "best management practices" to reduce pollution, the City of Puyllup improving stormwater management, and city and county residents in the Clarks Creek Basin reducing their pollution-footprint.
FLWR hopes other property managers, and other jurisdictions will be motivated to take advantage of WSU's research and pollution management recommendations.

If these Initiatives are sucessful, Clarks Creek will be cleaner, the creek will have less invasive aquatic weeds, more spawning salmon, and greated biological diversity (biodiversity). Water quality will meet the goals of the Clean Water Act to be "drinkable, fishable, and swimable". And water going to Puget Sound will support a viable, sustainable Ecosystem.
FYI: Low Impact Development strategies can be used to reduce pollutants in stormwater.
Reasearch at WSU on Low Impact Development techniques includes measuring the benefits of techniques such as using pervious pavement and rain gardens.

You do not have to wait for the reasearch to be completed to add a rain garden to your landscape.
WSU faculty member Curtis Hinman Ph.D. has written a manual on how to install a pollution-catching Rain Garden. This WSU video introduces the pollution ploblem, and shows how to design and install your own garden. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kti4HJ45BM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More Rain Garden Installations
Rain Gardens filter and store water from roofs and driveways....from any impervious surface.
In the coming months, as part of the 12,000 Rain Gardens Challenge, lots of homes in
Eatonville and Puyallup will be retrofitted with rain gardens.

The Puyallup River Watershed had several Rain Garden Installations in the Summer of 2009.
Go to the Stewardship Partners photo share site http://picasaweb.google.com/SPraingardens
for pictures from these and other installation.












Community Groups In the Lower Watershed, Algona, and Pacific:

PacificPartnerships, 2011 President Carol Aguilar, chairperson@pacificpartnerships.org
Pacific Partnerships sponsors the annual Pacific Days (2nd weekend in July, the Holiday Tree Lighting at City Hall, Friday after Thanksgiving, at 5PM. The all-volunteer 501(c)3 non-profit also supports many community events and tcontributes to the Pacific-Algona Senior Center
Pacific Board of Park Directors, Kathryn Hull, Chair, kathrynhull@comcast.net
Scout Troop 835, Disaster Response Team, Jim Brass, Scoutmaster, drbrass@msn.com
Scout Troop 540, Jim Schunke, Scoutmaster, jvshunke@comcast.net
HelpNW, Teen counseling and assistance www.helpnorthwest.com , Jim Brass, drbrass@msn.com
New Hope Lutheran Church, Food Pantry, AA, Pastor Mark Gause megause@aol.com
White River Valley Lions Club www.wrvlionsclub.com
Disclosure: I am a WRVLion. We sponsors the 3rd Friday Kids' Night at the Pacific Gym, (open to any Auburn School District student with an ASB/student ID card). Time: 6PM to 9PM.
For any of the Kids' Nights, students and parents are reminded that once a child signs out, they may not re-enter the gym/activity area, even if it is before closing. Please make arrangements accordingly.
Lions also raise money to support local and international Vision needs, and contribute to disaster relief locally, nationally and internationally. Look for our local Lions at Pacific Days, (July 8,9 &10) and at the International Lions Clubs Convention in Seattle Fourth of July Week, 2011.

Pacific Community Center: To learn about Youth programs in the Pacific "Rec Center" check with Jo Futch, Community Center: 253-929-1155.


Email me and I will List your group's name and contact information


We're "social networking" for FLWR!
Follow Friends of the Lower White River on Twitter with your computer or with your cell phone. Check-out our editor's short text messages at http://twitter.com/FLWReditor . Twitter posts will include news about FLWR Projects, the White River Valley Lions Club, Earthday events around town, Rain Garden Classes, Gardening for Global Warming presentations, and "breaking news".

You can also watch for watershed videos from Jeanne at YouTube.
Here's one from the Pacific Community meeting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aTq8sSJ0Ds, City Blding Inspector Roger Smith gives advice on hiring contractors...
The editor also posts photos at Picasa, http://picasaweb.google.com/rainier.photos

Pacific Resident and talented photographer Josh Putnam
has a very extensive photo-sharing site on Flickr!
He has photos of the work on 3rd Ave, connecting the Interurban Train with City Park, with new Bike Lanes, pictures from his commute across the I-90 floating bridge by Bike, and very cool pseudo-infared Mt Rainier photos from near Mt View cemetery in Auburn! Go to Josh's home page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jputnam/

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Salmon Creek Wiki Page: http://flwr.wetpaint.com/page/Salmon+Creek added 9-16-2008



WRITER WANTED!
If you are interested in writing for this website, please contact Jeanne at Pacificnaturalis@clearwire.net or call her at 253- 833-0977




STORMWATER: Charity Carwashes need to use a Car Wash "washwater pumping" Kit!
The City of Pacific introduced its new "Fish-Friendly" Car Wash Kit at Pacific Days, 2008!
The Kit is used to pump soapy water, from Charity car washes, out of the stormwater catch basins and into the sanitary sewer where it belongs. Soapy water from car washing goes into the strorm drains and into the Government Canal (also wrongly called the "Boeing Ditch" according to Boeing Company representatives) and Milwaukee Ditches, then into Jovita Creek and the White River.

This polluted car-washwater water can kill trout and summer-migrating salmon fingerlings and smolts in small tributaries like Jovita Creek/Milwaukee Ditch. Plus it carries oil, grease and "road grime" into the waterways and into Puget Sound. The equivelent of 1/2 of the Exxon Valdez oil spill gioes into Puget Sound every year, little drips and drops at a time.

Stormwater also carries other toxic pollutants into Puget sound. No wonder the Orcas in Puget Sound are so polluted that dead Orcas are considered toxic, and EPA requires they have to be disposed of at a Hazarous waste dump....And we eat the same kinds of fish the Orcas eat!

BORROW the CARWASH KIT!
RESERVE IT FOR YOUR CHARITY OR HOME CARWASH
Call Wanda in Public Works before 4PM : 253-929-1110


The City of Pacific Public Works Department has the respnsibility of keeping the city's stornmwater clean, according to the Clean Water Act. You can help your City government keep stormwater expenses down by practicing fish friendly and water wise uses of water.


Ten Fish-Friendly Ways You Can Improve the Quality of Stormwater Runoff
1. Cover piles of soil, sand or mulch to stop them from being transported in stormwater. Plant grass or native plants where soil is exposed.
2. Sweep your sidewalks and driveways rather than hosing them down.
3. Put leaves and grass clippings in the compost, on the garden as mulch, or use mulching mower to recycle nutrients back into the lawn. Use fertilizers sparingly.
4. Direct roof water away from paved surfaces; consider a rain garden design or other approved system where it can be captured.
5. Keep pesticides, weed killers, oil, leaves and other pollutants off streets and out of storm drains.
6. Keep cars tuned up and repair leaks - better yet, walk, bike or utilize public transportation.
7. Wash your vehicle at a car wash, on grass or over gravel. Use as little detergent as you can and pour any left over soapy water on the lawn. Use Pacific’s “Fish Friendly” Car Wash Kit if washing cars on pavement. Charity Car Wash Event Sponsors or Individuals may reserve a Car Wash Kit from Public Works, 253-929-1110. 100% refundable deposit required.
8. Dispose of household hazardous waste according to the label directions.
Reuse turpentine once the paint has settled. For more info call the King Co. Health Dept. Hazards Line, 206-296-4692, or go to http://www.govlink.org/hazwaste/index.cfm
9. Clean up pet waste - bag it and dispose in garbage or flush it down the toilet.
10. Have your on-site septic system inspected by a professional every 3 to 5 years and have your septic tank pumped as necessary (usually every 3 to 5 years).





who am I ? (answer somewhere below)

Interested in improving your own "bit of nature"?

Discriptions of the NFW Community Backyard Habitats program can be found in the HOW section of this page, on the NWF webpages at http://www.nwf.org/community/, or in the Nov 2007 E-news on the FLWR Archive Page.


Backyard Habitats Links:
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's Backyard Habitats Crossing Paths Newsletter and
WDFW Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary information.

National Wildlife Federation's 1-2-3-4 steps to gardening for wildlife http://www.nwf.org/backyard/
Check out backyards around the County http://www.enature.com/backyardwildlife/nwf_bwh_gallery.asp
Download free wildlife gardening tipsheets http://www.nwf.org/backyard/tipsheets.cfm
Check the NWF Community Habitats page http://www.nwf.org/community/
Learn how native species are tracked by professional and citizen scientists, go to UW Nature Mapping , http://depts.washington.edu/natmap/
and how to Create a "Hapening Habitat" at your school http://happeninhabitats.pwnet.org/


FLWR Projects Overview:
Pacific Community Wildlife Habitat: Pacific is the newest of several National Wildlife Federation Puget Sound region Wildlife Habitat Communities. For more information, see "How" below, and checkout the NFW CH Newsletters attached to the Community Wildlife Habitats Page. or go to http://www.nwf.org/community/
FLWR held a Pacific brainstorming session November 2nd. The goal of the meeting was to determine how to reach out to the Pacific community. FLWR is committed to improve our backyards, businesses, government facilities, city parks, and school properties as wildlife habitats. We will work with NWF staff from their Western Regional Office in Seattle.. Please call FLWR member Jeanne Fancher at 253-924-0211, or at PacificNaturalist@clearwire.net if you want more information.

FLWR E-Newsletter: A monthly posting of news and programs of interest to watershed residents. Includes links from EPA, DOE, and other sources. Naturalist notes, and reader contributions.
E-mail Editor at PacificNaturalist@clearwire.nett to submit articles or links, to subscribe to the FLWR E-News... or you can watch the FLWR E-News Archive Page for the new monthly "E-News" Attachments!

FLWR Web-pages: a work in progress. You are invited to contribute stories, pictures, Art work, edit a page, create a page for your backyard habitat, your street, neighborhood, city or stretch of the River. Be a reporter on environmental happenings in your city or county. Help make this website a community asset! Contact the editor.

West Hill Park Stewardship and Pacific Algona Boy Scout Troop 385:
Pacific-Algona Scout Troup 385 has voted to remove invasive plants from the West Hill Passive Nature Park in Pacific. The scouts also have a lot of opportunity to Measure water quality, Learn about forestry and wildlife, Planting native plants and tending the forest. Goal is improved habitat, restored upland coniferous forest, and hence improved water quality downstream in Milwaukee Creek (Ditch) and Jovita Creek. See further discussion of the project under the "How" heading below. Contact scout master Jim Brass to help, drbrass@msn.com

Lower White River Biodiversity Management Plan. "Biodiversity" equals the diversity of life!
The Lower White River Biodiversity Management Plan Draft is almost ready! The Pierce County Biodiversity Alliance will be contacting local jurisdictions, like Auburn , Buckley, Pacific and Sumner, to discuss conservation strategies for their areas of the Biodiversity Management Planning Area. The LWR-BMA Stewardship Plan is a voluntary plan to preserve the rich plant, animal and riparian habitat of the Lower White River Corridor, from Buckley to Sumner. The goal of preserving habitat and protecting biodiversity is to “keep common animals common”. Landowners will be encouraged to improve their river-side properties as better habitat for wildlife. In exchange, LWRBMP Area property owners can get lowered tax rates from Pierce County.

Any community resident can participate in the upcoming public review and comment for the Draft LWR Biodiversity Management Plan. Contacts: John Garner, Pierce County Biodiversity Alliance, johng@tacomaparks.com and Michele Tirhi, WDFW, mtirhi@DFW.wa.gov . More information on the Pierce County Biodiversity Alliance can be found on our Biodiveristy page. FLWR will post notices when the Draft Plan is ready for review!

"Who Am I ?" answer: Anna's Hummingbird, Calypte anna, one of 6 Hummers native to the Western coastal states, and the only one which does not migrate south in the winter.



MORE DETAILS:
FLWR advocates for Low Impact Development building practices, Habitat Restoration along all tributaries of the river, Community /Backyard wildlife habitats, and Education about conservation of dwindling water resources, as increased populations and climate change collide to make water even more precious a resource. Water for Life!






WHY:
Healthy communities need clean water.
"Potable", clean "drinking water" comes from the watershed's "storage vaults": Mount Rainier glaciers, Cascade Mountain snowfields, rivers fed by mountain and lowland rainfall, or wells drilled into deep aquifers or into the subsurface "watertable". All can be compromised by "non-point pollution" in "stormwater run-off". Most of the pollution is from vehicles (exhaust, leaking fluids, tire and brake dust), which is washed into streams and Puget Sound by rainfall. Add Point-source pollution from sewage treatment plants or other "permitted" outfalls which discharge into the rivers, or Puget Sound. The DOE establishes total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) of pollutants for our rivers and stream. But the pollution ads up. Well water from aquifers provide lots of people fairly clean water. Others get their water from protected watersheds (Tacoma and Seattle control the Green and Cedar River watersheds, respectively). Pacific taps an aquifer supplied by the White River Alluvial Fan, about 50 feet below the surface. What happens when an aquifer becomes polluted? How do people cook food, wash dishes and clothes, run a business or school, or even hava cuppa java? And what happens to the "biota"( the fish, frogs,salamanders, aquatic plants and organisms in the food chain) which are more sensitive to water pollution than are humans?


Pollutants from vehichles (cars, trucks, ships, trains) are the most common threat to water quality. How do we know our watersheds are healthy, that the water is clean? the DOE test the water, but they can't test all the streams everyday. There just is not enough staff, or money.

What are the biological indicators of clean water? Healthy salmon and steelhead runs indicate a healthy watershed, a healthy Puget Sound, and a healthy Earth. White River salmon, steelhead and char runs are far below historical levels. In Auburn and Pacific, the river is polluted with "class 5 pollutants" : fecal coliform, high temperature, and pH imbalance are listed impairments on the DOE 2004 “303 (d) polluted waters lists. Chemicals like car wash detergents, fertilizers from lawns and farms, and all the other convienience chemicals we use in daily life also contribute to making streams unhealthy for salmon and for people.
Example: the above tested-for Class 5 pollutants were found in 4 White River water quality test sites in Sumner (Temp, pH), and in Trout and Five Mile Lakes (Fecal Coliform). Leaking or inadequete on-site septic systems, and unshaded ground ( no forests) add up to warm, polluted lakes and rivers.

FWLR advocates that safe drinking water, clean, cold water for Salmon, and high quality wildlife habitats are inseparable, and that we must act locally to have clean water. Each of us can do a little bit, and it adds up to a healthy watershed.

HOW:
FLWR is helping to restore habitats and to work for clean water in several ways


West Hill Passiver Nature Park Stewardship:We have partnered with HelpNW.com for a 2007 King County Small Change grant to improve wildlife habitat in the Pacific West Hill Nature Park. The grant will help Pacific Algona Scout Troup 385 “adopt” the Nature Park as a stewardship project . The grant will buy tools, supplies, plants, water testing kits, and field guides, and to hire a licensed herbicide applicator. The scouts are will first control invasive plants: Himalayan Blackberries along the stream and on the hill, English ivy vines climbing up the 100 year old Douglas Firs, stream-side canary reed grass. Then they will replant the areas with native trees and shrubs to improve wildlife habitat. The grant will also pay for professional herbicide application to a small but highly invasive patch of Knotweed along the 3rd Ave stream (aka "Itsa Creek"). The goal is to improve habitat and to protect water quality down stream ( Milwaukee Ditch and Jovita Creek). West Hill Nature Park stewardship is a long term project. Scout Troop 385 voted to spend 2 to 3 years as stewards of the park. If you want to help the scouts, or become a steward yourself, contact Scoutmaster Jim Brass,@ drbrass@msn.com, cell 206-334-5977.

In preparation for work in the park, Troup 385 plans to volunteer at a future planting , sponsored by the PCCD Stream Team, If you would like to volunteer for a Steam Team project, contact Melissa Buckingham, melissab@piercecountycd.org.

The NWF Pacific Community Wildlife Habitat Project is another way to improve wildlife habitat. The National Wildlife Federation is working to create Community Habitats throughout the Puget Sound region. Pacific is their newest project city. FLWR signed on to help get Pacific certified as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat Community.


The Community Habitat Certification (Backyard Wildlife) Group needs you.
Many of you have already registered your yards with the NFW or WDFW as Backyard Habitats. We need your help and experience. The FLWR CHB would like to register several city parks and schools, as well as many, many Backyards with the NWF and WDFW. Get on the FLWR E-News list to receive more information. or contact Jeanne at 253-924-0211, or by email at PacificNaturalist@clearwire.net.




Grants for your Students' Project: If you have an “after-school” environmental project in mind, it may be funded by a Natural Resources Stewardship Grant, available from King County, http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/pi/grant-exchange/NRSN.htm. Contact Linda Vane, by voice at (206) 296-8042, TTY 711, or by email at linda.vane@metrokc.gov. for more information.




VISION:FWR’s vision is to have many restoration projects upstream and down from our Pacific (city) beginnings.
From Mud Mountain Dam to the mouth of the River in Sumner, and on all the tributaries, there are lots of opportunities for riverside and upland habitat restoration and/or protection.
In August of 2007 Pierce County Executive John Ladenberg and King County Executive Ron Sims co-signed a proclamation in support of biodiversity for the Lower White River. ( quoted in the FLWR E-News August, see the News archive page). The LWR Biodiversity Management Plan now being drafted by the Pierce County Biodiversity Alliance, (a coalition of local environmental educators, and of WDFW and UW scientists), will be a guide. Coincidentally, King and Pierce Counties are leading the way with several Inter-County floodplain restoration projects along the river, and across from the Pacific Park. Floodplain restoration will increase habitat for salmon, and improve riparian functions, though the project is primarily to provide more channel “volume” for floodwater storage.

A bigger "Vision"
How about expanding this concept to create a Big Nature Park /Wetlands Mitigation Bank/ Outdoor Recreation Area along the Left Bank (east side) of the River, and west of the thousands of homes of Lakeland, Auburn? FLWR envisions a 200 to 300+ acre “working” Park which encompasses the Sumner Meadows golf course and land to the north and south for floodplain restoration, storm water planning, habitat restoration, and tourist and residential recreation. The Big Nature Park would be a model for other progressive communities with river “resources” in Washington’s Urban Growth Areas. The Big Nature Park would become a valuable economic resource to our communities, just as the Puyallup-Carbon River valley “Rails to Trails” trail has helped Orting’s post-logging/diary farm economy. (see Big Nature Park attachments below)




More about Water:
Water sustains us. Clean water is needed for our families, our jobs, growing local food, and a healthy, sustainable environment. Clean water is taken for granted… it comes out of the tap at a turn of the handle. But clean water is not guaranteed unless we work to keep contaminants out of surface and ground water. Rivers and streams, like people, need care. Stormwater runoff needs to be free of contaminants. Groundwater needs to be protected from pollution. Rivers and tributaries need trees shading the water, and upland forests shading the ground, to keep water cool. Invasive plants need to be controlled. Onsite septic sewage systems need to work properly, and not leak sewage. Yards and gardens need to be chemically "low maintainence". Cars need to be well maintained, and as efficient as possible. We need to drive less.... these are all ways to make responsible choices to reduce stormwater pollution. If we are not careful, clean water will be the next "gold".

The recent history of the "Stuck" and "White" Rivers
In 1894-95, the White River flowed into the Green River, through the town of Auburn, near East C Street/ Auburn Way at Main. The Stuck River flowing south was a secondary channel. Farmers to the north and south wanted the floodwaters to go the other direction. Somehow around 1906 a landslide of questionable origin (some Puyallup farmers rumored that Auburn farmers' dynamite was the cause) diverted the River into the South channel. Puyallup farmers sued. Lawsuits resulted in an Inter-County River Improvement agreement, which was signed between King and Pierce Counties. The River was stuck in the south channel. Under the agreement, between 1915-19, the river was straightened, diked, and permenently redirected to the Puyallup The diversion can be found in Game Farm Park, Auburn. . The Inter-County agreement ended years of farmers' arguments and lawsuits over the White River. It also destroyed important habitat for salmon, steelhead and many other species.


The Results:
Diminished salmon runs were the results of over 100 years of "management". The Bolt Decision and the Endangered Species Act forced the state and federal govermnment to take action to restore salmon runs.Now watershed Tribes, federal, state, and local governments, and citizens groups are addressing the consequences of rivers managed only to control flooding. King and Pierce County and the Muckleshoot and Puyallup Nations are working actively to restore salmon runs. But environmental degradation, polluted water, poor habitat in the river channel, and land conversion are making it a hard job.

Sustainable fish populations in the White River WOULD indicate the White River System is healthy. It would also mean people are no longer using the White River as a sewer or as a garbage dump. We have a long way to go to restore the White River to a viable, healthy river. It will never be exactly how it was before Euro-American fur trappers, government expeditions, and “manifest destiny” motivated settlers “found” it.

Looking even farther back:
Before the early 1800s, the White-Stuck River was thick with spawning salmon and steelhead runs which supported the First Nations peoples for thousands of years. By 1854, Washington Territorial Governor Issac Stevens was coercing South Sound area Puyallup, Nisqually, Steilacoom, Squawkskin, and Northern Sound Duwamish and Muckleshoots, and other tribes’ and bands’ “leaders”, whom he had appointed, to give up their lands by signing the Medicine Creek and Point Roberts Treatys. The Medicine Creek Treaty guaranteed the Tribes fishing and hunting in all usual and accustomed places. Stevens promised the treaty would be good “as long as the grass shall grow and the sun shall rise.” These treaties basically legalized stealing Indian lands so settlers would have "clear title" to the land on which they squatted. Since the treaty negotiations were conducted in the trade jargon of about 300 words, it is doubtfull the Tribal signers even knew what they were givnig up (Source: Skid Row, by Murray Morgan).
Stevens probably didn't think whatever he told the Indians would matter. He expected them to fade into ovblivion, or to become "civilized" farmers. And he surely didn't have a clue about "ecosystems" and their functions, his job was to get title to the land. And he did. In little over 200 years, the Anglo-American "improvements" "pioneers", their desendants, (and we more recent immigrants) have made to these First Nations lands, have turned the rivers into sewers, decimated the forests so they no longer function to provide clean cold water to streams and rivers year round, poisoned Puget Sound so it is becoming a watery desert, and basically screwed-up the lowland ecosystems to the point of un-sustainability. Of the thousands and thousands of square miles in the Puget Sound basin, only the National Parks and the most remote unlogged national and private forests provide the same ecosystem services they did in 1800. (See ,www.eartheconomics.org "A New View of the Puget Sound Economy")

Ask yourself what today’s Muckleshoot and Puyallup Tribal elders would say about their treaty rights to salmon “as long as the sun shall rise”. What would they say we should change? Ask your self, “What can I do to help make the river and ecosystem healthy and sustainable again?”


FLWR invites you to help us walk the talk to a healthy White River.
Contact FLWR at PacificNaturalist@clearwire.net or 253-924-0211!




FLWR’s motto is “Water for Life”. Our “mascot” is the River Otter
"Otto Otter", seen on the masthead above,
was drawn by Federal Way, WA artist Anita Lynn Landree.