EatonvilleNews



	The Water Front Rain Garden Workshop Columbia Crest School... from David Hymel May 2, 2008 Please join us for a workshop and help us install a fully functioning rain garden at the Columbia Crest Elementary School. When: Saturday, May 31; 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. (The date has changed from May 10) Where: Columbia Crest Elementary School, 24503 SR 706 E. Ashford, Washington 98304 What to Bring: Work gloves, work boots, and layered, warm work clothes. Dress for inclement weather Food: Work snacks and refreshments will be provided This is a follow on to the design workshop held in March at the Eatonville Community Center. Volunteers will learn the correct shaping and site development procedures, soil mixing techniques and plant selection and installation. RSVP to David Hymel, 360.832.8148, cell 253.389.2060 dhymel@gmail.com or Sheila Wilson, cell 360.561.0203 sheila@nisquallyriver.org To watch a slide show of Yelm High School students building a rain garden for their high school please see Yelm High School Rain Garden Make A Difference For Salmon On Horn Creek from Emmett O'Connell May 11, 2008 ROY – Nisqually Stream Stewards are seeking volunteers for a morning of salmon habitat restoration on Saturday, May 17, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Plantings last fall along Horn Creek restored important riparian habitat. Volunteers are needed to apply mulch around the base of native trees and shrubs. The project will take place on the Wilcox Family Farm property and is part of a large restoration project that has involved hundreds of students and volunteers. Volunteers will first gather at the Wilcox Family Farms main office parking lot on Harts Lake Valley Rd. near Roy. Be advised that there are no restroom facilities on site. Planting will take place rain or shine, so please dress appropriately. Gloves and proper footwear are also recommended. Refreshments and tools will be provided. Interested volunteers can contact Don Perry at 360. 438.8687, ext 2143 or dperry@nwifc.org. WHAT: - Salmon habitat mulching event WHEN: - Saturday, May 17, 9 a.m. to 12 noon WHERE: - Meet at Wilcox Family Farms, 40400 Harts Lake Valley Road, Roy, Washington (Publisher's Note: From Time Magazine, May 19, 2008: Estimated drop in king salmon yields from California's Sacramento River from 2002 to 2008 - 92 percent. It has been 160 years since the U.S. government last banned West Coast salmon fishing. This year's ban came after authorities declared the region's king salmon fisheries a federal failure.) Salmon Restoration Project Wins Prestigious State Award... Logjam Provides Launching Pad... (photo by Bob Walter-January 2007) Volunteers carried the salmon carcasses out onto the top of one of the large, manmade logjams to launch them into the Mashell River. The logjams were built last summer while the river flow was barely a trickle. The jams survived the November flooding, if partly rearranged. The carcass toss – providing nutrients for young fry and other river life to feed on – is designed to complement the logjams, which slow the river’s flow, create eddies, provide deeper water for fish to hide in, and build better spawning beds – all meant to increase spawning success. Another element of the massive, long-term salmon habitat enhancement project being conducted by Pierce Conservation District Stream Team, Nisqually Stream Stewards and the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group is the planting of native trees and shrubs along the river courses to provide water-cooling shade and stabilize the riparian habitat. Salmon Restoration Project Wins State Gold Award from Sara Mangat January 30, 2008 A restoration project to the Mashel River system near Eatonville won a State Gold Award for Original or Innovative Application of New or Existing Techniques at the recent ACEC/Washington’s 40th annual awards ceremony. Herrera Environmental Consultants designed a simple and straightforward solution that involved the construction of 13 engineered logjam structures that would reconnect the river to its floodplain and take advantage of mature existing vegetation. In total, judges honored 29 projects that featured cutting-edge engineering expertise in structural, technological, environmental and transportation categories. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge took away the top honor—the National Platinum Award. The bridge’s award-winning design includes innovative elements such as massive underwater concrete cassions. Most bridge caissons are made of steel, but these deep-water, gravity-type caissons saved millions of dollars in material and labor costs. Importantly, they were minimally disruptive during construction in the environmentally sensitive waters of the Narrows. Juvenile Salmon Under a Logjam (photo by Jamie Glasgow) During July and August of 2007 biologists snorkeled the Mashell River to survey the juvenile salmon population. Biologists found population had increased three times greater than previously. Ten engineered log-jams and a side channel for the fish to find protection and keep safe. The river is one of the two highest priority tributaries for salmon recovery in the Nisqually Watershed. Design and placement of the log-jams has been a joint effort between the Nisqually Tribe and South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group. The log-jams held even during 2006 when the area experienced a ten-year flood event. Florian Leischner, restoration biologist for the Nisqually Tribe noted, “Not long after the installation of the log-jams, we found Chinook, coho and pink salmon spawning in gravel bars accumulated by those very same log-jams. Those log-jams and side channels provided immediate benefit to spawning and rearing fish.” In 2007 more work was completed with the introduction of four more log-jams upstream of Smallwood Park and construction of another side channel. Leischner pointed out, ‘One reason these jog-jams were created is because there are no large trees currently in the reach of the Mashel River." In the future restoration work on the river will continue with additional log-jams and planting of more trees. Pierce Stream Team, Nisqually River Education Project, South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group and the Nisqually Tribe are working together to organize the plantings. Log-Jams in Eatonville Area... (map by Jennifer Cutler) For more details please see below: Best in State Gold Award... **from Bill Garrity ACEC Washington January 30, 2008 Gold Award Gold Award for Original or Innovative Application of New or Existing Techniques Herrera Environmental Consultants Owner: South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group Commercial and residential development near the Mashel River, a tributary of the Nisqually River, and the adjacent floodplain near Eatonville had resulted in mounting public pressure to protect the infrastructure. Heavy logging over the past 100 years also had resulted in a lack of woody debris in the Mashel River system, causing problems for plant and animal habitats as well as the quality, quantity and path of the river. In 1996, a 25-year flood exacerbated the problems. In 2004, the Nisqually Indian Tribe released a multispecies management plan for the Nisqually River Basin** which identified the Mashel River as being among the highest priority ACEC Washington Announces Annual Engineering Excellence Awards Page 8 of 15 reaches for habitat restoration. The goals were to reconnect the floodplain, bring wood back into the river, and protect development while enhancing the river’s salmon production capabilities. The South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group brought in experts from Herrera Environmental Consultants to help find a solution that would encompass mainstream, riparian and off-channel habitats as well as floodplain reconnection. The project had to help increase salmon populations in the Mashel River and to protect an important local park from ongoing erosion. Traditional approaches to this type of restoration project would have involved revegetation, which would have increased cost and required many years to achieve a complex forest and a mature habitat. But lack of time and money were major factors. So Herrera designed a simple and straightforward solution that involved the construction of 13 engineered logjam structures that would reconnect the river to its floodplain and take advantage of mature existing vegetation. The strategically placed manmade logjams obstructed the river flow and raised water elevations enough to inundate secondary channels and portions of the floodplain. This was critical in maintaining salmon populations as well as floodplain function and biodiversity. The project was successfully constructed in two phases during the summers of 2006 and 2007, and cost less than $500,000 – half of what other solutions were expected to cost. Award for Most Improved Water Facilities... (photo by Bob Walter) May 19, 2007 - Eatonville Mayor Tom Smallwood proudly shows off the attractive glass award given to the town recently. The award says, "In honor of Drinking Water Week, May 6-12, 2007 Town of Eatonville Water Department is being recognized by the Department of Health Office of Drinking Water has demonstrated commitment to public health protection through the provision of safe and reliable drinking water." To see the old water facilities please go to 2003 Water Tour , which supplied the town's water for many, many years, and compare the differences in the new system, 2007 Water Tour. During the May 7 council meeting Mayor Smallwood reported that many people have told him how great the water is since the new plant is functioning, that some citizens have said they were going to stop ordering bottled water and he's been told some can even see a difference in their hair. He said the town hall was going to stop getting bottled water and would get a dispenser and some bottles and fill them at the water plant. As Smallwood pointed out, the town hall has rusty plumbing so they don't want to use water from that location. Dead Salmon Toss for Health of the Fish and River Photos and Story by Bob Walter... Suiting Up Against Slime... January 28, 2007: Parents ready their children for handling the frozen salmon carcasses at Smallwood Park Saturday morning, by dressing them in large garbage bags. Project leaders provided heavy, rubber gloves. The morning was cold, and the fish so frozen, that slime was not much of a problem, though some children gleefully held and hugged their chosen fish for quite some time before trecking to the river’s edge to toss them in. *Tails Docked for Identification...* Before each carcass toss, the tails are cut off with lopping shears so they can be distinguished from spawning salmon during monitoring of spawning success. Salmon spend their entire adult life at sea, then follow their native stream to spawn and die. The carcass toss replicates what would, and did, naturally occur in a healthy spawning run. *Logjam Provides Launching Pad...* Volunteers carried the salmon carcasses out onto the top of one of the large, manmade logjams to launch them into the Mashell River. The logjams were built last summer while the river flow was barely a trickle. The jams survived the November flooding, if partly rearranged. The carcass toss – providing nutrients for young fry and other river life to feed on – is designed to complement the logjams, which slow the river’s flow, create eddies, provide deeper water for fish to hide in, and build better spawning beds – all meant to increase spawning success. Another element of the massive, long-term salmon habitat enhancement project being conducted by Pierce Conservation District Stream Team, Nisqually Stream Stewards and the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group is the planting of native trees and shrubs along the river courses to provide water-cooling shade and stabilize the riparian habitat. Salmon Life Cycle... Citizen Putting in Sewer Line Surprised by Possible Hidden Aquifer... For many years the Town of Eatonville has searched for new water sources, in numerous places, including Ohop Valley, having test wells dug, spending money, but to no avail. Yet late last week Eatonville resident Jim Mettler was excavating for installation of a sewer line on his property near Swanson Field, when he struck water - a lot of water. It is assumed this water is from an aquifer ten to twelve feet below the surface. The sudden river of clear water is not the result of a broken water main. Clear Water Streams from Underground, But Not Usable by Town The water gushing out of the ground on the Mettler property is estimated to be over 1,000 gallons per minute - the equivalent of a good-sized creek. When questioned about the possibility of the town tapping into the flow, Mayor Tommy Smallwood, who was visiting the site to observe the surge on Sunday, answered, "We don't have the water rights." Here the water can be seen at the outflow end of a large, temporary pipe, installed to send the water down the road and into the storm drain system. *More Water Streams out of Hidden Aquifer* The water coming out of the ground on private property near the airport is being channeled under the road (Cessna Court), coming out of the culvert above in a deep and steady flow, before it is diverted west, under the high school football practice field near Eatonville Elementary, and eventually directed into the storm water system. *Land Clearing Not Related to Gushing Water* One-half block south of the newfound, but unusable, water source mentioned above, land is being cleared and readied for the construction of approximately four new homes. *Detail of Wood Chipping as Land is Cleared* A large Caterpiller with articulated arm can be seen lifting branches and brush and dropping them into the huge chipping machine, which quickly converts them into wood chips. Sixty Tons of Salmon Carcasses Benefit the Nisqually Watershed... from Emmett O'Connell December 6, 2006 During the last seven winters over sixty tons of Chinook salmon carcasses – plus almost 30,000 pounds this year – have been tossed in streams around the Nisqually River watershed through the Nisqually Tribe’s carcass distribution program. The tribe takes carcasses from their two hatcheries, and with help from volunteers, distributes them throughout the watershed, adding much needed marine nutrients to the eco-system. Salmon carcasses bring nutrients back from the ocean that are food for over one-hundred-forty-seven species of wildlife. "Every year the number of fish we could store increased because we learned more about how to pack salmon into a big freezer,” said Florian Leischner , salmon restoration biologist for the tribe. However, there is ultimately a limit to space. “For the first time since we started the program, we actually had a drop in the pounds last year," said Don Perry , the tribe's volunteer coordinator. "There are only so many fish you can cram in there.” The carcass tossing program has a real impact on bringing back salmon in larger numbers to the Nisqually River watershed. “Juvenile salmon of all species depend on nutrients from carcasses,” said Leischner. Small organisms, such as stream insects, feed on the carcasses, which in turn are food for juvenile salmon. Over the last hundred years there has been a dramatic decline in numbers of returning salmon and available carcasses and food in the system. “While we can’t totally re-create historic conditions, we are doing what we can.” The carcass distribution program also ties into the tribe's ongoing salmon habitat restoration efforts throughout the watershed. In recent years the tribe and its partners have completed several projects that provide habitat for juvenile fish. "By putting carcasses near those projects we will help ensure the fish rearing in them will have food," said Leischner. The program began when only 3,900 pounds of salmon were tossed in 1999. “We may have hit a plateau in terms of how many fish we can pack into a freezer, but we’re seeing more and more people come out to carcass tossing events,” said Perry. In addition to two public carcass tossing events each winter, the tribe works with the Nisqually River Education Project to organize dozens of outings for school groups. “You can only imagine how much fun throwing a big dead frozen salmon around is for students,” said Perry. “Carcass tossing is a way for salmon recovery to be real for students and for people who wouldn’t otherwise get excited about fish.” The Nisqually Stream Stewards, a volunteer salmon recovery program sponsored by the tribe, attracts many new volunteers through the carcass tossing program. “People who don’t normally look for salmon recovery volunteer activities, such as tree plantings or salmon migration watching, will come out for carcass tossing,” said Perry. “Throwing a frozen chinook carcass into the Nisqually River is a real way that people can connect with salmon recovery in their own back yard.” *It's Time to Fling Dead Fish Again, Volunteers Needed...* (photo by Bob Walter 2005) EATONVILLE ( December 6, 2006 ) – The Nisqually Stream Stewards will be holding their first salmon carcass tossing of the year Saturday, December 9 in Eatonville. Volunteers are needed for this fun and valuable event. While carcass tossing may be fun, it also provides an important food source for juvenile salmon and other species throughout the watershed. What: Nisqually Salmon Carcass Tossing Where: Streams and creeks around Eatonville - Smallwood Park, Eatonville When: Saturday, December 9 - 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. To register for the carcass toss or to find out more information about the Stream Stewards, contact Don Perry, volunteer coordinator at (360) 438-8687, dperry@nwifc.org The Nisqually Stream Stewards plans to place, with the help of volunteers, over 3,000 carcasses during the 2006 carcass tossing season. The carcasses for the salmon tossing program come from the Nisqually tribal hatcheries. Salmon carcasses are a critical part of the Nisqually River’s ecosystem. When salmon return to their native streams and die, the marine nutrients they brought with them are eaten by organisms ranging from insects to bears or absorbed by plants. Where salmon carcasses are plentiful, juvenile salmon grow bigger by feeding on the carcasses and the increased abundance of stream insects. For more information, contact: Don Perry, volunteer coordinator, Nisqually Indian Tribe, (360) 438-8687, dperry@nwifc.org *Hundreds of Dead Trees Dot Van Eaton Property...* *(photo by Bob Walter)* October 8, 2006 - by Bob Walter: Hundreds of young trees and shrubs, planted several years ago alongside the Mashell River as part of the Nisqually Tribe's salmon habitat restoration, have died, apparently from lack of water. The planting was along the Mashell River west of town on property owned by Elsie Van Eaton, daughter-in-law of town founder T. C. Van Eaton. In February 2003 The Pierce County Conservation District bestowed local resident Elsie Van Eaton with the Conservation Practice Implementation Award. The award was presented to Mrs. Van Eaton for her willingness and cooperation in efforts aimed at the recovery of Chinook, Coho and Chum salmon runs along the Mashell River, which borders the south end of the Van Eaton family property. Van Eaton entered into an agreement with the district advancing its Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), which establishes forested, riparian buffers along rivers and streams. As stipulated in the agreement, the district hired workers to clear out areas of non-native Scotch broom and blackberries, and reestablish native vegetation, including native trees. The dead trees, marked by the blue plastic cylinders originally positioned to protect them, extend across a wide field and an orchard planted by T. C. Van Eaton. The nearly hundred-year-old fruit trees are still alive and producing fruit. Dead Trees are Everywhere... (photo by Bob Walter) One of hundreds of fir trees planted which died. More Mashell River Restoration... (photo by Bob Walter) October 12, 2006: Two dogs explore the low waters of the Mashell River near one of the man-made log jams intended to improve the health of the river environment for salmon. (There are leash laws within the town limits and in Pierce County.) Waiting for the Water to Rise... (photo by Bob Walter) This is one of two log jams recently built on the Mashell after completion of the three logjams at Smallwood Park. These two are further upstream, this one adjoining the property of Pat and Edwinna Van Eaton, the other sandwiched between property owned by Nora Thurston and Riverside Estates. The holes dug to anchor the jams are not yet filled with water. It will take a period of rain to bring the river's level up to the point of actually interacting with the logjams. Old Water Line Breaks Spills Thousands of Gallons of Water into Neighborhood - Water Could be Contaminated with Asbestos... (photo by Jasic Miller - white spots are raindrops on the camera lens) A town water main failed Friday evening between the homes of Tom and Stacy Miller and Ladd and Rosemarie Van Cleve, on an unimproved town alleyway sandwiched by the two properties, at the end of South Cedar and South Pennsylvania Streets, respectively, a half block south of Center Street. The break occurred during a downpour of rain. Mayor Tommy Smallwood, during the October 9 council meeting said the broken pipe allowed "forty thousand gallons" of water to wash into the surrounding neighborhood. The break sent cascades of water through four yards. At the center of this photo is a hole in the ground from which the water began gushing Friday evening, October 6, around 7 p.m. The pressure was so great that Rosemarie Van Cleve, from her back door about fifty feet away, could see a column of water shooting at least six feet up from the ground. Though the break occurred on an alleyway, it is - or was - actually a well-tended, landscaped slope of lawn between the Millers and the Van Cleves. Right now it looks a little like a river bed just after a flash flood. Hundreds of boulders as well as gravel litter the grass. Dirt has been washed away forming gullies. At the base of the hill below this spot are the back yards of Madora Dawkins and June Wilcox. A pond formed across the entire width of June Wilcox's back yard to her patio, flooded a portion of Dawkins' yard as well, and flowed out the Millers' long, concrete driveway all the way to the street. Ladd and Rosemarie Van Cleve's garage is just a few feet east of the where the break occurred. A few feet to the west is the backyard fence of Tom and Stacy Miller. The water main - an eight-inch pipe, reportedly made of asbestos-concrete (AC), is believed to have been constructed in the 1940s. If this is accurate the potential for asbestos contaminated yards could pose some danger. There was also some flooding of basements which could also leave residue of asbestos. It is one of the Town of Eatonville's feeder lines from the Hilltop "concrete" reservoir on the ridge above this location. As Miller put it, "We're lucky it didn't break further up the hill, because it could have poured right onto* Ladd and Rosemarie's, or it could have flowed toward our home. As it is, it flowed between and past our houses." Once authorities were informed of the break, several town utility employees arrived to assess the situation, while a valve supplying the line from up the hill was turned off. Miller pushed through the stream to find and clear out a catch basin, to channel some of the water into the storm drain. There was another waterline break on Easton at Hamner Springs earlier in the week. *(What is asbestos? A strong and incombustible fiber widely used in the past for fireproofing and insulation. The small, buoyant fibers are easily inhaled or swallowed, causing a number of serious diseases including: asbestosis, a chronic disease of the lungs that makes breathing more and more difficult; cancer; and mesothelioma, a cancer (specific to asbestos exposure) of the membranes that line the chest and abdomen. www.connyankee.com/html/glossary.html** ) A Temporary Mini River Flowed From the Break Friday Night... (photo by Dixie A. Walter) A stream of water caused by a broken water main flows rapidly down the hill from left to right in the photo above. For years Millers and Van Cleves have asked town officials about the water flowing down the hill. Millers and Van Cleves talked with then Public Works Director Russ Blount about the problem in 1995, when Miller was building his house. Blount reportedly told Rosemarie and Stacy that he tested the water once and found traces of chlorine, which would indicate leaking municipal water rather than a spring. This summer, even during the long dry spell, water continued to trickle past Van Cleves' shed before Friday's break. Van Cleve and Millers were without water for many hours. Miller collected water from the break for toilet flushing, etc. Starting to Repair the Damage... *(photo by Bob Walter)* Town machinery was used to dig around the broken water main Friday night and into the early morning Saturday. The broken section of the pipe was replaced, and water service was restored to the homes by Saturday morning. Habitat Restoration Project Continues on Mashell River Photos and Story by Bob Walter... September 10, 2006: Operator Charlie Murray navigates his earth-moving machine from atop a mound of earth and rocks Saturday, as he prepares the Mashell River bank at Smallwood Park for a third logjam, in the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Project's Eatonville phase. The machine's upper portion, including the cab, engine, articulated arm and counterweight, spins round at a dizzying rate of speed. Charlie says the spinning, especially when on a steep slope, with his line of sight alternating from sky to a hole in the ground, can be "temporarily disorientating," causing him to have to step out onto the ground occasionally to regain his perspective. The combination of machine capability and his skills allow him to move and artfully reposition boulders, logs and dirt into configurations that should last for years, though he has great respect for what rushing water can do to his work. It will be interesting to see how the play of flood waters, logjams and time will put a new face on the river's bank and bed. Starting From Scratch... Seen from atop a newly-constructed logjam, work continues in the distance on the third logjam at Smallwood Park. The hole carved out of the river bank in the middle distance will be filled and woven with logs, boulders and dirt. Then the exposed bank will be landscaped with native plantings, including young Douglas fir trees that are being temporarily stored in the Kids' Pond. Just Add Water - And Soon... A finished logjam, designed by man to simulate what Mother Nature creates, will send the rushing waters of the Mashell in new directions as they flow into it. They will bounce, form eddies, slow the river down, dig deep pools in one spot and deposit sediments in another, hopefully creating perfect resting spots and spawning beds for migrating salmon - and a more interesting, more natural-looking face for human visitors to enjoy. Removal of the wall of boulders which had been built here many years ago will also reduce the rate of erosion of the opposite bank caused by fast-moving currents, which have been threatening the south shore of the old mill pond. Boxcar Cleanup Day Photos and Story by Bob Walter... August 30, 2006: In response to the continuing, age-old, problems with dangerous and unsightly garbage at Boxcar Canyon, many of the Town of Eatonville staff, two people from the Nisqually Land Trust and a few citizens, including some kids, pitched in for a work party to clean up the area. The kids even scoured the road leading in to the site for litter. Running through Boxcar is the Mashell River, which supplies a large amount of the town's drinking water. Boxcar Canyon and much of the land that surrounds it is now owned by the Nisqually Land Trust. Informal discussions between Trust representatives and town officials during the cleanup indicated that a collaborative relationship could allow the public to enjoy the beautiful site, while protecting it at the same time. The trouble spot is above the town's intake pipe which means the river can be contaminated by any number of unhealthy pollutants in or near the water. From left to right above: Eatonville Town Administrator Gary Armstrong, Town Planner Nick Bond and park employee Mike Lively remove the remnants of old campfires and the litter that accompanied them at Boxcar Canyon. For more photos and story please see Boxcar Cleanup 2006 River Restoration Update (photo by Bob Walter) August 30, 2006: by Bob Walter: Building a logjam is not as easy as throwing logs into the river bed. Here heavy equipment operator Charlie Murray deftly tosses a huge boulder (boulder can be seen just below the "jaws") into the carefully designed foundation of the first logjam being constructed on the Mashell River next to Smallwood Park, as part of the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Project. Herrera Environmental Consultants provided the design for the logjams. Once they are completed, the river will be routed back to its original course, and in time, deep pools of water will provide shelter for the various species of juvenile salmon that inhabit the river, and resting sites for adult salmon migrating back upstream to spawn. Major Mashell River Restoration Now Underway Photos and Story by Bob Walter Crawdaddy Gets a Lift... Denizens of the deep - or rather, the shallows - along the Mashell River in Eatonville, like this crayfish, got free passage downstream by volunteers working for the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Project. The volunteers worked with nets and buckets to capture and transport downstream, as many fish and crustaceans as they could find, to minimize injuries from the work being done in the river bed. When the project is finished, the stretch of river running through Eatonville will be far more salmon-friendly. The rip rap, constructed years ago to control the river's course, also tends to speed the flow of water and minimize the development of prime salmon spawning beds. Dike Diverts River... Charlie Murray, operating this tracked earth mover Tuesday August 22, creates a temporary dike to re-route the Mashell River where it flows between Smallwood Park and the old mill pond. Nets were stretched across the river above and below the site to prevent fish from entering the construction area. By Wednesday, Murray was tearing down the wall of basalt boulder rip rap in the foreground, in preparation for construction of three log jams, simulating a natural phenomenon created by nature during peak floods of the river. Log jams act to slow the speed of the river and create sand and gravel beds, ideal for salmon spawning. Murray will have to dig eighteen feet below the river bed to anchor the logs, in an intricate, layered pattern. He said over 1,600 logs will be used in this section of river and another habitat enhancement site upstream near Boxcar Canyon. Fish Hunt on the Mashell Nets Hundreds From morning until nightfall Tuesday, volunteers scoured the Mashell River at Smallwood Park for any fish or other small aquatic life stranded in shallow pools after the river was diverted. Hundreds of small fish were caught and carried downstream, including at least one by Charlie Murray on Wednesday, who got out of his excavating machine and scooped up a salmon fingerling he had spotted. He quickly carried it to safer waters. Murray has excavated for similar river enhancement projects in the past. When the project is completed, log jams will sit at the site visible in the photo above, and in time, spawning beds will hopefully replace the many large boulders seen here. Want to Catch Salmon with a Net and Help Built Logjams? (photo by David Hymel) This human built log jam is one of several along the rivers. They are built to supply important habitat projection for salmon in a continuing restoration project to bring salmon bearing waters back to the days when salmon ruled the waters. In what could be a very interesting experience the public is being asked to catch salmon in part of the Mashell River to clear them out of the way for building log jams which provide cover and habitat for breeding and young salmon. Fishing for Salmon Just a Bit Differently... Press release by Teresa Moon Project Manager South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group August 17, 2006 We are beginning construction for the log jam project on Monday August 21st in Smallwood Park . We will be diverting the river to allow construction to occur without sediment entering the river. This means removing all of the fish in this section of the river (about 600 feet) before diverting it. This will be a pretty big endeavor where we will need a lot of people with nets and buckets to ensure no fish get stranded. I also think this would be a fun opportunity for people to actually get to see and handle fish. I'm not sure of an exact time but I think if people started showing up at Smallwood park in Eatonville around 10:00 - 10:30 a.m. that would be fine. They will need hip or chest waders with felt bottoms since the Mashel is pretty slippery and bouldery. If they do not have waders tennis shoes would probably work that have some traction on the bottom and that they don't mind getting wet. If volunteers could also bring a five gallon bucket with a handle and a small net, such as a green aquarium net. If they do not have these supplies we will have a few that we could make available. This could take the majority of the day, it just depends on how long it takes to remove all of the fish. If anyone has questions they can give me a call and if anyone is interested if they could call and RSVP so I have an idea of how many people will be helping. Thanks so much for your help! Water, Water, Everywhere ...or Not? by Dixie A. Walter My View July 13, 2006 A couple of months ago, too long after a public records request made April 28, concerning available water hookups (ERUs) in town ENN received the following report from Town Administrator Gary Armstrong: "Based on the latest information from the data ending in 2003 and subtracting our ERUs from that data, the Town has 287 ERUs. That number changes based on reducing lost and unaccounted for water, changing out faulty meters and water conservation. We are currently refiguring our ERUs based on current information. RH2 is performing the task." This document followed a discussion I had with Town Planner Nick Bond a couple of weeks earlier in the town hall. - to whit: When asked to explain the number of ERUs (water hookups) left in town Bond answered, in a nutshell, "The town didn't have the numbers of ERUs written down. The ERUs have been recalculated and according to the public works department there are fifty or sixty water ERUs, and around nine-hundred sewer ERUs." However, Bond said Gary Armstrong's figures were about three-hundred water hookups. ERUs have been recalculated several times in the past few years and each time the numbers are different. In the beginning the numbers appeared to decline. I asked Bond if the town felt there was enough water ERUs for approximately four-hundred new houses. He answered that the town will have enough water for proposed new developments. And added the renovation of the schools will free up more ERUs since the renovated schools won't use as much water. Bond also said the proposed development on the old lumber mill site will have three-hundred and ten houses according to what he has been told. And noted this was the only large development in the works. During the last council meeting, July10, Bond said the town has received application for 340 lots within the town limits, but didn't state where this development is sited. Speculators believe Bond is referring to the Hamilton property which used to be where the Eatonville Lumber Company stood. Below is RH2 Engineering's conclusion of the latest calculations regarding the available water hooks ups left in Eatonville before the community needs more water rights. The June 23 report was a hand-out during the July 10 council meeting. Interestingly, the RH2 report says Eatonville's water consumption has declined in the past two years despite growth. I'm no engineer, but isn't that rather similar to saying despite the mass consumption of chocolate and fries the person continues to lose weight? Water conservation has not been promoted by town government for several years, but perhaps citizens are monitoring their own water usage because utility rates have almost doubled in the past couple of years. A question. When will our utility rates be raised again, this time to pay for the new filtration plant? And how much will they be raised? Please see excerpt from council report below. "Water hook-ups were raised during the July 10 council meeting: Allison then moved to add Resolution 2006-NN to the meeting's agenda. The motion carried. This resolution sets water system fees and water hookup charges, repealing Resolution 2004-L. In a memo by Nick Bond, citing both, 'the ever increasing cost of materials and the existing Water Department budget situation, staff is recommending that [the existing $4,500 hookup fee for a single residential lot] be rounded up to $2,500 additional per ERU,' to $7,000. The memo goes on to say, 'Waiting to increase initial system fees will likely create significant obstacles to future growth and will put a strain on an already strained Water Department budget.'" Your Tax Dollars at Work More New Photos of Filter Plant... May 9, 2006 During the May 8 council meeting Town Administrator Gary Armstrong explained that the filter plant is about seventy-five percent done. And said an audit would be done to "see where we are" and the council would have the audit results by the next meeting, May 15.To view the latest photos please see Filter Plant New Photos of Filter Plant Progress... May 1, 2006 Three more photos of the town's new filter plant's progress were passed out to council members during the April 24 council meeting. Please see the new photos at the April 24 council meeting. Please see the new photos at the April 24 council meeting. Please see the new photos at Filter Plant April 10 Filter Plant Photos... April 12, 2006 Town Administrator Gary Armstrong passed out some photographs of the progress on the filtration plant to council members at the April 10 meeting. to council members at the April 10 meeting. to council members at the April 10 meeting. He told the council the project was about "sixty percent" finished and "they would hopefully being pouring the floor this week." Please see the latest photos at Filter Plant Last Month's Photos... March 14, 2006 During the March 13 town council meeting Gary Armstrong, town administrator, passed out four photographs showing the progress of the multi-million dollar water filtration plant being built as mandated by the Department of Health. Please see the photos Filter Plant *Nisqually Stream Stewards Course begins its Fourth Successful Year...* (photo by Bob Walter) Ohop Creek, a salmon bearing stream, is part of the Nisqually watershed. To learn more about the important watershed please see below. by Don Perry Salmon Recovery Outreach Coordinator Nisqually Tribe Natural Resources May 14, 2006 Why is the Nisqually watershed such a unique and special place? What can you do to protect and improve this watershed for present and future generations? Why not enroll in the Stream Stewards training course and find out, while having fun exploring interesting places in the watershed? The seven-week course, which runs from June 7 through July 22, is sponsored by the Nisqually Tribe as part of the Nisqually Stream Stewards Stewardship training program. Meeting times include seven classes on Wednesday evenings from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., and four Saturday field trips from 9a.m. to 3 p.m. Stream Stewards grads are asked to pledge back forty hours of volunteer service in activities such as tree planting, water quality monitoring, sharing what they have learned with others, or working with people in their community to take care of their local stream. Continuous training opportunities are also available after the class. Just a few of the many course topics covered include; watershed hydrology and geology, prairie and forest ecosystems, salmon and salmon habitat of the Nisqually River , and the history and culture of the Nisqually People. Topics will be presented by a host of educators, researchers and members of the Nisqually Tribe. After taking the Stream Stewards course, several students reflected on their experiences. “The Stream Stewards course gave me a deep respect and greatly increased my appreciation for what an incredible river the Nisqually is and remains today,” noted Adam Sant. “Through the class, field trips, and projects, you see how it all fits together.” said Keith Kusler . “At the end of the day, I am immensely satisfied to be a volunteer giving back to my community and guiding it wherever I can, added David Hymel . “When I entered this class, ‘watershed’ was little more than a word to me. But, during the course that word has been brought to life by all of the outstanding presentations and fieldtrips,” concluded Greg Arnold. For more information or to reserve your place in the course, contact Don Perry , Nisqually Stream Stewards Coordinator, at 360.438.8687 or dperry@nwifc.org/ Space is limited and the class usually fills early. A Nisqually River Tourism Model... Mashell and Nisqually Rivers Meet... (photo by David Hymel) Where two rivers become one... by David Hymel Chamber Vice-President Reprinted from May Chamber Newsletter May 15, 2006 A few weeks ago I attended the first public meeting for the Nisqually-Mashell State Park. Great ideas were abundant, and I discovered, along with most others there, what an amazing recreation resource that this new park will be. The park and the Town of Eatonville are at just about the geographic center of the Nisqually River watershed. This location, combined with some thought and planning, can propel us to a new level of organizing and marketing the tourism for our area. We should begin a discussion that moves us towards developing a river-centric tourism model for the Nisqually River watershed. This could be something similar to that Sound to Mountain idea, but here the river becomes the center of gravity and the connection to the communities along its path. The Nisqually River is seventy-eight miles long, has its headwaters in the glaciers of Mount Rainier National Park, and has its outflow in the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. We can use the river and these unique qualities to create many combinations of tour themes with their base in river activities. We have everything we need to create a tourism model that will attract increasingly sophisticated local, state, national and international visitors looking for a menu of watershed experiences from which to choose. Some have suggested interpretive and adventure touring such as bird watching, volcano and geology exploration, native plant and ecozone identification, salmon and shell fishing, river rafting and kayaking--activities that put visitors in one end of the system and pick them up at the other. Tours that are combined with bicycling, hiking, horseback riding, golfing, and overnight stays in local B&Bs, hotels, and resorts would keep visitors on the river or in nearby public or private attractions. Local attractions and cottage industries would be boosted: Northwest Trek and county parks, Pioneer Farm and other small working farms, active blacksmiths, sheep and wool production, artisans, and local shopping-local services. We start this discussion by recognizing and organizing around the strengths and activities that each community brings to this model: Mount Rainier, Ashford, Elbe, Mineral, Eatonville, Roy/McKenna, Yelm, Nisqually Tribe Reservation, Fort Lewis, Nisqually estuary and Lacy/DuPont area. We establish a full-time visitor management center that knits all of this together by booking connecting and moving visitors between activities. This removes an overhead burden, and allows individual activity providers to focus on quality services. Vans and buses with hybrid fuel cell and electric capability will provide fuel-efficient watershed travel. This management service is no cost to the venue operator, initially paid for by grants and tourism tax dollars. This becomes the method by which we organize the fragmented nature of the watershed cottage industry into a visible and coherent whole while keeping its rural quality. *Urgent Special Meeting* Landfill Overlay Spot-Zone Wed., May 17, 2006 at 7 p.m. Graham-Kapowsin High School Commons 22100 – 108^th Avenue East , Graham, Washington from CROWD May 15, 2006 Why is the small rural community of Graham now being dragged into a decision about the LRI landfill that will affect everyone in Pierce County? Dedicated volunteer citizens recently completed four years of work on their first Graham Community Plan. The draft plan was reviewed by County staff, and recommendations were made to the Planning Commission to approve it's content. Then eleventh hour changes were submitted by staff that appear to be the result of private interests. These changes were rejected by the Planning Commission, only to resurface when Executive Ladenburg mandated that the issue be revisited in the form of a special meeting, bringing the exact same rejected issues back to the table. Who is behind this? What changes do the landfill owners LRI and Waste Connections so desperately seek? What is the urgency? Wednesday night’s meeting has been called to specifically address Ladenburg's mandate to re-submit the rejected amendments to the Graham Community Plan. These changes all relate to the landfill, with the obvious intent to ease permitting of expanded uses at the 304^th Street site. Although the existing environmental review for the plan does not include LRI's intent to seek further uses on the site, County Staff continues to press for implementation of these ordinances now to suit the apparent urgent needs of private landfill interests. "County Staff has stated: 'Such siting criteria may eventually be utilized as the foundation to create a template for countywide application.' ” For more CROWD information please see www.crowd-inc.org. There is already a process in place to address the issues that County Staff wants impose on Graham right now. That process requires SEPA (environmental) review on a County-wide basis. We need you to attend the meeting to remind our public servants that Issues of County-wide significance should be amended through the major Comprehensive Plan amendment process, not through a rural community plan. Demand that Pierce County abide by their own Comprehensive Plan for Growth Management. Demand that Pierce County look at these changes during the County-wide Comprehensive Plan Amendment cycle. Demand disclosure through the required full environmental impact statement (SEPA) of the true intent of private solid waste contractor LRI. The LRI landfill project is one of the most controversial, highly contentious issues in Pierce County's history due to its siting over the drinking water source for 400,000 Pierce County residents. The County’s current antics to implement “backdoor” policy for private interests must be stopped. Contact CROWD (Concerned Residents on Waste Disposal) for more information - 253.677.4811 crowd@starband.net My View How Many Water Hookups, ERUs, are Available? Is the Town Running Low on ERUs, or Do we Have Hundreds? by Dixie A. Walter May 6, 2006 I made two public record requests Friday, April 28. One request was for a list of business licenses in town and the other was for the number of water and sewer ERUs (equivalent residential units). According to state law public record requests must be answered within in five business days. This does not mean the town must provide the requests at that time. It means the town must acknowledge, in writing, that the request(s) have been received. The town ( or other municipalities), may answer by saying it will need more time to process the request, that it may not be able to answer or the town may say when the request will be filled. None of this was done with my latest requests. I received an email from the town clerk May 4 saying my "records request was available at town hall." When I stopped by the town hall May 5 I was given (and paid for) one request, the list of business licenses. I asked the utility clerk where the request for available ERUs was. The clerk answered, "...she wouldn't be back until Monday," and perhaps I could get them then. By "she" I assumed the clerk was talking about the planning secretary who apparently doesn't work on Fridays. At this point I mentioned Monday would be cutting it close, as May 5 was the fifth business day since I had asked for the public records. That statement was ignored. I had noticed Town Planner Nick Bond entering the office and asked to speak with him. I asked Bond about the number of water ERUs available. In a nutshell, he explained the town didn't have the numbers of ERUs written down. The ERUs have been recalculated and according to the public works department there are fifty or sixty water ERUs, and around nine-hundred sewer ERUs. However, Bond said Gary Armstrong's figures were about three-hundred water hookups. ERUs have been recalculated several times in the past few years and each time the numbers are different. In the beginning the numbers appeared to decline. Then, voila, they began getting larger. Don't ask me why, I don't have a clue. I asked Bond if the town felt there was enough water ERUs for approximately four-hundred new houses. He answered the town will have enough water for the proposed new developments. And added the renovation of the schools will free up more ERUs since the renovated schools won't use as much water. Bond also said the proposed development on the old lumber mill site will have three-hundred and ten houses according to what he has been told. And he said that was the only large development in the works. However, we have long heard that over eighty houses were going up on the hillside. A large number of houses are supposed to be built at the airport, and an "upscale, gated" manufactured home development is likely going to be built off Lynch Street near the elementary school. Bond indicated the town had enough water for another three or four years. The school situation confuses me somewhat. If new water efficient toilets and other heavy water using facilities at the school are incorporated into the restoration will this save water? And if the schools will be inundated by new students because of new growth does that mean the schools will be using as much, if not, more water in the future? I don't know; I'm just asking. *What I do know is that in a town such as ours, with all the water problems throughout the years, someone* in the town government should know the numbers of water hookups available. This is a valid question which should be able to be answered on a daily basis, with facts, not vague, widely discrepant numbers. Think about it. Public Works, the department that "sells" water hookups, says there are between fifty and sixty, yet the town administrator believes we have hundreds more ERUs. What's wrong with this picture? Several years ago the town was supposed to keep a register, like a check book, of wat**