Jimmie Howell, 72, and his wife have lived on their property near Rochester for more than two decades. Last year, Howell decided he wanted to put in a manufactured home for his son, Jay Howell, on the southern portion of his 4.8 acres.
But when Howell went to the county for a permit, a roadblock emerged in the shape of Mazama pocket gopher mounds. The species is listed as threatened by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and exists in its highest concentration in the prairies of Thurston County, according to wildlife officials.
With a threatened species in his yard, Howell was required to complete a $2,800 habitat-management plan. That not only angered him but also drew the attention of Stop Taking Our Property Thurston County (STOP), a project of the Freedom Foundation that set out to question county regulations in the prairies and broader updates to its critical-areas ordinance.
After forming earlier this year, STOP began holding town hall meetings attended by hundreds of people from around the county. Thousands of signs large and small popped up on the landscape of south county and in the cities. People were angry and weren’t afraid to speak their minds.
However, an analysis by The Olympian shows that Howell’s case is the exception when it comes to developing in prairie soils. In spite of all the vitriol, fewer than 1 percent of project applications since 2007 have required a management plan, according to Mike Kain, county planning manager.
“It is pretty rare, because most of the south county has gopher and prairie soils,” Kain said. “That just means there is a possibility there is a gopher or prairie plants. But that isn’t always the case.”
The debate over development in Thurston County prairies is taking center stage as the county updates its critical areas ordinance, a requirement of the 1990 state Growth Management Act. County officials must review and, if necessary, revise it every seven years. A draft of the ordinance has made its way through the county planning commission and is set for a public hearing Saturday.
'NO LONGER OURS'
Walking around the property recently, Jimmie and Jay Howell looked at the gopher mounds that freckle the property and came to one conclusion.
“The simple fact (is), they are freakin’ everywhere,” Jay Howell said about the mounds.
Because the property had significant gopher mounds, Howell had to pay for a habitat-management plan to address how the species habitat would be protected after construction. Each mound required a 10-meter buffer. The county approved a 1,600-square-foot building unit, but not where the Howells wanted it. The management plan set aside nearly two-thirds of the undeveloped property to mitigate the gopher habitat using ratios recommended by state Fish and Wildlife. Horses, goats, cattle and hay production would be allowed, but only certain types of trees could be planted in the 3 acres set aside that Howell has used mostly as open pasture.
Those restrictions didn’t sit well with Howell.
“You’re basically telling us the 5 acres we have is no longer ours,” Howell said. “As a property owner and by law, this is my property. I should be able to do with it basically what I want. They’re telling me I can’t on account of some rodents.”
While the county’s draft ordinance includes development regulations for all critical areas, the focus and criticisms from many residents and STOP has been pointed almost entirely at the interim prairie-conservation ordinance. It was enacted in 2009 to protect prairie and Oregon white oak habitat and is being rolled into the ordinance update.
STOP and the Freedom Foundation, a local think tank that lists limited government and individual liberty as among its missions, has led the charge.
“(The county) picked a policy path and they are going to go down it regardless of what happens,” said Glen Morgan, STOP program director. “Just start putting people first for a change. I don’t think they are doing that.”
STOP has questioned the science used to determine the restrictions placed on prairie development and the plant and animal species being protected, mainly the Mazama pocket gopher. To make its case, STOP points to Howell and several other property owners who have been required to spend thousands of dollars for the habitat management plans.
There are tens of thousands of acres and parcels with the type of soils that trigger a preliminary site visit that could lead to a habitat-management plan. Sites can be as small as 1 acre and county maps show approximately 93,000 acres are identified as having prairie soil, 73,000 acres of which could accommodate gophers.
Those 73,000 acres equal about 36,600 total parcels, including the property of Jimmie Howell.
However, many of those parcels aren’t defined as prairie habitat because of size, proximity to urban areas or the presence of existing development, said Jeremy Davis, senior county planner. Approximately 79,000 acres and 21,000 of those properties are in rural county, outside of city urban-growth areas where development would be expected, Davis said.
The county is charged by the state to protect the prairies, even if the gopher were to disappear, said Scott Clark, county planning manager.
“We’ve never said it was a gopher issue,” Clark said. “If the gophers were to go away tomorrow, prairie protections for those other species and plants would remain in place.”
The state recognizes the Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly, the streaked horned lark and the golden paintbrush as endangered.
A common message from Morgan and STOP is that the county must adopt a “people first” approach and that regulations like the Howells’ endured are damaging and won’t be the last.
But the county isn’t seeing many projects encumbered by a costly management plan, Clark said.
Since the prairie ordinance was adopted in 2009, the county has reviewed more than 1,200 project applications on sites with prairie or gopher soils. In 12 of those cases, a biologist survey was needed, which can cost upwards of $1,700 to property owners, Clark said.
Of those 12, six projects required a habitat-management plan, two of which were county projects. According to the county, a project has never been denied outright because of the presence of gophers or prairie soils.
Going back to 2007, there have been more than 4,000 project applications that triggered initial review. Only 26 have required habitat-management plans.
Morgan said those figures are just the tip of the iceberg and that hundreds of people are likely seeing the cost of the plans and are not moving forward with development.
“What we’re trying to do is protect those people now before it gets a lot worse,” he said. “If you live in Thurston County, this issue affects you one way or another.” He fears property-value decreases because of stricter ordinances and restrictions on developing near wetlands.
Since forming this year, STOP has made it itsgoal to frame a community debate about current and proposed land-use regulations, organizers say.
The group has reached 850 people during 13 forums, sent 85,000 mailers and handed out 2,200 yard signs, according to Morgan. The group has been successful generating large crowds, and even bused residents to the county courthouse in July for a hearing on the interim prairie ordinance. Morgan has called for the repeal of the current prairie ordinance, but those who have spoken out or written paint a picture of a divided populace.
Of the 92 people who spoke during the July hearing, 49 spoke against the ordinance, according to county records. However, written comments leaned heavily in favor of the ordinance, with 207 “pro” letters tallied versus 51 against.
One who spoke in favor of the interim prairie ordinance was William Aldridge of Tenino. He’s had encounters with wildlife on his prairie land, he said, and has set aside property for conservation.
“I wouldn’t take anything for that experience,” he said.
A group named GoThurston also emerged to support the CAO update and counter the STOP movement.
Tumwater City Councilman Ed Stanley, who is actively involved with the Sierra Club and Capitol Land Trust, said STOP is creating fear when it isn’t justified, using the pocket gopher as a smokescreen to generate anger.
“These are uncertain times at best and people are afraid and they are preying on these fears,” he said. “Once this thing all shakes out, people will find that no one is going to lose their property.”
He added that he thinks the movement is an arm of the Republican Party. The movement is “a way of simply raising red flags among the populace to get people elected simply on fear tactics,” Stanley said.
Morgan, who ran as a Republican for county assessor last year and was recently elected to the Rochester School Board, said he has no intention of running for county commissioner in 2012, noting that he doesn’t live in a district that is up for election. He added that he would provide information to any candidate but that STOP doesn’t get involved in races.
One of the main complaints the county hears is that it’s being heavy-handed with restrictions and not providing enough flexibility for property owners.
The county says it has heard those concerns and has made several options available, including allowing new construction (up to 5,000 square feet) into the outer 25 percent of buffer or set-aside areas if a landowner is left with less than 5,000 square feet of buildable area. For smaller parcels, it’s proposed that gopher studies can take place in the winter months to get construction rolling by spring. This year the county also received a grant to develop a habitat-conservation plan that would make development regulations more predictable.
“The county is being reasonable and prudent,” Clark said.
OTHER CHANGES
Prairies aren’t the only critical areas getting a closer look in the updated ordinance. Buffers for development would increase for streams, marine shorelines and bluffs, and landslide hazard areas. Wetland buffers would remain the same (50-300 feet) but will be calculated differently than current standards, according to the county.
The major changes proposed are:
n Stream buffers would be 100 to 250 feet, depending on their classification in a state Department of Ecology rating system; current buffers are between 25 and 100 feet.
n Marine shoreline buffers would increase to 150 feet from their current 50 to 100 feet standards.
n Buffers at the bottom of marine bluff slopes would increase from 25 to 50 feet.
n Bottom buffers for landslide hazard areas would increase from 25 to 50 feet; top buffers, currently set at 50 feet, would be 50 feet or more.
n Wetland buffers (50 to 300 feet) would remain the same, but the calculation method is changing and would be based on Department of Ecology rating system. Most wetlands under 1,000 square feet would be exempt from the ordinance.
The draft ordinance also creates habitat-management zones for streams and shorelines. According to the county, the zones would be 50 feet for streams and 100 feet for marine buffers and development could be allowed in the zones as long as the projects did not produce excessive nutrients, sediments or pollutants.
MUCH ADO ABOUT GOPHERS
When the state decided to list the Mazama pocket gopher as a threatened species in 2006, the main reason was a loss of prairie habitat, said Mick Cope, Region 6 Olympic Peninsula wildlife manager.
“We have a much smaller amount of that kind of habitat left,” he said.
According to the county, less than 3 percent of remaining prairie land is high-quality habitat and all but 1 percent is on private property.
Cope said the state discovered the gopher was going extinct in some areas because of development. Most of the remaining habitat is concentrated in the prairie soils of Thurston County. A listing also triggered a response plan for the county’s planning department.
According to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, protection of land is needed if the gophers are to survive in the south Puget Sound region. Since the gophers “occupy grassy areas near homes and private property, a heightened level of tolerance will be required from those people who share their territories.”
The species is found in several other counties in Washington, as well as sections of Oregon and California, but it’s nearly impossible to know how many gophers there are, Cope admits. The species doesn’t need prairie soil as habitat, and getting an accurate count is tricky.
“These are critters you don’t see,” he said. “I couldn’t pull a number to put out there that I can say with great confidence.”
The state has looked at establishing population estimates based on the number of mounds observed, but there is no correlation between mounds and population, Cope said. Trapping studies have also proved unreliable because density varies based on the soils and food supply, Cope said.
MORE STUDIES
U.S. Fish and Wildlife has begun its assessment of four prairie species for possible federal listing, including the Mazama pocket gopher, said Ted Thomas, senior ecologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In previous interviews, Thomas said it was too early to discuss regulations if a species was federally listed.
“We’re learning some new things, but we’re still in the evaluation stage,” Thomas said.
Information for the assessment is coming in from all angles, including Thurston County and state Fish and Wildlife. The service hopes to have a proposal on all the species by September 2012 , according to Thomas. At that point, the service would make a motion whether to put any of the species on the endangered species list. That would start the clock on a public-comment period.
But the federal government isn’t the only entity interested in the pocket gopher.
A community-based group that includes local cities and school districts also is studying the gophers, said David Schaffert, president/CEO of the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce.
The study, which is expected to be released this week, was conducted to track the gopher in both known and new habitat areas, Schaffert said.
“It is the most definitive study to date,” he said.
The study was designed to provide information to U.S. Fish and Wildlife regarding the federal listing assessment with no connection to the county’s CAO update, Schaffert said.
Nate Hulings: 360-754-5476
nhulings@theolympian.com
www.theolympian.com/outsideoly
ABOUT THE PUBLIC HEARING
A public hearing of the draft critical areas ordinance is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. The meeting will be held in Building 2, Room 129, of the County Courthouse, 2000 Lakeridge Drive S.W., Olympia. Doors will open at 9 a.m. Written comments will be accepted until Dec. 23.
For more information about the hearing, how to comment and to read the draft ordinance, go to www.co.thurston.wa.us/planning and click the “Critical Areas Update” box.
