Note: There are five County Commissioners: Carolina Mejia, District 1; Gary Edwards, District 2; Tye Mesner, District 3; Wayne Fournier, District 4; Emily Clouse, District 5. There is also a county Manager, Leonard Hernandez. Commissioners Mesner and Fournier each represent key sections of the Mclane Basin. For more information look here.
The Mclane Creek watershed is one of the most valuable natural resources in Thurston County. At its heart is the creek itself, the main body of water in one of the most ecologically intact watersheds in Thurston County. Today, however, that distinction is being threatened by the Department of Natural Resources(DNR) decision to put some of its most complex and mature stands of timber on the chopping block.
The two forested acreages involved are designated Bears U1 and U2 and are located in the Capital Forest. The timber stands on uniformly steep and unstable slopes directly above the Mclean Creek Nature Preserve. The land itself has gone without major disturbance for many decades. Except for hikers and hunters the forest rarely sees human visitors, and is home to a wide variety of animal life and native vegetation.
The environmental and aesthetic issues involved are of serious concern; but the direct physical threats to the creek are even more worrisome. A timber harvest on densely vegetated and steep hillsides such as those involved in the Bears project can’t possibly be conducted without harming a salmon bearing stream that lies in such close proximity. Bad luck during the harvest - a major weather event for example, or a landslide - could cripple it permanently.
I am urging you, as County Commissioners, to use every bit of your considerable power and influence to convince the Department of Natural Resources to abandon Bears U1&U2. The threats to Mclean Creek and all that its basin contains are too real and the potential loses too great. A better use for the Bears acreage would be to make it part of DNR's Carbon Project inventory. That would tie it in nicely to the planned trends in your own "McLane Creek Basin Water Resource Protection Study."
Thank you for your time and attention!
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Dr. Eric L. Lindstrom / WatershedEvents.com
Wetlands Advocate and Mclean Basin Resident