Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
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Taylor Shellfish is facing another challenge to a floating oyster bag farm in Oakland Bay that was approved by a Mason County hearing examiner last year. Friends of Oakland Bay filed a land use petition in September, disputing the county's interpretation that Taylor is not subject to certain zoning rules. The suit, filed in Thurston County Superior Court, says zoning allows only a "hobby farm" that includes "small scale commercial agriculture." Community Development Director Kell Rowen said in...
Six salmon and trout recovery projects in Mason County this week received almost $3 million in state grants. The Washington State Salmon Recovery Board on Monday announced the award of $50.3 million in grants for 145 projects throughout the state to improve habitat for salmon and steelhead and bull trout. About half ($21.6 million) was funded through the Climate Commitment Act and targeted restoration of shorelines and riverbanks, known as riparian areas, which are essential to salmon, the...
Hood Canal summer chum have returned to the Union River in record-breaking numbers, with 12,021 as of Monday morning. There are still three weeks left in the count. "It is amazing," Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group Executive Director Mendy Harlow told the Journal. The previous record of 11,916 in 2003 was due to hatchery supplementation, which ended that year, according to HCSEG. Harlow credited this year's healthy run to improving ocean conditions and HCSEG's 2013 habitat restoration...
Forty-three years ago, the City of Shelton was ordered to develop a plan to clean up its toxic former C Street dump. That plan was finally executed last year at the 17-acre landfill west of downtown Shelton and U.S. Highway 101 and north of Miles Sand and Gravel. Now the city is dealing with the post cleanup and monitoring. At its Aug. 6 regular meeting, the Shelton City Council gave preliminary approval to adding $147,219 to its contract with Aspect Consulting and extending the monitoring...
The Squaxin Island kelp bed is the last major kelp bed in South Puget Sound and has declined 97% since 2013, according to the state Department of Natural Resources. The Squaxin Island Tribe and DNR plan to conserve the kelp bed and create a "priority habitat zone" to protect and restore the bed, according to a DNR news release. "Squaxin people have been stewarding these waters and lands for thousands of years. Kelp beds have also been stewarding these waters for thousands of years, providing nou...
Monte Ritter told Mason County commissioners he lives in the Shelton Urban Growth Area “just outside the city limits” and has had trouble for years with his neighbors’ illegal burning. People who live in an urban growth area “have to abide by the fire code as if you were in the city, not in the county,” Ritter said. Shelton Fire Marshal Keith Reitz told the Journal outdoor burn bans in UGAs are state mandated “from a smoke management standpoint.” Burning woody debris from cleared land is not allowed in UGAs, Reitz said. The Olympic Regional Cle...
All campfires, including charcoal, are now banned in Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest, including coastal areas of the national park. The restrictions started July 26, according to a news release from Olympic National Park. Anything that produces ash is banned. Visitors can use pressurized or bottled liquid fuel stoves that have an on-off switch or valve capable of immediately extinguishing the flame, lanterns or heating devices in campgrounds and wilderness areas, if no flammable materials are within 3 feet of the devices, the...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week announced a $1.35 million grant to the Skokomish Tribe to improve solid waste and recycling on the reservation. The grant awards were announced on Nov. 15, "America Recycles Day." A news release from the EPA states the agency gave $34.9 million in Solid Waste Infrastructure grants and almost $3.6 million in Recycling Education grants in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. The Skokomish tribe will use the grant to build a drop-box transfer station...
After more than 40 years of prodding and mandating by Mason County and the state, the City of Shelton signed off on the final cleanup of the toxic C Street landfill. The Shelton City Council on Tuesday evening voted unanimously to close out the contract on the construction part of the cleanup of the 17-acre landfill west of downtown Shelton and U.S. Highway 101, which was completed in June. "Staff does not expect any additional action on the city's part pertaining to this project and can be...
Salmon in Oakland Bay, the Union and Tahuya rivers in North Mason, and Cranberry, Deer, Goldsborough and Mill creeks will benefit from $8.2 million in salmon recovery grants from the state. On Monday, the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board and the Puget Sound Partnership announced the awards of 150 grants in 29 counties totaling $81.5 million. The grants focus on improving salmon habitat and conserving shorelines and riverbanks. "These are important projects that will help us...
Mason County Hearing Examiner Phil Olbrechts once again heard public comment and asked his own questions about the permit for Taylor Shellfish's proposed floating oyster bag farm in Oakland Bay. The public hearing continued Aug. 16 after a previous public hearing Aug. 9 in the Mason County commissioner chambers that drew a standing-room-only crowd. It began with Taylor Shellfish representative Erin Ewald asking Olbrechts for two weeks to provide written responses to the public comment received...
Mason County Climate Justice and the Legacy Forest Defense Coalition had its preliminary injunction denied Monday by Mason County Superior Court Judge Cadine Ferguson-Brown. According to the judge’s findings, the court concluded for each sale, the state Department of Natural Resources used reasonably sufficient information and that the determination was issued in compliance with the procedural requirements of the State Environmental Policy Act. “Therefore, the appellants failed to meet the sta...
The state Department of Natural Resources sold logging rights in the Sherwood Forest to the Stella-Jones Corporation on May 23 as part of the Sure Wood Timber Sale. According to a photo from Mason County Climate Justice’s Julianne Gale, Stella-Jones Corp. based in Tacoma had the highest bid for the timber at $3,622,843.50. Bell Timber Co. had the second-highest bid at $3,451,926.56 and the Murphy Co. had the third highest bid of $3,031,765.10. “I’m deeply disappointed that the Department of Na...
A new program will enable anyone who walks the shorelines of Puget Sound to identify one of Washington’s most concerning invasive species: European green crab. In response to the shore crab’s booming population, Washington State University Extension and Washington Sea Grant outreach specialists are rolling out the Molt Search program in May. WSU Extension and Sea Grant are recruiting volunteers for training to support early detection efforts along Washington’s inland shorelines by searching for European green crab shells and reporting evide...
In 1993, Leslie Coulter and Bruce Santy bought 10 acres of woods and wetlands at the end of a dirt road near Cranberry Lake. They started building on the property two years later. The couple, who moved to Mason County from King County, say they felt "overwhelmed" when it came to managing the land. "Our forest is not here for making money," Coulter said. "It's here to create something that's healthy and happy. "We wanted to be in the woods, but what can we do to not to screw things up?" A few...
The Mason Conservation District updated the public on nine upcoming Skokomish Habitat projects, with two projects planning to begin construction in the summer. The Skokomish Valley Road "Dips" project is in the permitting phase and is planned to be constructed in the summer. The project will build a new bridge over Skokomish Valley Road, high enough to be above 100-year flood levels. The road elevation will be set so water will not go over it below a 1.4-year flood event. The project includes...
For the second consecutive year, summer chum returned by the thousands to their birthplace in the Union River in Belfair. From Aug. 15 to Oct. 15 each year, the Belfair-based Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group at the Pacific Northwest Salmon Center conducts a count of summer chum salmon at a fish trap on the Union River on state Route 300. Around the clock, volunteers and research interns collect data on summer chum, and obtain adult summer chum for artificial spawning and stock...
Members of the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group and TrashMash! Litter Posse on Aug. 25 hauled away debris and invasive plants from the future site of Sweetwater Creek Waterwheel Park, in the woods next to Belfair Elementary School. The park, across state Route 3 from the Mary E. Theler Wetlands Nature Preserve Center, is designed to be sustainable, accessible and enhance public spaces and the ecosystem. The work on the project includes removing trash and invasive species, restoring the...
Up in the mountains in Olympic National Forest during August, the noise of huge machines digging up dirt and moving trees can be heard. This is part of the Skokomish River restoration project, and the work underway now is being done near the confluence of the Upper South Fork Skokomish River and Church Creek. The project, near U.S. Forest Service Road 2361, involves crews taking trees that were brought in and placed in locations along a stretch of the Skokomish River to try to connect the two...
