PeninsulaNorthwest
Peninsula Daily News
Friday, October 14, 2011
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Watershed proposals to be outlined By Jeff Chew
Peninsula Daily News
BLYN — Olympic National Forest officials are expected to discuss action plan possibilities for the Upper Dungeness River watershed Monday. Forest officials have since May led a broadbased volunteer group and public discussion for Piper recommendations on how to restore fish and wildlife habitat and improve roads and recreational opportuni- Yoshina ties in the watershed. The Jamestown S’Klallam tribe is hosting a workshop Monday at the
tribe’s Community Center in Blyn to talk about several action plan recommendations. The workshop, which is open to the public, will begin at 10 a.m. at the community center, 1033 Old Blyn Highway. Olympic National Forest representatives with the Quilcene-based offices of the Hood Canal District are reaching out to the public to create a priority list of Dungeness watershed projects in national forest lands south of Sequim and Carlsborg.
Group since July Since July, a group of volunteer collaborators representing the U.S. Forest Service, recreational user groups including off-road vehicle and habitat and water protection interests, have been conducting phone conferences. After Monday’s workshop, a final public hearing
will be scheduled so the action plan can be finalized by the end of the year, said Hood Canal District Ranger Dean Yoshina. “I think in terms of different user groups coming together, people are really concerned about what is in their watershed,” Yoshina said, adding that at this point, “very few projects have the funding, but we are aware of possible funding avenues that we can pursue in the future.” Clallam County’s Dungeness River Management Team has also been a part of the collaborative effort. Discussions Monday will include watershed condition, proposed restoration activities and high-ranking project, aquatic habitat, road decommissioning, road upgrades, road closure and unclassified road obliteration. Aquatic habitat discussion will include fish passage and large woody debris placement, young tree
stand thinning, native and invasive plants, and recreation. Susan Piper, Olympic National Forest Dungeness Watershed Action Plan team leader, said that so far, at least one of nearly 60 recommended aquatic restoration projects has generated interest. “We had one trail system that we proposed for decommissioning, and we heard from a number of people,” Piper said of the Maynard Burn Trail to Tyler Peak. “It’s a very popular trail.”
decommissioning and obliteration proposals are also recommended to help improve fish and wildlife habitat. “I am very interested in improving the health of the watershed in the Dungeness,” said Mike Anderson, who will discuss the next steps and wrap up the Monday discussion in Blyn.
Recreation projects
tem in the Bear Mountain, Mount Zion and Schmidt Knob areas that would include a parking area. Also recommended was an upgrade to a parking area, adding a vault toilet and a road decommissioning past parking area but leaving public trail access to Silver Lake. Another recommendation: Remove, repair or fence the Ned Hill Lookout historic structure. Also recommended were 10 native plant and young tree restoration projects in the middle and upper Dungeness River areas. “We have a range of projects that really move the watershed along in terms of being restored and protected,” Yoshina said, projects that help salmon and wildlife habitat.
There are 10 recreation projects proposed so far, including the former Eddy Creek road decommissioning for making it into a Forest Service system trail to provide nonmotorized recreation for mountain biking and horseback riding. Recommended was securing a trail easement through the Tubal Caine Mine private inholding ________ within the Buckhorn Wilderness. Sequim-Dungeness Valley EdiThe Back Country tor Jeff Chew can be reached at Horsemen of Washington 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@ have urged a loop trail sys- peninsuladailynews.com.
Aquatic habitat When it comes to aquatic habitat, other areas of concern expressed include stretches of Canyon Creek, Pats Creek and Silver Creek. Other proposals include large woody debris placement on the Dungeness and Gray Wolf rivers. Forest Service Road 2880-area road upgrades,
Proposal on recycling Prescribed fires begin fees falls flat at meet soon in national forest By Tom Callis
Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — A proposal to lower garbage hauling fees for those who don’t recycle may soon be tossed out. The Port Angeles Utility Advisory Committee voted 3-1 Tuesday to recommend that the City Council not adopt the staff proposal. Each City Council member who sits on the committee — Mayor Dan Di Guilio and members Brooke Nelson and Cherie Kidd — voted against the idea. The motivation behind their votes appeared to be a lack of public support and the appearance that the city wouldn’t be supporting recycling if adopted. But none appeared opposed to the idea. And if
Peninsula Daily News
the proposal is struck by the council, there is support for broaching the issue again in the future. “We just need more time to massage it and work with them [residents],” said Kidd. Currently, the city charges $27.20 per month for weekly garbage and recycling pickup and $19.75 for biweekly pickup. The staff have proposed keeping the charge the same for those with recycling bins and lowering it to $23.35 and $15.90 per month for those who only use the garbage-hauling service. The reason was to reflect the actual cost of the service in the bills, staff said. Larry Dunbar, deputy power systems director, said recycling has been on
the decline even though more people have recycling bins. He suggested that separating the rates may lead to more use of the recycling bins since there would be another charge for having them. Committee member Dean Reed voted against the motion. The council will consider what to do with garbage and recycling rates Tuesday. Council members also will consider adopting a $5.50-per-month electric rate increase then. The meeting will be at 6 p.m. in council chambers at City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St.
________ Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews. com.
The smoke you see in Olympic National Forest may be from a fire that was intentionally set. Prescribed fires in Clallam, Mason and Grays Harbor counties may begin as early as this week and could continue through November, said Donna Nemeth, Forest Service spokeswoman. This year’s planned ignitions are pile burns designed to reduce hazardous fuels, she said. Four locations are proposed in the Hood Canal Ranger District. Both the Cougar Weather Station and the Maynard Repeater site are located northwest of Mount Zion in Clallam County. The South Fork of the Skokomish River at the Dennie Ahl Seed Orchard
R
esidents and visitors may see or smell smoke, and glowing embers may be visible at night. Smoke may settle into lowerelevation areas, particularly at night and in the early morning hours. and on Forest Service Road 2350, one-half mile from the junction with Forest Service Road 23, are in Mason County. One site is proposed in the Pacific Ranger District. The Boulder Gravel Pit, located just off U.S. Highway 101, a short distance south of the turnoff to Lake
Quinault on Forest Service Road 2273, is in Grays Harbor County. Residents and visitors may see or smell smoke, and glowing embers may be visible at night. Smoke may settle into lower-elevation areas, particularly at night and in the early morning hours. The fires will be monitored closely by qualified personnel, Nemeth said, and local authorities will be notified prior to ignition and kept informed throughout the burn. Prescribed fires are planned ignitions designed with specific objectives in mind. The fires are started only when environmental conditions such as wind, fuel moisture levels and relative humidity are favorable, Nemeth said.
Briefly . . . Occupy Wall Street rallies set in PA, PT
Peninsula Spotlight Every Friday in Peninsula Daily News
Library friends PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Friends of the Library will consider replacements for three board members when it meets next month. The annual meeting of the Port Angeles Friends of the Library will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9,
Couple found safe
in the Carver Room of the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St. The current terms for three board members, Diane Kaufman, Larry Welch and Fowler Stratton, will expire, and Friends members will be asked to nominate and vote for their replacements. Members also will hear about the state of the trust that enables the Friends to support library activities such as the children’s and young adult programs and the growth of the Friends’ bookstore.
LEAVENWORTH — Searchers in north-central Washington have found an elderly Dutch couple in good health on a remote dirt road after they got a flat tire and ran out of gas. Chelan County Sheriff Brian Burnett said 82-year-old Jan Mulders and 81-year-old Bertha Imelman were on foot when searchers found them at about 1 p.m. Thursday near Entiat, more than 20 miles from where they were last seen Wednesday and nowhere near their
intended destination. They said they spent the night in their car and started walking out to seek help at about 8 a.m. In the area to visit their son, the couple were reported overdue after they failed to return Wednesday from what was supposed to be a short sightseeing drive. People who saw them Wednesday provided clues on their possible route. Burnett said the couple had just one bottle of water to share, no food and no cellphone. Peninsula Daily News and The Associated Press
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Keep up with the sights and sounds on the North Olympic Peninsula.
rally, visit www.moveon.org. For more information about the Port Angeles rally, phone Cone at 360683-0867. To participate in Sunday’s carpool, phone Mark Stevenson at 360-385-9037.
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Occupy Wall Street rallies are planned in Port Townsend today and in Port Angeles on Saturday. The Port Townsend rally, organized by Jefferson and Clallam counties’ MoveOn councils, will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. in the triangle in front of JPMorgan Chase Bank at Kearney Street and Sims Way. The rally is for “Jobs/ Not Cuts.” Music, speakers and a string of Burma-Shavestyle signs along Sims Way are scheduled, along with informational handouts and petitions to Congress calling for an end to corporate tax breaks and demanding budget decisions that will create jobs and strengthen social safety net programs, said Carol Gallup of the Jefferson County MoveOn council. Unemployed people will find information at the table about an upcoming free class for those seeking a job or help in starting a small business, she said. Participants in Port Angeles will gather at Veterans Park on Lincoln Street, just north of the Clallam County Courthouse, at 11 a.m. Saturday and walk to Chase Bank at 101 W. Front St. No specific speakers are
scheduled, said Nelson Cone, an organizer, though he said some participants may address those gathered there. On Sunday, a carpool will take people from Port Townsend to Seattle for the ongoing urban rally there, which is one of many in the nation in support of the Occupy Wall Street protest in New York City. A carpool from Clallam County to Seattle was conducted Thursday. For more information about the Port Townsend rally, phone Gallup at 360379-4795. To sign up for the
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