The parks district plans to develop a trail, create a stop for kayakers and canoers, install interpretive signs, and viewpoints on the property, known as Jacobs Point. Forterra, formerly the Cascade Land Conservancy, arranged the property purchase with grants from the state and Pierce County and assigned the land to the park district prior to the sale last month.
The property includes one mile of unaltered shoreline along Oro Bay, mature forested uplands and wetlands, and views of Puget Sound and Mount Rainier.
It provides habitat for endangered chinook, chum and pink salmon. It’s a spectacular piece of property and another success story for Forterra which is leading an effort, known as the Cascade Agenda, to conserve nearly 1.3 million acres of forest, farmland, shoreline and natural areas. “It’s one of those legacy projects that future generations will really be able to enjoy,” said Ryan Mello, Pierce County conservation director for Forterra and a Tacoma city councilman. Many South Sound residents are frequent visitors to Anderson Island.
Thumbs down: Drunken drivers
Some people just don’t get it. They don’t seem to comprehend that if they are going to get behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol, there’s a good chance they are going to get busted.
Holidays are no excuse for driving under the influence. According to information released by Target Zero Thurston, law enforcement patrols in Thurston County made 48 arrests of suspected impaired drivers from Dec. 16 through Jan. 1.
Uniformed officers from all nine city, county, and Washington State Patrol law enforcement agencies within the county participated in the DUI patrols, aimed at getting drunks off the highway to reduce the number of serious traffic injuries and fatalities.
More surprising, law enforcement officers arrested 562 suspected drunken drivers on Pierce County roads between Thanksgiving and the new year. And here’s the clincher: Statewide officers arrested 3,812 suspected drunken drivers in the holiday emphasis patrol.
Do impaired drivers believe they deserve a pass simply because it’s the holiday season? The message about the dangers of drinking and driving is everywhere, but it’s clear some people don’t think that applies to them.
Nearly 4,000 of them will be going through the court system in the coming months finding out otherwise.
Thumbs up: Weatherization
Looking for an example of how the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act benefitted South Sound residents? Look no further than the 19,500 housing units in the state that were made more energy efficient over the last three years, including 12,500 homes that benefited from the federal stimulus funding.
The state received $66.5 million in stimulus funding for weatherization projects and thousands of low-income families in Washington are paying less on their heating bills and living in greater comfort thanks to the federal program.
Locally, the weatherization work was supervised by the Community Action Council of Lewis, Mason and Thurston counties. The program was a huge leap forward. Compare the 19,000 homes that benefited in the last three years with the 70,000 housing units that have received energy-conservation measures since the low-income program began in 1993.
Roughly twice as many housing units in the state still qualify for low-income weatherization work, said Steve Payne, managing director for housing improvements and preservation at the state commerce department. “The federal stimulus program gained a lot of attention, but now we’re starting to see a reduction in work,” he said, noting that the federal stimulus projects ended Dec. 31 and next year’s federal funding could be 60 percent below traditional levels. The energy-efficiency upgrades included increased insulation and new windows, doors, heaters and cooling systems. Gov. Chris Gregoire and U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu joined on a recent conference call to announce that the state had surpassed its goal of weatherizing 7,500 housing units in the state with federal stimulus money. “The investment we’ve made over the last three years is paying huge dividends in Washington and across the country,” Chu said. “Not only has it put Americans back to work, it has helped families save money by saving energy.”
Thumbs up: Volunteers
Park ranger Sylvana Niehuser and program specialist Mike Baker were recently joined by about 50 students and 20 adult volunteers to help maintain and beautify some of the city’s parks.
In the first work party of 2012 held last weekend, the workers for the city’s Volunteer in the Parks program removed English ivy and holly from Priest Point Park, as well as beer and soda cans and other forms of litter.
The students participate as part of classroom requirements, such as for biology class or to meet other high school requirements. English ivy is an invasive species that spreads quickly and can damage trees. Last year, about 1,200 volunteers participated in the city’s Volunteer in the Parks program. What a great way to give back to the community.
