What Tumwater is doing to grow alongside the Mazama pocket gopher

The Olympia Mazama pocket gopher. It’s small, it’s endangered and it’s the most significant issue that the city of Tumwater faces as it tries to grow.

The endangered species’ habitat covers most of the city of Tumwater, the city’s urban growth area, and the Olympia Regional Airport, owned by the Port of Olympia.

“This is quite large, and quite important,” said Tumwater Councilwoman Joan Cathey. “It’s going to have an impact for years to come.”

While the gopher’s endangered listing and all it means for development in unincorporated Thurston County has been a bone of contention for years, Tumwater and the port have joined forces to meet the gopher problem head-on, and are working together to create a Habitat Conservation Plan.

Once in place, the plan will outline the process for mitigating development’s impact on gopher habitat and the habitat of three other species, said Brad Medrud, Tumwater’s long-range planning manager.

The plan also will allow the port and city to create “mitigation banks” — areas of preserved or improved habitat that the city of Tumwater, the Port of Olympia, and even private developers could use to offset projects’ impacts on habitat, he said.

It’s not yet clear whether private developers and landowners would need to pay to use land from these mitigation banks, Medrud said. That will depend on the cost estimates for the entire city.

The city began discussing the need for a Habitat Conservation Plan in when the federal government listed the Mazama pocket gopher as an endangered species. The city decided in 2015 to move forward with the process, and hired consultant ICF in 2016. That same year, Tumwater and the port signed an inter-local agreement to take on the project together.

The process is in its first phase, which involves identifying the species covered by the Habitat Conservation Plan, the area and time frame covered, the activities covered by the plan, the effects on the species, a mitigation strategy, and review under both the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the State Environmental Policy Ace (SEPA). An Environmental Impact Statement will be needed for the plan.

Public input and the identification of next steps also will be part of phase one, which likely be completed by mid 2018, Medrud said.

What will be covered?

Tumwater and the port have identified four species to be covered by the Habitat Conservation Plan: the Olympia Mazama pocket gopher, the streaked horned lark, the Oregon spotted frog, and the Oregon vesper sparrow.

The plan would cover lands in the Tumwater city limits, and lands controlled by the Port of Olympia in the city’s urban growth area. City staff is recommending that land in Tumwater’s urban growth area be covered, too.

Land located outside of Tumwater, managed by the city or the port for species conservation purposes also would be covered. Medrud said this is because it may be difficult to find lands suitable for mitigation within city limits.

Once approved, the Habitat Conservation Plan will be in place for 30 years. Medrud likened enacting the plan to buying into an insurance policy — the city and port won’t be forced to change their practices if policies change in five or 10 years.

“It’s important to have that surety going forward,” Medrud said.

Species wouldn’t likely be added to or removed from the plan during that 30 years. If another species is listed as endangered during that period, Tumwater and the port would need to start a separate Habitat Conservation Plan process for that species.

Mitigation strategies could be updated as new science emerged, Medrud said.

Tumwater activities covered by the Habitat Conservation Plan are essentially those that require a city permit. Urban development projects — such as building homes, decks, commercial developments, etc. — would be covered. So would resource development projects, such as agriculture and forestry.

Recurring events — such as the farmer’s market, the Fourth of July parade, the Tumwater Artesian Brewfest and fireworks — also need to be covered.

Maintenance of mitigation lands also will be included in the plan.

Currently, the city has to apply for federal permits when performing maintenance or building infrastructure in gopher habitat areas. Once the Habitat Conservation Plan is in place, the need for those additional permits would be eliminated, Medrud said. The plan would serve as the federal permit, and outline mitigation steps.

“We want to have ongoing coverage for these kinds of things,” Medrud said. “What we’re really covering is the city of Tumwater.”

On port-controlled lands, the following would be covered: aeronautical activities, capital infrastructure, facilities, utilities and recurring events such as the Olympic Air Show.

If the port decided to significantly change its activities — if, for example, they wanted to allow jets to fly in and out of the airport — they would need to get a separate permit.

The species

The project team is currently working on models for where the species are likely located, Medrud said.

The location of the pocket gophers, for example, is largely determined by soil types and surveys. This species by far has the largest impact on the city, Medrud said.

The streaked horned lark can mostly be found at the Olympia Regional Airport, and the Oregon spotted frog can mostly be found in larger wetlands. Medrud said the frog’s habitat is already largely protected under the city’s critical areas ordinance.

Mitigation strategy

Under the Habitat Conservation Plan, the city and port will prioritize avoidance — avoiding impacting habitat land when possible, Medrud said. The city will work to purchase property and acquire easements to protect that habitat.

“Let's not touch those areas in the first place,” Medrud said.

Where avoidance isn’t possible, impacts to habitat and species should be minimized. And when that doesn’t work, the plan will outline steps for mitigation, setting up other spaces where the species can thrive.

Medrud said staff is working to come up with a ballpark cost for the entire plan. That sum wouldn’t need to be paid up-front, but as the city and port create a bank of mitigation land.

Where is the process in Thurston County?

The Thurston County government also is working to create a Habitat Conservation Plan for the Mazama pocket gopher, to streamline a building permit process that has become cumbersome as the county tries to determine whether each project will affect the pocket gophers.

County spokeswoman Meghan Porter said staff is currently in the scoping phase of the process, determining what would and wouldn’t be covered by the plan.

The Thurston County Board of Commissioners will be briefed regarding the plan’s progress during a meeting at 3 p.m. Wednesday in room 280 of Building One of the Thurston County courthouse complex.

This story was originally published December 9, 2017 at 6:55 AM with the headline "What Tumwater is doing to grow alongside the Mazama pocket gopher."