Thurston County Conservation District joins opposition to possible airport

The Thurston County Conservation District Board of Supervisors is joining the chorus of opposition to the Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission’s consideration of a greenfield in central Thurston County for a major airport.

On Oct. 25, the board of supervisors wrote a letter detailing three reasons they oppose the airport proposal. They issued a news release on their stand Nov. 9.

The first reason, the board says, is the rate of agricultural land loss in Thurston County is already too high and local governments have adopted a “no net loss” policy regarding agricultural land to help ensure food security for residents.

“The ‘Central Thurston’ location disrupts agriculture on some of the best soils in our nation,” the board stated in its letter.

The second reason is because the proposed airport’s location is in pocket gopher habitat, among other endangered species.

Finally, the board noted that Thurston County is the current and ancestral home of the Chehalis Indian Tribes, the Squaxin Island Tribe and the Nisqually Tribe.

“The ‘Central Thurston’ location proposed has environmental impacts that degrade natural resources, including sensitive habitats, including those that have been stewarded by our tribal communities since time immemorial,” the board wrote in the letter.

The Conservation District urged the Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission to remove the Central Thurston location from consideration.

In October, the Thurston County Board of Commissioners and a number of mayors from the county also sent a letter opposing an airport in Thurston County.

The Thurston County location is one of three undeveloped sites the state is considering for a second regional airport to ease congestion at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.