Olympia mayor gives update on plans to close the ‘Jungle’ encampment
Mayor Dontae Payne said during the Jan. 27 Olympia City Council meeting that he wanted to “manage expectations and address rumors” around the city’s intent to close the homeless encampment commonly known as the “Jungle.”
Located in a forested area between Martin Way East and Pacific Avenue Southeast, Payne said it’s the city’s last remaining encampment, and that staff are just getting started in the work to move folks out of the woods and into housing.
According to previous reporting from The Olympian, Payne originally announced that plans were being developed to close the encampment on Jan. 14 during the county “State of the Community” event in Lacey. The encampment is home to dozens of people and many have erected tents and other forms of makeshift housing in the area.
During the Jan. 27 meeting, Payne said no decisions have been made, including a timeline for closing the encampment. He said it’s early days, and city and county managers are working with their teams to begin developing a plan. He said he doesn’t anticipate closing the encampment this year.
City Manager Jay Burney said during the meeting that he doesn’t see any work happening this year in terms of moving the encampment closure forward.
“I think a lot of the work that has to be done is around putting a good plan together,” Burney said. “I’ve said repeatedly that it’s probably 18 months to 2 years from any moment in time that we might even start addressing the ‘Jungle.’”
Burney said the city wants to look for options to care for and to house the folks who are currently living in the encampment. He said staff wants to hear from those folks, and that they’re going to make sure to connect with them.
“This will be a comprehensive plan that brings together the county and others,” he said. “We’re not going to do this alone, and we’re going to attempt to do it in a way that’s compassionate.”
Closure faces public concern
Colin Bartlett, a local business owner and Thurston County planning commissioner, said during public comment that he was a houseless resident of Olympia for years. He said he hopes the council considers why folks are still living in the “Jungle.”
“If you spoke with ‘Jungle’ residents, they would first tell you that sustainable alternatives simply do not exist,” Bartlett said. “The worst and most common outcome for people forced out of encampments is that they find themselves bounced back into the street — space available without the social and physical infrastructure they had built for themselves.”
Bartlett said that the encampment also allows folks to live with agency and dignity when city services shut down or lack capacity.
“They want the right to maintain their found family, including companion animals, negotiate mental health struggles with support rather than punishment, and generally live without the state scrutiny or judgment that no housed person would ever accept,” he said.
He said the encampment also provides folks a community of equals.
“They can participate in its condition and its future as people directly invested in the well-being of themselves and their neighbors,” he said. “Anything that is done for our neighbors in the jungle must fully involve them at every step of the process, fully meet their needs and require their consent to move forward. Any alternative you propose that lacks these basic conditions is not acceptable.”
This story was originally published January 28, 2026 at 3:19 PM.
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