Pocket Gopher

It is interesting to read the ongoing discussion over the years concerning the pocket gopher. There are a number of issues never mentioned, or talked about that have a impact on this subject. To begin with, the Thurston County Resource Stewardship Department has been badly underfunded since the onset of the Great Recession. ( Depression). To this day, half of their staff are there because of federal grants for one or two years.

It must be additionally understood that a county has limited discretion in environmental matters. Endangered species status is decided upon by the federal government. These laws are passed down to the state governments for comment and enforcement. Very little leeway is left for a county government..

In the case of our gopher friend, we should know that their presence in this county is the largest in the world. They are found in only three places on this planet. This may or may not mean anything to most of you. However, the destruction of species on this planet has gone forward at an alarming rate in recent years. This has serious long term consequences for our ability to inhabit where we now live.

So before you take a position on this subject, please spend some time to understand the financial constraints at all levels of government dealing with this, and the importance of what they are trying to do. Your grandchildren will have to live here in the future, let’s leave a habitable place for them to do so.

This story was originally published August 3, 2016 at 3:26 PM with the headline "Pocket Gopher."