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#squaxin park
pnw-forest-side · 6 months
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Nice Big Leaf Maple on the north side of the park.
Squaxin Park, WA.
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Here’s to another year spent wandering in the woods..
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lowquality-buffet · 1 year
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No one at the picnic shelter, which isn't a surprise given the temperature. Made for a nice visit though.
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harshr · 1 year
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Cold morning at Squaxin Park.
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'I need an outlet': Grieving relatives talk to lost loved ones on phone in the forest
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By Matt Mcknight
13 June 2023
OLYMPIA, Washington, June 12 (Reuters) - In the middle of a serene forest four miles from Washington state's capital, Olympia, sits a vintage rotary phone.
It is not connected to a telephone line and looks out of place.
But it has become a literal lifeline for people to speak words out loud to lost loved ones; words they never got the chance to say while they were still alive.
Corey Dembeck, 41, created and installed the original wind phone in the Pacific Northwest's Squaxin Park in late 2020, after learning about the death of their family friend's four-year-old daughter.
It was inspired by the original wind phone set up in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, ten years earlier.
"One morning, I woke up and went downstairs, and my wife looked shocked. She was like 'Joelle died,'" says Dembeck.
He has since moved away from Olympia but keeps in touch with the Sylvester family, whose young daughter Joelle Rose died suddenly after becoming sick with strep throat that triggered sepsis in her body.
"It messed me up, so I was like, right then and there, I'm going to build one of these things for them."
Dembeck, a U.S. Army veteran who worked as a photojournalist from 2000-2005, brought the phone, supplies and tools into the city-owned park and attached it to an old-growth cedar tree in a quiet area off a trail.
Dembeck, standing beside the phone almost three years later, says his reasoning behind sneaking it into the park was that it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission, especially because it was going to be something that was hard to explain.
After people learned of the phone and started visiting it in droves, the city decided to make it an official installation, removing it from the tree and working with Dembeck to create a signage board and plaque memorializing Joelle.
The plaque reads:
"This phone is for everyone who has ever lost a loved one. The phone is an outlet for those who have messages they wish to share with their friends and family. It is a phone for memories and saying the goodbyes you never got to say."
'I NEED AN OUTLET'
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During a recent afternoon, Joelle's family paid a visit to the phone to celebrate her life.
Erin Sylvester, Joelle's mother, said they sometimes have pizza parties and invite friends to join them.
"I need the phone. I need an outlet. Because it's dedicated to my daughter, I feel like it's different than for someone else to come and use it," says Sylvester, 34, her eyes welling up with tears.
"Not being able to hear her voice on the other side of that phone can be very gut-wrenching. So, I usually come when none of my other coping mechanisms are working and I'm looking for a last-ditch effort."
Joelle's brothers, Jayden, 12, and Jonah, 8, and her sister, Joy, 5, take turns speaking into the handset, telling her how much they love and miss her, and place new photos on the post and keepsakes that she loved on top of the phone.
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During their visit, a speckled brown and white barred owl lands on a branch of the cedar tree, just above the phone. The family is mesmerized.
Erin says owls were Joelle's "baby theme" when she was born. The same type of owl visited them recently in a similar way but at a different location.
"It's got to be a sign. There's no other way I can think about it ... that's not a fluke," says Joelle's father, Andre Sylvester, 37, wiping tears from his eyes.
Moments later, he picks up the phone to speak to his late daughter.
"I miss you. Thanks for showing up today. I miss you a lot."
Sylvester says, looking up at the branch where the owl perched moments before.
"I wish we could go take a walk around the block while I smoke my cigar and you tell everybody hi, and you pet every dog. I miss that."
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Since the installation of Olympia's telephone, word of it has inspired other Americans to create ones across the country.
Dembeck has spoken by email and phone with many others who have installed a phone in honor of their loved ones.
He estimates there are now 50 across the United States.
Dembeck says everyone who tells him about using their phone also told him a tragic backstory.
"The fact that something simple like this immensely helped them, it's been really humbling," he says, adding he feels it's the greatest thing he has ever done.
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the-wolf-moon-diaries · 11 months
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Hold a Light Back to My Soul // Chapter One: June.
A/N: It’s finally here! I wanted to start the story sweetly, establishing Y/N’s life and how happy she is before, you know, everything gets freaky.
By the way, Edward broke the telescope. It was an accident, seeing Bella in Y/N’s room when spying for the first time and thinking it was her bedroom. He realized the mistake and made to leave, knocking over the telescope at the same time. He actually felt really badly about it. Also, Bella totally did not visit Renee. She and Charlie don’t communicate that often and she used it to her advantage, telling Renee that she was with Charlie and telling Charlie she was with Renee.
Pairing: Seth Clearwater x Swan! Reader.
Taglist: @venusdelaroix @riverofempathy @the-newest-vegetarian @fandomfaeryreads
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Your life was safely and sweetly predictable.
And despite enjoying the typical levels of teenage angst, as one often does, you were actually quite thankful about it. Things had certainly changed when your elder sister, Bella, had finally moved home with you and your father...but you weren’t exactly complaining about that either. Despite her obsession with her (weird) boyfriend and the slight incident of her freaking out, running away, and falling out a window, things were so better with Bella.
In a silly way, you adored your sister and her coming to Forks had been a dream come true.
You still remembered waiting at the airport with Dad, the both of you all smiles and silent excitement. Charlie Swan, your father and favorite person on earth, had raised you on his own, your mother baling when you were only three months old. Unable to handle motherhood any longer, she had gotten in her car and simply left before sunrise one night and, while you were grateful that she’d done the right thing in leaving you, it still hurt.
This hurt.
Sitting beneath the tree in the yard, the notebook and pen lay discarded in the grass. You sat in silence, watching the treeline as footsteps approached.
Quiet. Heavy. Always walking with purpose but still trying to be gentle.
You knew it was Charlie before he even sat down, sighing as sat beside you in the shade. A wind made shadows and sunlight dance across the grass, your father allowing the silence to settle for a moment and trying to figure out what to say.
“Where’s your mom?”
Without saying another word, you handed him the postcard that had been dropped off today.
Everyday you checked the mail, bringing it in and hoping there wouldn’t be another excuse neatly addressed to you. Today, you had not been so lucky. A glittering casino was displayed on the small card, your mother’s spiderweb tangled writing tangled on the back. It was the same as it always was. Sorry she couldn’t make it. Met a guy. Soulful eyes and a kind smile (or great hair or beautiful soul or whatever it was). Ran off to Las Vegas (the time before it had been Hawaii and the time before that, it was New York City). Love you, miss you, maybe next time! There was a shoebox of excuses buried beneath your bed, each one so much like the last. Charlie sighed once more, running a hand through his dark hair. He was angry. Not with you but with the mother who could not be bothered to see her daughter in the last three years, sending only scribbled postcards.
“Let’s go to Squaxin Park,” he announced.
That was always the same too.
When Daphne blew you off again (and again and again), he stepped up. He always had. So whenever she didn’t come to see you in the summer, your dad took you camping. It felt a little bit better, the way it always did. Charlie took you inside and dragged out the old maps (he stubbornly refused to use anything but a paper map and that was final, no arguing and no questions asked), the two of you sitting at the kitchen table and pouring over them, planning out the route you’d take and every stop along the way.
Bella, of course, politely declined the invitation.
She was still healing from an accident, didn’t like camping, wanted to visit her mother soon...really, she just didn’t want to leave Edward.
“So what?” Bella retorted to the teasing accusation.
And that that, you and Charlie made a face behind her back, stifling laughter quietly. Neither of you liked “the Cullen boy” too much and, while Charlie was almost nice about it, you were decidedly not. It was not the reasons one would assume, petty jealous over having to share your sister or the disappointment that she had barely even noticed Jacob like you had hoped (okay, maybe it was a little bit of that)...it was mostly the fact that Edward Cullen might have been the most annoying creature you’d ever had the misfortune of meeting and you’d told him just that. You could still recall one of the first things you’d ever said to him and one of your finer insults as well:
“You look like the one Mormon kid that all the other Mormons pick on at Jesus camp.”
He hadn’t been impressed and neither were you.
If she had come, Bella probably would have wanted to invite him, the Cullens were always going camping anyway. So although you were a bit disappointed, you were a little happy too. And Bella still played along, fussing over you the way she always did.
Music blasting as she helped you pack up, Avril Lavigne and the Goo Goo Dolls. Your bedroom was messier and louder and, purple walls to her light blue, a silver curtain hanging over the window, and chaos to her neatness. You’d covered the wall above the bed in posters and pictures and scribbled bits of song lyrics and poetry, a lacy curtain hanging above the patchwork sheets and fairy lights strung around the room. She scolded you all the while, picking up scattered drawings, forgotten sweaters, crumbled notes from your writing, and a single black converse.
“Hey, I was look for that,” you mentioned with a grin, Bella only rolling her eyes.
“Disaster,” she teased.
“Nag,” you retorted.
But neither of you truly meant it, as sisters rarely did, finishing up packing. Besides the necessities, there were a few things you needed as much as air: books, the old telescope, and your notebook. Hands wandering across the over-stuffed shelves, you always struggled to make the decision, finally settling on a few favorites. The Princess Bride, your very favorite. Grimm’s fairytales for something strange, ghost stories for something spooky. The Thief Lord, Watership Down, and Jane Eyre, at Bella’s recommendation.
The telescope was a problem.
You’d had the same second-hand telescope for years, obsessed with the stars since you were a little girl. When you were upset as a little kid, your dad would set you on his lap and point out the constellations, telling you stories about them. Far too old for it now, you still went stargazing together. But a few months ago, you’d come home from a sleepover to find your telescope on the floor and shattered, unsure of how it ever happened. So there would be no stargazing this summer, much to your disappointment. But you still had your notebook and collection of pens, making certain they would be easy to grab in case inspiration struck. And Bella made it better too, packing you lunches and giving you gifts. Rosalie, Edward’s sister, had sent her over with a new sweater and there was a batch of cookies from Esme too.
“You sure, Bells?” Charlie asked as he set the last bag in the car. “Plenty of adventure to go around.”
“I’m sure, Dad, you guys have fun...but don’t get into too much trouble,” she chided.
“Aw, man, does this mean no poker tournament?”
“That’s alright, honey, we’ll find something else to do. Hey, maybe there’s some of those fireworks stands by the highway, with all the dangerous ones!”
Picking out the most dangerous activities to enjoy, Bella rolled her eyes at the both of you. But she laughed too and waited at the door as your drove away, watching you go. Turned in the seat, you looked back too, until Bella and the house and all of Fork vanished. From there, you only looked forward.
The summer trip was never the same and yet it was, all at the same time.
You took the long route to a new park somewhere in Washington, maybe Oregon, it didn’t matter too much. As long as it was beautiful and peaceful, far away from anything else. Along the way, there was no telling what you’d stumble upon, stopping at a stand by the roadside to buy fresh strawberries or whatever tourist trap waited along the way (this time it was a Bigfoot Museum with “actually evidence” to show off as you laughed secretly). It was just wandering, just you and him, and as the sun set over the road, and it was easy to forget about your mother.
Charlie was good at making that kind of thing better.
So distracted by the fun of it, you only made it to the park late, though neither of you minded too much. There was no one to bother you and no distractions as you set up the tent in the light of the fading sun. When you were younger, you’d slept in an old, patched up tent Charlie had been using since he was just a boy scout. But things change and little girls grow up far too quickly, your father trading in the tiny tent for a double and giving the old one to Seth Clearwater, Harry’s son. Though you spent a lot of time on the reservation, you had not seen much of the Clearwater’s lately and especially of their children, all of you having your own friends and your own lives...maybe that would change, you thought, thinking of Seth’s sunny smile and Leah’s wit.
“Star girl,” Charlie called out suddenly. “Get my knife for me, will you, I left it in the back of the truck.”
Moving quickly, you caught a glimpse of a secret smile, Charlie turning away to hide it from sight. You wondered just what he was up to, half-expecting to walk into another one of his pranks (it was rare, but Charlie could be funny when he wanted to be, a bit like Bella in that sense). But the pocket knife sat exactly where he’d said it would be, left in the back of the truck. Sitting right next to it was a wrapped package with your name on it, indigo paper shining in the fading light.
“Go on, open it,” he said, even more excited then you were.
Tearing open the paper, a sleek, silver carrying case was revealed, long and shining. And inside, to your delight, was a new telescope.
“Oh my god,” you gasped, carefully taking it out of the case.
“You’re a good kid,” Charlie explained. “Don’t ask for much, don’t get into trouble, skipped a grade and everything. Easy to brag about. You could ease up on the snark but, hey, I’ll take what I can get.”
“Can we go stargazing tonight?”
“Course, star girl.”
Twilight had come already, the light fading into a hazy blue sky. Stars were scattered, faint and faraway, wispy clouds drifting slowly. Walking a small trail together, a little path following along a serene lake, Charlie carried the telescope and you the blanket, wandering a little ways away from the campsite.
“I meant what I said before,” he said suddenly. “You are a good kid.”
“Even if I’m a little mouthy?”
“Even then. At least you pick on everybody else instead of me.”
It was true, you had a clear favorite in life. To everyone else, you were a snarky, sarcastic oddball of a teenage girl and to him, you were just star girl.
“I know things had been hard lately. Bella coming home might have been difficult to adjust to but having both of my girls with me, that’s all I wanted.
“Me too, Dad. I don’t care about the hard stuff, I’m just happy she came. It kind of felt like we were just waiting for her, you know?” you said, “So I am happy, you don’t have to worry about that...even if it mean hanging out with Sullen Cullen sometimes.”
“Be nice, honey,” Charlie scolded.
But you could tell from his smile that he just barely meant it, getting the idea that your father lived vicariously through your constant badgering of Edward. The rest of the walk was spent in a comfortable, easy silence, walking until you came across the perfect spot. Somehow you’d made it entirely to the other side of the lake, just barely able to spot the campsite in the distance. The path diverged into a small meadow, trees gently swaying as they surrounded the grassy circle. Wildflowers grew in spots of white and purple and pink, a sweet scent forever lingering in the air. As the last of twilight vanished softly, a darkness came over the earth and the stars came alive.
It was perfect.
Settling down in the grass, you almost felt small again as you and Charlie took turns looking into the stars, telling all the same old stories that he always did.
The father swan and his two babies flying through starlight and snow (Cygnus), the hungry wolf tricked by the clever rabbit (Lupus and Lepus), the hunting dogs chasing down monsters through the darkness (Canes Venatici). Charlie told you starry stories until you were half-asleep, leaning against him as you made the trek back to camp. You could barely recall changing in your half of the tent and crawling into your sleeping bag, calling a soft goodnight through the thin nylon wall, nor did you remember Charlie’s reply.
Hours later, you awoke so suddenly.
Unable to recall what it had been that had awakened you, be it a nightmare or some noise in the woods, you sat up with a sudden start.
Heart rammed against your ribs so hard it hurt, trying to make sense of something, to hold onto something real and true. Your father’s quiet snoring, not so far away. Gentle footsteps creeping through the trees, the distant call of a night owl. The song of crickets...and silence.
So quickly, everything had gone silent.
And that meant something dangerous. You did not know what it was that compelled you to slip away from the tent in the dead of night, feeling utterly stupid for even considering such a thing. Having watched enough horror movies with Jacob, you should have known that it was a recipe for disaster, a girl in her pajamas wandering about a desolate campground in the middle of the night. Bare feet wandered across the silent earth, the world so quiet that all you could hold onto now was yourself. The thundering cry of your heart, the quickening of your pulse beneath the skin, frightened breathes filling the air.
Something was there.
Across the lake, you caught a movement, quick and furious. Moving quietly, you reached into your tent and pulled the telescope from its case, propping it up and searching the darkness.
In one moment, there was nothing.
And you thought yourself rather foolish, making monsters out of nothing but shadows and air. Through the lens you looked across the shining lake and shadowed woods...and then you caught it again, that quick and furious thing. And this time, you saw it for what it was.
Wolf.
It crept out of the shadows, a small creature but terrifying nonetheless. Sandy fur varied from dark to light brown, its golden eyes burning brightly in the dark. And as though it knew you were there, the wolf met your gaze. It held you there, for that moment, the wolf and the girl looking into one another. And then it was gone, turning to bolt back into the trees. You did the same, shaking as you grabbed the telescope and hide back inside your tent.
You’d never actually seen a wolf before.
Just pictures and things, never one like that. Still shivering, you did not know if you were terrified or amazed, perhaps something of both.
But as sleep came once more, you found yourself within strange dreams.
Beautiful boys ran through the forest, long hair and wild cries as they ran into the night. Somehow, to your wonder and horror, they became wolves too...a black, burly thing leading the pack; a small gray wolf, so sleek and lovely to behold; a reddish-brown creature breaking off onto it’s own path; and a smaller, sandy wolf running behind. All night you dreamed of starlight and wolves in the woods, never knowing if you were running with them or from something else…
In the morning, there was no trace of the wolf.
You had arose first and dressed quickly, stepping out of the tent into the morning mist. Sunlight arose over the forest, setting everything alight with gold. As you walked the trail once more, you searched for some sign of the creature but came up empty, no tracks or trail or anything, as though it had never been there to begin with. Returning to camp before Charlie had woken up, deciding not to mention it.
The wolf never returned but the dreams never ceased.
All through the camping trip, as you and Charlie fished (catching nothing wasn’t too bad if you were laying in the sun and listening to music, the boat bobbing gently in the water) and hiked and goofed off as much as you liked. But even in the sunshine you were haunted by dreams of wolves in the dark wood and brief glimpses of a boy...he was beautiful, only a flash of a tall figure and wild hair, and you felt certain that you knew him, although that could not be true. He had been too unlike anything you’d ever known before, eyes shining and smile so sharp.
“You alright, star girl?”
Looking up from the empty page of the notebook, the pen never having scribbled so much as a word, you smiled a little at your father.
He had been beautiful too, once upon a time, the pictures of his when he was young looking so different...not happier, more like unburdened, having not yet met fate’s harsh blows or known heartbreak. Even now, older with graying hair and lines around his eyes, it was not hard to see how he’d had two great love stories in his time.
“I’m okay, Dad,” you promised. “It’s just...you know that feeling when something’s about to happen? Everything changing and you just have to change with it. It’s something like that.”
“Good change or bad?”
Both.
You felt it at once, the good and the bad and the beauty of it all. There was going to be happy and there was going to be hurt...you just didn’t know what it would really be in the end, either side of it. It was like a coin toss, penny flipping through the air and flashing copper in the firelight, never knowing what was gonna land.
Heads or tales, hurt or happy.
But Charlie had enough to worry about, you knew that much. And you were a good kid in the end, weren’t you? So you smiled a little brighter and promised that it would be the good kind of change, you were certain of it. Maybe he believed it. Or maybe he saw the uncertainty in your eyes and the falsehood in your smile, knowing in his own way that something as coming. But he was kind enough to let it be tonight, saying nothing more. Together you sat by the fire, watching the flames burn bright into the night. Somewhere in the distance a howl broke through the quiet, your father’s dark eyes glancing quickly as he made certain the rifle was in arm’s reach.
He would be there.
Whatever was coming at the end of that coin toss, Charlie would be there for you, the way he had always been.
Head or tales. Hurt or happy.
And that was some small bit of comfort, laying your head on his shoulder. The flannel shirt was heavy with the scent of cologne and warm things, smoke and ceder trees. A gentle hand ran through your hair, Charlie humming beneath his breath.
For now, everything was happy.
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superinjun · 13 days
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Enjoy Beautiful Bastiqiyu
Joe Wahalatsu? Seymour Jr. (Squaxin/Acoma Pueblo)
archival paper, acrylic paint, birch panel. 35.75” x 24”
Pronounced “Bas-teh-KEE-u” translating to “it has wolves”, referencing the Washington Park neighborhood, approximately just north of Denny Blaine Park.
“Before colonial settlers came to our territories, all the places that now have English names had names in Lushootseed. The paintings in this exhibit pay homage to those names. The names that my ancestors gave to these places were often descriptions of the natural characteristics of the land. “bastiqiyu” translates to “it has wolves,” meaning that you were likely to encounter a wolf at or near that place. “txsIaR” translates into “place of the raven.” It is important to remember these characteristics my ancestors identified and to remember the language that my ancestors spoke.
In this time that governments and institutions are giving “land acknowledgments” before meetings and gatherings, it is very important that we not only acknowledge the land, but that we also acknowledge the language my ancestors spoke and the individual characteristics of the land they lived on.”
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thedoubteriswise · 11 months
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graffiti in Squaxin Park (formerly Priest Point Park)
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rvanihilism · 7 months
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8/31: we spent a whole day exploring olympia. cool town! this is Squaxin Park
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mountrainiernps · 2 years
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Today is Indigenous Peoples' Day. The land currently administered as Mount Rainier National Park has been since time immemorial the ancestral homeland of the Cowlitz, Muckleshoot, Nisqually, Puyallup, Squaxin Island, Yakama, and Coast Salish people. By following elders’ instructions passed through generations, these indigenous peoples remain dedicated caretakers of this landscape. Their traditional knowledge and management of this sacred land will endure in perpetuity, and we honor each nation’s traditions of landscape stewardship in our endeavors to care for, protect, and preserve the resources of the mountain.
NPS Photo ~kl
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pnw-forest-side · 4 months
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Left the city for a bit.
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Wandering somewhere in Western Washington
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lowquality-buffet · 2 months
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This ain't no picnic
Somewhere in Western Washington 1/24
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shadesofmauve · 7 years
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DERT “Envisioning an Urban Estuary” presentation/workshop
I went to the workshop in Tumwater, which was naturally much more sparsely attended than the Oly version, but had really good information from both Squaxin Tribal Biologist Steve Steltzer and City Councilwoman Nicole Hill.
Naturally everyone there was for removing the 1951 dam -- pro-lake people probably aren’t on DERT’s list -- so it was a very non-contentious community meeting.
List of facts and notes behind the cut.
The salmonid run in the Deschutes is entirely artificial, and started with large scale seeding of the river in the 40s or thenabouts (I knew that bit). 
The hatchery at the head of the falls raises chinook, which are all taken out of the river after they make it up the ladder. 
Coho and cutthroat are left alone, and breed naturally in the upper reaches of the river (though not well, due to heat and other ‘standard’ issues for salmonids)
The Squaxin have a legend that the Deschutes once supported the Salmon People, but an argument between gods/spirits caused a huge disruption, forming the falls that blocked them.
City of Tumwater IS working on sediment mitigation (logjams, bank management) in Pioneer Park and that other park with the name I forget.
Sediment load in the Deschutes is still large, but has decreased drastically since the early 70s due to improvements in environmental practices (currently 62,000 cubic yards/year, was 87,000. Yay, giving a shit abouty our environment!).
Somewhere between 26% and 32% of sediment is caused by humans. 9% is from logging roads in the Weyerhauser lands upriver.
The City of Tumwater is actively seeking funds to ‘stabilize’ the old Brewery building, by which they mean ‘helping the tower not topple over and kill people’
The City of Tumwater has secured the easement for a walking path from somewhere up around Capitol Way to down by the old brewery building, but won’t start construction until they’ve completed Operation Tower Doesn’t Topple Over And Kill People, so that if the tower DOES topple over there aren’t people there to kill.
SHIPS used to sail to the brewery! Shipping was tidal (in with rising tide, out before low), and they loaded up at the old brewery.
The yacht club existed in basically the same location before the dam went in, so theoretically there are ways they could still exist as a permanent (non-tidal) harbor if the dam is removed in case we care about rich people with yachts.
The lake has a negative effect on dissolved oxygen levels in Budd Inlet, far greater than any other factor
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investmart007 · 6 years
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WASHINGTON STATE | More than 7,000 Acres of Forest Land Protected in Puget Sound
New Post has been published on https://is.gd/C5zPhy
WASHINGTON STATE | More than 7,000 Acres of Forest Land Protected in Puget Sound
Conservation easement will assure public recreation access while protecting a working forest from development
WASHINGTON STATE– The Trust for Public Land, Green Diamond Resource Company and Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today announced they have permanently protected 7,391 acres of working forest land in Mason County at the southwestern end of Puget Sound.
The land, located on the Olympic Peninsula between Hood Canal and Case Inlet, will remain in active timber production while protecting water quality and wildlife habitat.  It will also be available to the public for hiking, mountain biking and other outdoor recreation.  The 7,391 acres protected today is the second phase of a three-phase effort to protect over 20,000 acres of this coastal forest from development in the Puget Sound region.  In 2016, 6,967 acres – the project’s first phase – were protected, and earlier this year, Congress appropriated $5.1 million in the 2018 budget to protect the project’s third and final phase.  With two metropolitan areas only a half hour away and with high demand for affordable home sites, the land was highly vulnerable to subdivision and development.
“Protecting these productive forestlands from future development safeguards local jobs, keeps vital habitat intact for wildlife and protects the quality of Puget Sound while providing public access for outdoor recreation,” said David Patton, Northwest Area Director for The Trust for Public Land.  “This project advances multiple benefits for everyone involved.”
The land is owned by Green Diamond Resource Company, a Washington-based privately held forest products company.  Green Diamond will continue to manage it under a conservation easement that guarantees the land will never be developed and will always be open for public recreation.  Green Diamond’s lands in Washington state are managed under a Habitat Conservation Plan to protect 51 aquatic and terrestrial species while allowing for forest management.
“Working forests are a major part of Mason County’s economy, and this transaction will help to ensure a healthy forest products industry here for many years to come,” said Blayde Fry, Vice President and General Manager at Green Diamond Resource Company.
The conservation easement was appraised and purchased for $6.634 million.  Funding for the purchase came entirely from the USDA Forest Service Forest Legacy Program, which is specifically designed to protect environmentally sensitive forestlands that are threatened by conversion to non-forest uses.  The easement will be held by DNR, which will be responsible for long-term monitoring and enforcement of its restrictions.
The FLP funding comes from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), the federal government’s main source of funds to protect land. LWCF, which was created by Congress in 1964, is funded not through taxes, but through royalties paid by energy companies for offshore gas and oil drilling.
“The working forestland protected by this easement will provide public recreation, environmental and economic benefits for generations to come,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Hillary Franz, who leads DNR. “This is a huge win for Mason County.”
“This conservation is another major step toward protecting essential forest lands in Mason County that support vital local wildlife, recreation, and economic growth.  Washingtonians across the board depend on our natural resources, and I’ll keep fighting to strengthen investments in critical environmental programs like the Land and Water Conservation Fund that supports programs to help protect these forests for future generations of families, entrepreneurs, and outdoor enthusiasts across Mason County and Washington state,” said U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA).
“The Land and Water Conservation Fund is critical to protecting public lands, working forests, clean air, and clean water throughout our country. The successful and widely supported South Puget Sound Coastal Forest project is a perfect example of why I am fighting to reauthorize the LWCF,” said U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
“The Land and Water Conservation Fund protects our land and literally grows jobs,” said U.S. Representative Derek Kilmer (WA-06). “This project will protect thousands of acres of working forestland in Mason County that will help attract more visitors to our region and improve water quality in Hood Canal which is critical for our shellfish growers. I’ll keep pushing to permanently reauthorize the LWCF so that it continues creating more opportunities in our neck of the woods.”
Healthy, productive waters for salmon and shellfish are important for the Squaxin Island Tribe’s way of life.
“This will help protect water quality to sustain the long term treaty resources for future generations,” said Arnold Cooper, Chairman of the Squaxin Island Tribe.
The project will also benefit the local shellfish industry.  Mason County has one of the most productive shellfish growing areas in the nation.  Shellfish harvesting is the County’s second largest industry. Incompatible development could threaten local water quality, which is essential to the industry’s survival.  Securing a conservation easement on the property helps protect downstream water quality for shellfish on 1,400 acres of tidelands for more than 20 shellfish companies and 2,000 recreational and tribal harvesters.
“This conservation easement is a critical step in helping to protect the water quality in the nearby inlets,” said Bill Taylor, President of Taylor Shellfish . “The easement will help to ensure that these inlets will continue to produce shellfish for tribal harvesters, recreational harvesters and shellfish farmers.  The easement will not only benefit the environment in the long term but also the local economy,” he concluded.
About the partners
The Trust for Public Land’s mission is to create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come.  Millions of people live within a ten-minute walk of a Trust for Public Land park, garden, or natural area, and millions more visit these sites every year.  To learn more, visit www.tpl.org.
Green Diamond Resource Company is a privately held forest products company that owns and manages working forest lands in the Pacific Northwest and the U.S. South. Learn more about Green Diamond Resource Company at www.greendiamond.com.
Administered by Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, DNR manages more than 5.6 million acres of state-owned forest, range, commercial, agricultural, conservation, and aquatic lands.  Of these, more than half are held in trust to produce income to support public schools, universities, prisons, and other state institutions.  State trust lands managed by DNR provide other public benefits, including outdoor recreation, habitat for native fish and wildlife, and watersheds for clean water.
SOURCE; Originally published by DNR.WA.GOV July 10, 2018
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