September 14, 2004

Environmental Watch: Herrera adds Brummer, Grady

Brummer

Grady

Brummer has 13 years of experience in engineering geology and geomorphology. He has worked on research of streambed armoring and landslide deposits. Grady has five years of experience in stream habitat and hydrology surveys, and studies how the public uses riparian areas for recreation. He has worked with western Washington government agencies to study fish, wildlife and habitat.

Herrera is an environmental and engineering consulting firm with public and private clients throughout the western U.S. It employs 80 engineers, scientists and planners in the Northwest.

Corps sediment workshops Sept. 23, 25

PORTLAND — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will host a sediment management workshop on Sept. 23 at the student center of Lower Columbia College in Longview from 1 to 8:30 p.m. Facilitated by Oregon State University's Gregg Walker, the group will look at how to manage natural resources with multiple parties, cultural differences, scientific and technical uncertainty, and legal and jurisdictional constraints.

Walker and Pat Corcoran of Oregon State University Extension will lead a field trip on Sept. 25 to a sediment management demonstration site in Astoria, Ore. The site covers Point Grenville, Tillamook Head, Ore., and River Mile 7 in the Columbia River. The management program is part of a national initiative to retain sand in coastal zones.

To attend, contact Doris McKillip at (503) 808-4348. A guide on regional sediment management was prepared by the Institute for Water Resources and is posted at http://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/iwr/pdf/02ps2sed_man.pdf.

Open house on Naches Trail Preserve

GRAHAM, Pierce County — An open house for the Naches Trail Preserve will be Sept. 18 from 12 to 4 p.m at Clover Creek Elementary School, 16715 36th Ave. E. in Graham. The event is hosted by Pierce County Water Programs, the Cascade Land Conservancy and the Clover Creek/Frederickson community.

The open house is the first of several intended to gather input to write a stewardship plan for the area. A draft is set to be released in 2005. No large active recreation sites are planned for the area, said Dan Wrye, who manages Pierce County's water programs, because the conservation easement calls for preservation of open space and the natural floodplain. But in the long term, there could be trail or boardwalk access to wetland, stream and oak prairie habitat.

The Naches Trail Preserve is a 50-acre preserve of natural floodplain and upland habitat in the Frederickson area of Clover Creek Basin. Pierce County and Cascade Land Conservancy together acquired the 50-acre parcel.

For more information, call Dan Wrye, program services manager of Pierce County water programs, at (253) 798-4672.

Portland expert speaks on urban spaces

SEATTLE — Portland community activist Mark Lakeman will speak in Seattle tomorrow, Thursday and Sept. 19. As part of a tour organized by the Northwest Eco Building Guild, he will also be speaking in Port Townsend, Ellensburg and Spokane; Sandpoint, Idaho; and Missoula, Mont.

Lakeman founded the City Repair Project in Portland, a nonprofit that works with communities to recreate public commons. Portland city council has supported some of City Repair's projects in the last four years. Lakeman will speak on how to renew urban space through citizen-led public art, permaculture and ecological design projects.

"Build places where community can happen," Lakeman says, "right in the hearts of our neighborhoods." For more information, contact Marni Evans at (206) 291-4568 or by e-mail at marnijade@hotmail.com. For a schedule, see http://www.ecobuilding.org.

Meeting on Snohomish River habitat

SNOHOMISH — Snohomish County will hold a public meeting Sept. 22 to show revised plans for a salmon habitat restoration in the Snohomish River Confluence Reach area. The meeting will be held in the Snohomish Library, 311 Maple Ave. from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. to gather public input for future restoration projects.

The Confluence Reach area is a 3.5-mile stretch of the Snohomish River downstream from where the Skykomish and Snoqualmie Rivers converge. A report from an August meeting is posted at http://www.surfacewater.info. For more information, contact Bob Aldrich, project manager, at (425) 388-6424.

Comments due on Brightwater permit

OLYMPIA — The Department of Ecology is seeking public comment on a proposed stormwater permit intended to protect water quality while King County constructs the Brightwater wastewater treatment plant near Woodinville.

The permit sets limits on turbidity, the amount of silt allowed in stormwater runoff. To build foundations, groundwater must be pumped from areas to be excavated, and the permit sets terms on discharge before water is released into Little Bear Creek. Comment period ends Oct. 10.

To comment, contact: Water Quality Permit Coordinator, Department of Ecology, Northwest Regional Office, 3190 160th Ave. S.E., Bellevue WA 98008-5452. Or e-mail tmil461 http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/permits/northwest_permits.html. For more information, visit http://www.ecy.wa.gov.

Contractor guide on used materials

SEATTLE — A free guide to used building materials is now available on the Internet to help contractors and designers calculate how much can be saved by using secondhand building materials. The guide also has tips on how to make the most of used materials and how to identify which ones are most valuable.

The guide is funded by a Washington state Department of Ecology grant and has a checklist on how to salvage materials, a list of materials that stores take or buy for resale, and a directory of used building material stores in Washington. It also has examples of local projects in which money was saved with used materials. For example, the Camlin Hotel owner saved almost $100,000 in labor and landfill costs by using used building material. The guide is available at http://www.resourceventure.org/rv/issues/building/other-resources/index.php.