illegal conversions of LWCF parks

An MSNBC article posted this week gives us a vivid picture of what sort of bullet we managed to dodge in our efforts to protect Kah Tai. Parks created with LWCF funds have been illegally converted all over the US.

The most effective tool that NPS has in the effort to protect parks created with LWCF funds is an interested and vigilant public that requires local governments to honor their commitments. NPS can apply penalties to local governments that illegally convert parks, but it still is a matter of asking forgiveness and not permission if the damage is already done. If Kah Tai was converted, the City and Port would be required to provide replacement land elsewhere with the same citizen access and habitat value.

We have wildlife habitat that has taken nearly 50 years to develop after the dredge spoils were dumped in 1964. That habitat has been fostered with considerable citizen effort since park creation in 1981. Kah Tai is unique. It is irreplaceable.

conflict averted, for now

This cartoon from The Atlantic magazine, September 2010, has been perched quietly in the computer, waiting to be Photoshopped a little and posted. It just needed a label on that awning and some greenery along the path and it would have represented a future we dreaded for Kah Tai. Perhaps the street signs could have been labeled 'Hell' and 'High Water'. There's no telling what is ahead for Kah Tai, but it is likely it won't look like this in our lifetimes, now that the Port and City have a swap in the works.

A new article in the science journal Nature speculates, with considerable supporting data, that loss of biodiversity is increasingly likely to be a tipping point for irreversible change in the coming years. A diverse ecosystem is far better suited to respond to rapidly changing conditions. When we're down to urban habitat fit only for pigeons and English sparrows, we won't stand much of a chance at survival. Our own little urban habitat at Kah Tai boasts nearly 100 documented daylight bird species. Native plant species increase in number and diversity with diligent effort by many concerned citizens. It is our own small contribution to a buffer for the ecosystem at large.

this park is for the birds

Although the Leader had a nice article about the May 21st joint City/Port meeting, it isn't on their public website so a link isn't available. However, the Peninsula Daily News did provide a good article about the meeting on their website:

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20120523/NEWS/305239994/city-port-ok-kah-tai-lagoon-swap

It isn't over yet, but the news is more hopeful than it's ever been for Kah Tai.

all together now, say 'thank you'

For once, the news in the Leader is so complete that it's been hard to find anything more to add. The news is also incredibly hopeful.

On May 21st, the City Council and Port Commission will hold a joint meeting at the Cotton Building at 7:30 pm, to vote on the peace treaty worked out by their respective staff and elected members. Once passed, the treaty places all relevant parcels and other real estate into escrow until every detail has been completed. When escrow closes, the 6(f)(3) boundary of Kah Tai Lagoon Nature Park, as affirmed by RCO and NPS, will be intact.

We can call this effort historic. The last time the City and Port undertook this level of compromise was just over three decades ago, when majorities of both bodies agreed to create Kah Tai Lagoon Nature Park.

It is always useful to reinforce good acts with acknowledgement, whether or not the motives for those good acts are entirely altruistic. Both the City and Port could use a 'thank you' from members of the public at the meeting.

a force of nature

Eleanor Stopps died on Wednesday morning, 25 April 2012. Information can be found at both the Leader and the Peninsula Daily News.

Her friends and family are planning a memorial/tribute sculpture in her honor and with her agreement. More information will be posted as it is forthcoming.

UPDATE: an account has been established for donations to commission a sculpture honoring Eleanor. Follow this link for the latest news.

this island is for the birds

The Peninsula Daily News reports that Eleanor Stopps has terminal pancreatic cancer. If you don't know who she is, you might want to read the article at the link below. She founded Admiralty Audubon in 1977 and is responsible for the establishment of Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge.

What the article does not say is that Kah Tai Lagoon Nature Park also benefited from her advocacy. As one small example, back in 1978-79, she and Bernard Beck, the first president of Admiralty Audubon, did a year-long bird survey at Kah Tai that documented bird populations for the LWCF grant proposal. Her efforts placed Kah Tai on the list of 'important wildlife habitats in the state of Washington' that was compiled by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 1978.

And you might also not know that the motto for the Protection Island campaign was 'This island is for the birds'. There is a bumper sticker in town these days that says 'Kah Tai Park is for the birds'. The sentiment has a rich history.

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20120418/NEWS/304189989/wildlife-advocate-terminal-moved-to-care-facility

Her family indicates that she would appreciate letters and cards, which can be sent to Eleanor Stopps at Harbor Place at Cottesmore, 1016 29th St. N.W., No. 20, Gig Harbor, WA 98335.

The Myth of the Toxic Lagoon: Much Ado About Nothing

ECY sampling locations, 2001 (click to enlarge).

We've all heard the rumors. Trees die at Kah Tai because of toxins. The park is unsafe - it's just toxic dredge spoils. The lagoon is contaminated by - pick your source: a former auto repair shop, a former lumber yard, an old wire and nail company, trains dumping old batteries off the trestles.

All those rumors are based on a curious primary source - a single 1986 heavy metals study performed at the request of the Port of Port Townsend by a group of Shoreline Community College students. The students analysed samples from the lagoon and the boatyard. But what they did not sample was the park uplands.

When fragments of the 1986 report were uncovered by City staff in 2000, there was no map with the data. It wasn't clear where the samples were collected. City staff sent the disjointed information they did have to the State Department of Health (DOH). DOH staff did a preliminary evaluation of that information and in early 2001 recommended further sampling to determine if the park uplands were indeed contaminated. In 2001, the State Department of Ecology (ECY) prepared a sampling protocol and planned a rapid response. Locally, it was suggested in the media that remediation would be cheaper if the uplands were used for industry as contamination standards were less stringent than for a park.

And then, the record went silent. Calls to DOH suggested that they hadn't followed up. Were samples taken? It wasn't clear. People moved on. The park's reputation remained clouded. Local media were quick to leap at the contamination story, but not so agile at following it to the truth.

In March 2012, a complete copy of the 1986 report was unearthed in the archives maintained by the Friends of Kah Tai. It contained a sampling map. No samples had been taken from the park uplands by the college students. The 'serious' cadmium contamination consisted of a single, unreplicated sample taken in a corner of the lagoon itself, and that concentration was notable against a freshwater background, but not against seawater. The lagoon is brackish.

Emails to DOH brought back copies of the same preliminary 2001 reports and recommendations, plus one new document - a list of samples collected in 2001 by ECY.

ECY responded: there's nothing here at headquarters. Maybe in our southwest archives facility?

SW ECY responded: there's a two inch pile of documents in the archives; do you really want copies of all of it?

The summary of the full report states, "...the Kah Tai Lagoon site does not pose a threat to human health or environment." No further action was advised. The full report demonstrates that Kah Tai Lagoon Nature Park uplands are not contaminated by heavy metals or anything else measured by DOH or ECY. Modern analytical methods show no contamination of human or ecological significance anywhere in the lagoon, wetlands or uplands. Another urban myth bites the dust.