Last Child in the Woods a Topic at Land-Use Forum

The (Puyallup) Herald – December 20, 2007
By Susan Schell

The Pierce County Parks and Recreation Department had an interesting way of involving the community in a public meeting Monday night, Dec. 17.

Members of the Cascade Land Conservancy hosted the meeting to glean public input on how the parks service should manage its land in the Carbon River Valley.

Pierce County currently owns more than 2,000 acres in the valley and contracted with the Cascade Land Conservancy to help make future decisions about how to balance public use of the land while conserving its natural resources. Decisions on how the land will be used will affect many communities in East Pierce County and open up recreational possibilities for county residents.

Poster boards were set up around the perimeter of the meeting room of the Wilkeson Town Hall. Each poster board depicted several recreational activities complimented with a photo of that activity such as tennis, camping, sightseeing, walking, canoeing and other activities the land could be used for.

Each person in the room was given four green stickers to place under their favorite activities on the poster boards. At the end of the session the posters displayed an extremely clear vision of what people in the room wanted. Green stickers clustered around activities including camping, backpacking, interpretive history and environmental education.

During the public comment session, residents expressed a desire to keep the land in its natural state and limit human intrusion. Several residents expressed fear over losing the land to development.

“We’re not here to talk about anything but this land staying in the Pierce County Parks and Recreation,” said John Floberg of the Cascade Land Conservancy. “We’re looking at what the park should consider when deciding the use of the land.”

One issue topping the list of concerns was protecting the wildlife in the canyon by limiting human encroachment and preserving animal corridors.

Mardel Chowen of the Friends of Carbon Canyon said it is important to preserve the elk corridors along Evans Creek.

“There are only two left and one is being closed off by development,” she said. “The elk need a wildlife area where they can go between the Carbon River and White River. On one side the cliffs are too steep and on the other side there are houses. The herd needs to migrate to stay healthy or the herds get too inbred.”

Nell Batker, who attended the meeting, said the parks department needs to conduct a biodiversity study to determine what species live in the canyon and if any of them are endangered.

“First we have to know what we have before we start pulling anything in.”

Holly Taylor, principal of PastForward Northwest Cultural Services said protecting cultural issues in the valley should also be a consideration.

“The tribes have heritage sites and may want to protect their privacy and spiritual traditions,” she said.

Residents suggested conducting a cultural landscape inventory in order to integrate Indian culture into the land- use considerations.

Landscape architect Chris Overdorf said studies have shown that public recreational trends are changing.

“There is a need to connect people back to nature,” he said. “These topics are becoming more and more important to a wider population of people, which is affecting how the parks manage their land. Areas are being consumed by development and preserving large-scale landscapes are becoming more important.”

Overdorf said a popular book, “Last child in the Woods,” reflects a shift in public thinking over land use.

“This is all about enjoying what’s there with the most minimal impact on the environment,” he said.

“We’re trying to create a model for how we might manage sites in the future,” said Skip Ferrucci, resource stewardship superintendent for Pierce County Parks and Recreation. “Since this is a part of the gateway to Mount Rainier, our hope is that this will have a positive impact on citizens throughout the region.”

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