Land use by ownership (USDA, 1975) is as follows:

Corporate lands	11%
Municipal	2%
Private	80%
State	3%
Chehalis Indian Reservation	4%

In the Waddell and Mima subbasins 15,000 acres are state owned. This represents over 40% of the land in those two areas; a substantially larger percentage than the 3% state ownership shown for the entire drainage.

Forestry

'Decade' cut plans for the Capitol State Forest will leave two-thirds of the visible eastern slope in a clear-cut and regrowth stage. Forest industry and other private ten year yield ratios (Natural Resources, 1990), if continued, would exceed the available timber acreage. Each year over two square miles are converted from land covered in forest vegetation into deforested land subject to severe soil erosion and the associated problems.

Timberland as a percentage of total land is hard to pin down. Estimates range from 41% to 85% (SCS, 1988). Using the smaller percentage (41%) and the largest drainage size estimate (144 square miles or 92,160 acres), results in an estimated timber acreage of 37,786 acres in the Black River subbasin.

The 'decade' cut (10 year harvest) planned for the Black River drainage portion of the Capitol State Forest is 700-900 acres per year, for ten years. By the year 2000, 9,000 acres (67%) of the 13,400 acres on the east slope of the Capitol State Forest will be harvested.

In Thurston County, timber harvested on state lands (Natural Resources, 1990) represents 16.7% of the total timber harvest. On that basis, the total annual private harvest is about 4,500 acres per year. That rate cannot be maintained if the total percent of timberland in Thurston County is only 41%. A ten year harvest would exceed the available timber acres (37,180 acres total, minus 9,000 acres in Capitol State Forest leaves 28,000 acres). Therefore, the harvested acreage will probably decline.

Clear-cut, partial cuts, and/or thinning all need, and create: roads, skid trails, fire breaks and landings. These features can occupy up to 30% of the harvested acreage (SCS, 1988). This in turn accounts for 90% of the surface erosion. Statewide that amounts to 83,000 acres a year. Locally 1,500 or more acres (2.3 square miles) are left with resultant sediment production which impacts water quality in streams.

Urban and Residential Development

Rural growth may not appear to be a problem, because these areas have grown only an average of 37% during 1980-1990. This is a decrease from 1970-1980 when there was a 100% rural growth in residential units. However, a closer look at only the legal sections that are in the Black River drainage reveals a more accurate picture of the nature and distribution of growth (Thurston Regional Planning Council, 1991):

This rapid growth, in an area where 71% of the land is designated as having severe septic limitations, and 23% of the land is at risk of flooding, has the potential to negatively impact water quality, wetlands, and water supplies.

By the year 2010, the growth rate could be 6.1% (low), 53% (high), or 23% (average):

   1990         Pop. in 2010     Units in 2010
Pop. Units   low    hi   avg  low    hi   avg
8800  3841  9332 13458 10819  4075  5877  4724

While this subbasin

Growth rates exceeded the high rate between 1980-1990 (when growth was actually 73%), and continued growth in other population centers will encourage further residential development in rural areas. This spillover effect could cause growth to continue to exceed traditional norms.

In specific areas (Black Lake/Littlerock, and Rochester) there are population reports and projections through the year 2010 (TRPC, 1991):

Year	Black Lake - Littlerock	Rochester
1970	5,400	2,900
1980	11,800	6,000
1990	15,900	7,900
2000	21,400	9,600
2010	30,000	12,800

Sixty-two percent or more of the total residential growth has taken place in legal sections adjacent to, or containing, one of the five streams in the Black River drainage.

Residential growth by stream sections:

>Stream	1980 units	1990 units	% change
Black River	624	1124	80
Waddell Creek	46	76	75
Mima Creek	17	32	88
Beaver Creek	104	163	57
Salmon Creek	259	488	88
Creek/River totals	761	1,883-	147
Drainage TOTALS	2215	3841	73

The Black River drainage stream area populations have grown faster than the total Black River basin growth (147% vs 73%).

Rochester and Littlerock are the two urban areas within the Black River drainage. In 1980, Littlerock had 149 residential units. In 1990, there were 261units. This is a 75% growth rate. However, one section (R3W T16N 10) grew 412%; from 8 units to 41 units.

In the Rochester area, only sections within the Black River drainage were examined. In 1990, there were 823 units, up 62% from the 507 in 1980. It should be noted that just the growth in the number of Rochester units (316) exceeded the total size of Littlerock (261) units.

Agriculture

Available information shows that only a small percentage (9.4%) of the land within the Black River drainage is used in farming activity. Aquaculture was introduced to the area in the 1970s. Six sites are located in the southwest corner of the drainage. Turf farming is a 1970's addition, and several hundred acres of Black River land are devoted to this. Blueberry farms are also located in the southwest corner of the subbasin. No agricultural revenue or market value figures specific to the Black River subbasin are available.

Mounded prairies are among the most striking and best known minor physiographic features of the Pacific Northwest. Three separate prairies are found in the Black River drainage. Baker Prairie, the smallest, is located north of Rochester. Rocky Prairie, located in the eastern part of the watershed, covers approximately three times the area of Baker Prairie. Mima Prairie, the largest, is located southwest of Littlerock. It is difficult to determine the exact size of these prairies because they have been invaded by surrounding forest or Scotch broom, and disturbed by man.

Prairie vegetation consists of grasses, mosses, lichens, and herbs. In Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve, the least disturbed prairie area, Idaho fescue and bentgrass dominate. Under these grasses, moss form thick mats. A great variety of forbs penetrate these mats. Dominant species include: common lomatiums, Henderson's shooting stars, common camas, oxeye daisies, and hairy cat's ears. In disturbed prairie areas, Scotch broom dominates. Presence of bracken and tansy ragwort also show prairie disturbance. The ecotone (the zone between prairie and forest) hosts plant species common to both prairie and forest. These include Douglas fir, Garry oak, hazelnut, cascara, western serviceberry, and some prairie species of grasses, mosses, lichens, and herbs.

Forests comprise the greatest portion of wildlife habitat in the Black River drainage. They provide food, cover, and nesting sites for wildlife. Understory vegetation varies in density, extent of layering, and component species depending on physical site conditions and overstory density.

The Black River drainage is in the western hemlock vegetational zone. Western hemlock eventually dominates undisturbed sites that are not too wet or too dry. Broadleaf forests or wetlands occupy wet sites, while drier types of coniferous forest become dominant on sites that are too dry for western hemlock. However, disturbance, both natural and man-caused, is widespread in the Black River drainage, and several Douglas fir forests are maintained on mostly western hemlock climax sites. The largest stands of coniferous forest in this drainage are in the Black Hills. Douglas fir dominates most of these stands, but a few stands of western hemlock and Pacific silver fir occur on moist sites at higher elevations. Grand fir is sometimes found in stands with Douglas fir, and occasional Sitka spruce trees are present next to creeks. Western red cedar is very common along springs and smaller creeks of the Capitol State Forest.

Certain understory species typical of coniferous forests are found in the Black River drainage. In the shrub layer, these include hazelnut, vine maple, creambush ocean spray, red huckleberry, sword fern, salal, and dull Oregon grape. Typical species in the herb layer include dewberry, sweet scented bedstraw, stream violet, wild ginger, white trillium, western starflower, candyflower, inside-out flower, western rattlesnake plantain, western twinflower, false lily of the valley, and western and starry Solomon plume. Salal tends to prevail on drier sites, while sword fern is typical of moist sites.

The Black River drainage has proportionately more broadleaf forest than many western Washington watersheds because of its abundance of poorly drained areas. The eastern section of the watershed, in particular, has considerable broadleaf forest. This area is dominated by red alder with numerous swamps, marches, fens, bogs, and beaver ponds throughout. Broadleaf forest in the Black River drainage are usually dominated by red alder. Whereas many stands have 100% red alder canopies, big leaf maple is a major component of many stands. Western red cedar and occasionally western hemlock often grow just below the canopy. Very young stands of red alder form dense, closed canopies, and understory vegetation consists mainly of herbs. Older stands tend to be more layered, and often have dense understories, especially on very moist sites.

Clearcutting is a very common method of timber harvest used in the Black River drainage. Following clearcutting, the site is prepared for replanting. Douglas fir seedlings are usually planted on these sites to promote maximum timber production. If the clearcut is left to revegetate naturally, red alder becomes the colonizer, and a broadleaf forest precedes the coniferous forest.

Rochester Ground Water Quality

A ground water study in Rochester in 1989 resulted in enforcement action by the Washington State Department of Ecology (Olympian, 12/30/90). The enforcement directed a fish farm (Steelhammer) to reroute 1.7 million gallons of daily water discharge. This was done after the study linked the waste water to well pollution in the area.

TheDepartment of Ecology issued the original permit allowing the farm to dump waste water into a slough that links the Chehalis and Black Rivers. Since then, Ecology officials have conceded it was a mistake. The farm owner was quoted as saying, "We have a plan to reroute the water to the Chehalis River" (Olympian, 12/30/90). This fish farm has subsequently discontinued operations for economic reasons.

Black River Watch

In an area as diverse and populated as the Black River, water quality is a concern. The Black River fish kill of August 1989 served to focus this interest. With the support of the Thurston County Departments of Health and Water Quality, and state agencies, and with the participation of residents, the Black River Watch committee was formed.

Besides meeting and discussing the concerns of the group, the Black River Watch has taken an active part in collecting river data. The resulting data reveals a wide range of water quality problems.

The Black River violated Class A standards frequently for dissolved oxygen (D.O.) and temperature during the summers. D.O. continued to be below the required 8 ppm from July 1990 through November 1990 at several sites, and fecal coliform (FC) levels were in violation throughout most of the sampling period (TCOWQ, 1991)

D.O. levels showed clear stratification through September at two sampling sites. Bottom D.O. levels were lower by a maximum of 5 ppm than the surface levels at one site on two dates. Two sites failed five out of the eight samples studied (TCOWQ, 1991).

FC levels were high throughout much of the sampling period. The levels were acceptable on only three dates out of the eleven sampled. Of the six sites only one had a geometric mean below 100 organisms/100 mL. Peaks as high as 15,000 and 11,250 organisms/100 mL were recorded during the sampling period (TCOWQ, 1991).

Throughout the sampling period, pH was within standards in all but one sample.

Nutrient data suggest some interesting conditions. In one sample, the total phosphorous levels were high although ammonia and nitrate/nitrite levels were not correspondingly as high as might be expected as the result of a fertilizer spill, for example. A week later, FC levels were elevated. There is no conclusive connection between the two elevated samples. There was no rain in the period between the two sampling dates (TCOWQ, 1991).