John Henderer, The Chronicle, 2/7/98
Lewis County officials are bracing for what they see as the worst Monday, when the National Marine Fisheries Service decides whether to list steelhead as a threatened or endangered species. Besides potential effects on fishing seasons, a federal listing likely will initiate new land-use regulations or tighten existing rules. Among other things, it could affect where county landowners are allowed to build houses.
"It's a huge change," said Marc Duboiski, county shorelines administrator. "I would term it bigger than the spotted owl, depending on where (NMFS) puts ... boundary line."
County miles potentially facing revisions include critical areas ordinances for riparian areas; land along streams; streambank buffers; and the county Shorelines Master Program. New regulations may include a grading and filling Ordinance.
County public works improvements targeted include culvert expansion and repair to allow fish passage into spawning streams.
The county already has committed $200,000 a year to replace, repair and maintain culverts under county roads, Duboiski said. The county's delayed response in implementing land-use zoning in rural areas under the Growth Management Act likely will get a push from NMFS.
Absence of zoning presents big problems in Lewis County, a NMFS official said.
"That is one of the core problems that we're dealing with," said Mike Grady, a policy analyst. "What you can control in Lewis County is how the habitat is managed and protected. Now you could probably clear-cut all the way up to the streambank and later say, 'Oh, by the way, I'd like to build my dream home by the streambank. ' "
That may change with federal protections. Without trees and vegetation along streams, water temperatures rise, becoming unsuitable for fish.
Duboiski said: "Everybody knows the Z-word (zoning) down here isn't very popular, but it's coming. What form (zoning) will take, we'll find out."
Existing regulations allow residents to build a house within 50 feet of the Cowlitz River and most of its tributaries.
Asked what federal limit might be required, Duboiski predicted at least 200 feet. "That's going to be the freight train that rolls through the county. That's where you pit your biologist against their biologist and argue.
However, the county has no such biologist.
County commissioners, meanwhile, are trying to cooperate with federal Authorities and work out the best possible deal for the county.
Commissioners are promoting state. legislation to create a regional watershed government covering a five county area in Southwest Washington that would have a $6 minion budget for habitat improvement projects.
"There's an unbelievable amount of money going to have to be spent over the next several years," Commissioner Glenn Aldrich said. "It's just terrible. You combine the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act and throw in the GMA stuff that goes with that - the costs which we thought were great for growth management are small." Aldrich said commissioners will take whatever steps are necessary to help salmon species recover. "My impression is that the public is favorable to recovering the species," he said. "If a grading and filling ordinance is going to help recover the species, then that's what we'll do."
Grady said steelhead is only the first of several fish species facing a federal listing in Southwest Washington. Chum, coho and chinook salmon will be decided later this month.
Still unknown is how far NMFS will extend its reach into the Cowlitz River Basin. The boundary could stop below Mayfield Dam, or it could extend upstream beyond the dam and two others into the upper watershed.
Duboiski said planning and studies for Tacoma Public Utilities' dam relicensing indicated the Cowlitz River Basin area above the dams is "key habitat" for steelhead, spring and fall chinook and coho salmon runs.
"A recovery plan and effort needs to be consistent across the watershed," Grady said. "If it doesn't, then the local governments and landowners become liable. If those practices are shown to impact those species, then they're subject to criminal and civil prosecutions
Logging or grading in certain critical areas could be considered actions characterized as a "taking" of the species.
"How the landscape is managed determines to what extent recovery efforts will be successful," Grady said. 'This isn't a problem we can fix with just a few projects, and it's not something we can engineer our way out of."
Aldrich, who represents East Lewis County and has taken personal interest in the fish issue, said its importance cannot be underestimated. "The closer (the listing) gets to you, the more believable it is. The headlight of that train is a lot brighter than it was down the track."