Black Diamond NOW

Stream And River Water Quality Monitoring - Info Resource

Photo taken of recent Lake Sawyer sunset looking east.

King County Water & Land Resources Division maintains an excellent Water Quality Monitoring Program website with a tremendous amount of information about the rivers and streams in our area.  It identifies each of the many water quality monitoring locations maintained by the county and provides lots of data and historical trends.  Quite well done.  In addition, from this site you can also navigate to other of their valuable web pages including Major Lakes Monitoring, Small Lakes Monitoring (this is where you will find the most current Lake Sawyer reports), Hydrology Information Center, Salmon Watcher and much more.  It's worth checking out.

 

The Campaign For 12,000 Rain Gardens In Puget Sound

The City of Seattle and WSU Extension are sponsoring a campaign to encourage the development of 12,000 Rain Gardens in the Puget Sound region.  Their Web Site has lots of great information and links to many sources of practical how to tips.  They are also working to register all rain gardens within the region as a way to track progress.  Not a whole lot registered yet at 620 but growing.  So I decided to register our hybrid version that we just completed.  Looking forward to the plants growing like the picture above.  I'm sure that I'll find and plant more as time moves on.  Something a little unique for us is that we have both roof area and driveway draining into ours.  Time will tell if we built it big enough.  

I would appreciate learning from others about their experiences.  For more about our adventures, follow this link.

Public Debt

Interesting perspective on the sources of our county's burgeoning debt load.

Great Neukerchen Photos Of The Lake Sawyer Sawmill - Circa 1932

From the above photo, the latest among those provided courtesy of Peggy Hawkins, grandaughter of mill co-founder Joseph Neukerchen, the location of the Lake Sawyer Sawmill is perhaps clearest yet.  We can see the peninsula just west of the mill and then the far shore near where the boat launch is today.  For additional information about the Lake Sawyer Sawmill and the Neukerchen family, follow this link.

As you can see, they loved to stack lumber high - in this case to air dry.  Even today, air dry carries a different price point than kiln dried.  But I wonder what type of machinery they used to do that.  I doubt that they had fork lifts at the time and have yet to run across any pictures that would shed futher light on this.  Any ideas?  Also, notice the hats that we see in so many photos of the time.  Were hats worn just for times of ceremony, like picture taking, or were hats worn for some other reason and by an everyday joe?

This was clearly pre EPA.  Also, notice the water tower made out of wood. 

More Natural Beauty In Our Back Yard

Photo taken last week looking due north over the Kusak Farm in Cumberland from a logging road, that if you follow it to the end, will eventually put you east of the Cascades - that's a long way.  Thanks to Simon, a frequent contributor to this blog, for leading the way.

If you are looking for an opportunity to get away from the crowds, smell the fresh air and enjoy the natural beauty that our area has to offer, then take a hike into our nearby forestlands.  Much of this land is in private ownership, but my experience is that if you request hiking access, your request will typically be granted.  Forget four wheelers and motor bikes, which do damage to these lands, but for hiking and responsible use, land owners have proven to be very accomodating.

At lower elevations (this photo taken at about 1,000 ft.), you can enjoy the incomparable beauty of forest undergrowth that we often see in wetter areas.  How can you feel stress when you are walking through this?  Bunchberry next?

There is always a new surprise for me no matter how many hikes I take.  My camera (the operator) is challenged taking pictures when the sun is out - lack of practice I guess.  But this beautiful green slime growth among the rocks as water cascaded through it was spectacular.  I have not seen this before where the water is so pure.

Just to show you, we did hit snow on the trail at about 2,700 ft.  Thanks again to Simon for taking me out into new territory. 

On the way down, we ran into a truck with probably 6 to 8 beagles headed up the road.  A security guard soon came by and explained that bears can really do damage to trees in commercial forestland.  Apparently, as the trees mature to nearly harvestable age, the bark becomes something that bears just love.  At this age, the bark is sweet and the bears love to strip the lower bark from these trees and eat it.  Hmmm - candy for bears but not so good if you are trying to grow trees for eventual harvest.  Beagles are great trackers, thus their value in finding and controlling a bear population.  Each dog was equipped with a collar that makes it possible to track exactly where they are during their chase, which can span many miles.

From up top, Simon and I could clearly see the City of Seattle skyline, the Olympics and Puget Sound.  Wow!

What Is A Forest?

Photo Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries, catalogue no. DK134, Snoqualmie Valley

Today, we tend to think of a "forest" as what we see in managed tree farms in the foothills of the Cascades.  Most of these trees are at least 3rd growth and finding a tree with a Diameter Breast Height (DBH) of 4 to 5 feet or more seems rare.  When we travel to Mt. Rainier and are within park boundaries, we see larger trees but still maybe only 30 to 40 feet at most.  The above tree is 100 feet DBH.  Now that's big and a better representation of what a mature forest in the Pacific Northwest really looks like.

When I talk with Bernie McKinney, who has been leading efforts by the Middle Green River Coalition to restore the area around Beaver Lake, I get reminded of the fact that restoration is a very long term process.  A real forest is closer to 300 years in the making and we should keep this in mind as we work on land conservation projects and restoration projects in our area.  What we are working to restore/preserve now will be many decades in the making and even more important to future generations than we can today imagine.

A Photo Op With The Gov

This year marks a first for me in several ways.  Getting older is not at the top of my list but many neat things happening for us.  The above picture was taken a couple of weeks ago as we were able to get a piece of legislation passed that will serve to help reduce sprawl development within defined Urban Growth boundaries and further protect the environment.  Thanks to the sponsorship of Senator Derick Kilmer, Dem. Gig Harbor, pictured at the far left, and the support from the State Department of Health, the State Department of Ecology and the Utilities & Transportion Commission (UTC), SB 5034 passed overwhelming in both the Senate and the House.  In the picture above, you see Governor Gregoire signing the bill.  Now, that's pretty fun.

Standing behind the governor from left to right are Sen. Kilmer, Ann Rendahl with the UTC, Jack Brummel, staffer with the Senate Economic Development Committee, Craig and Judy and lastly Rick Slunaker with Associated General Contractors (our industry lobbyist).

So what's happening today that gives rise to the need for this legislation?  What we find in several growing areas within the state is that no public money is available to fund the water, sewer and stormwater infrastructure required to support sustainable development - all within defined Urban Growth Area (UGA) boundaries.  Then what happens?  Subdivisions get developed with septic systems, that aren't sustainable long term, and lot sizes must be increased as well resulting in the sprawl and lack of open space that we would all like to see within UGA's.  Septic and clustering are fundamentally incompatible nor can septic achieve advanced treatment standards that we should expect from new sewer capacity.  Or if these subdivisions aren't developed, then growth pressures increase for more development outside of the UGA's which is totally contrary to the goals of Growth Management.

As our company, Northwest Cascade Inc., has pioneered doing on the east coast for some time now, when municipal services cannot be provided due to economic constraints but where a prospective development is within appropriate growth management boundaries, private utilities, in our state authorized and regulated by the state Utilities & Transportation Commission, can now provide this infrastructure and ongoing management.  That's the end result of SB 5034.  So now we can get "real" sewer treatment capacity meeting DOH and DOE standards and provide a long term management infrastructure that can be sustainable for water, wastewater and stormwater services into the future.  Today, with no public or private utility, there is no management and no accountability.  Needless to say, the legislature agreed and SB 5034 passed by near unanimous margins in each chamber.

P.S. I went to the signing ceremony kicking and screaming about wearing a tie and jacket.  I finally acceded to wearing a tie, but no jacket.  The Governor was very very cordial to us and I have the official signature pen.

Locally Grown - What Qualifies?

Being "locally grown" is all the rage these days in the greater Puget Sound area.  You hear lots of conversation about putting a chicken coop in your backyard or even bee hives.  Walk into a Safeway or QFC and you will see special locally grown sections in their stores.  And with real pride, our son and his Year Of Plenty blog and recently published book have been at the forefront of this national movement.  I will admit to having great fun helping, in small part, he and his family build their chicken coop called "Chichen Paradise" by the kids.

As consumers, what should we be looking for?  First of all, we need to distinguish between "locally grown" and "organic".  The so called organic movement hit the streets well before locally grown and is actually quite different and becoming even more commoditized by the ag industry as time goes on.  As I understand it, to be certified as organic you must not use any chemical pesticides or other chemical additives in the soil for a period of three years before qualifying.  And there are fees attached, in some cases fairly significant for the size of the farms involved.  One of our two CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture) that we are subscribing to this year is Whistling Train Farm in the Kent valley.  In the past, they maintained the "organic" label but found it too expensive to keep up with all of the paper work.  So today, they still use no chemicals and grow per "organic" standards but eschew the label.  For reference, our other local CSA this year is Mosby Farm located along Green Valley Road.  We have been buying produce there for some time at their Farm Stand and are subscribing this year for the first time to their CSA program, thanks to a gift from our daugher Hillary who first introduced us to CSA's.  Both are worth suscribing to and there is still time to sign up.  Our first locally grown fresh produce should be available sometime in June for our weekly pick up. 

Increasingly, the "organic" label is becoming just another market segment for big industrial agriculture.  I am not sure that this is bad or good, but if you see the price point differences for comparable fruit and veggies, the premium being asked for organic produce explains industrial ag's incentive.  It's still probably 14 days from harvest to store, but at least there is less chemical involved.  So when I go into a store or even better into a local produce stand like Rockridge Orchards & Cidery in Enumclaw, my eyes look for what we are growing locally here and let's support these folks.  The produce is typically much fresher, better tasting and helps our local economy.

In one of the interesting vignettes from Year Of Plenty, we learned that the Farmers Market in Millwood, just outside of Spokane, has a regular vendor selling locally grown grass fed beef.  When asked about  the differences between buying beef from this local farmer versus from your typical supermarket, the farmer replied something along the lines that where else can you buy beef where you know the name of cow that it's from, it's parents and lineage.

For some months now we have been able to get our egg supply from the Taylors here in Black Diamond - fresh and free range.  The difference in quality is absolutely amazing as described in an earlier Fresh Local Eggs post.  We thank the Taylors for continuing to supply us.  Yesterday, Simon, who is one of the regular and very insightful commenters on this blog was kind enough to take me on a hike well up into the Cascade range.  As a reward for our many miles of slogging all the way up into the snow at 2,700 feet elevation (more on this hike later as it was a beautiful clear sunny day and sunburned the top of my head where my hair is a bit thinner these days), when we got back to his wonderful place in Cumberland, he gifted Judy and I with 18 eggs, some blue and others white. As Simon explained, the blue ones are from the hen called Ulysses and the white ones are from the hen called KFC.  Now top that for being local and knowing where your food comes from.  Simon, thanks again.  Following is a picture of their chicken coop and habitat - lots of predators up there so netting and protection like that provided is pretty essential.  Definately a "Chichen Paradise".

 

Black Diamond Lake - A Hidden Jewel

Black Diamond Lake is one of the lesser known natural jewels in our community.  Located within Black Diamond's city limits, but hidden among the forest land owned prinicipally by Palmer Coking Coal and Yarrow Bay Holdings, the lake is both unique in it's character and beautiful to see.  Fairly shallow and largely comprised of peat bog type materials, it is quite different than the other lakes we see in the area.  Thanks to Erika Morgan, who has a home overlooking the lake (one of only two with direct access), I was able to see how beautiful the lake really is several months ago. 

Gil Bortleson was kind enough to lead me on a hike in the beautiful sunshine on Tuesday earlier this week following a well worn trail (with permission of the land owners) and we made our way to the lake.  What a perfect day to be out and about and see all of the native forest land plants now in bloom and growing.  Did you know that even nettles can be cooked and eaten like spinach or brewed to make tea?  Apparently, nettles have a special tang.  Something that I've got to try.  Everything is bright green now including trillium, bushberries (shown in the picture that follows) and of course the moss.

To my surprise, we found two row boats stashed along the lake shore.  One had it's leaks apparently "repaired" with layers of duct tape.  If only I could invent something like duct tape that has such universal application.  Oh well, better happy than rich.

The lake clearly is a destination for fishermen despite being accessable only through privately owned lands and being pretty shallow - about 4' depth or so from what I am told.  I'm also told that bull trout and pan fish like perch can be caught there.  Another natural resource gem in our community.  My tip of the day - if you want to go there, get permission from the land owners first.

 

 

Economic Hinterlands Of Seattle & Tacoma - Circa 1880

In 1988, John C. Hanscom with Green River Community College published an article called Company Coal Town - Franklin And The Oregon Improvement Company 1880 - 1896.  It's quite informative about this period not just for the town of Franklin at the time, but our region as well.  Thanks to the Renton Historical Society I was able to obtain a copy of this report.  The above graphic, extracted from this report, outlines what at the time were the key economic drivers of the hinterlands economy - railroads, roads, trails and coal fields.  Timber must have come a bit later.  In Black Diamond and surrounding area, we were clearly in the forefront of this economic engine.

Railroad connections are also an interesting way to see how connections were made.

 

For me, this puts many of these old coal mine towns in perspective, at least geographically.  We can see where Bayne, Palmer, Durham and other towns were in relation to where we are here in Black Diamond.  Very Interesting.  Franklin, though thriving at the time, was indeed the end of the road.

Crisp Creek & Keta Creek - Two More Streams Critical To Water Quality In Our Watershed

During my search to track down Covington Creek and where it goes after the outfall from Lake Sawyer, I also ran across Crisp Creek.  Located east of Covington Creek and actually closer to Black Diamond, Crisp Creek drains roughly 3,200 acres.  It originates in several groundwater springs, including Keta Creek Springs and a 20 acre bog at approximately 600 feet elevation, about the same as where we live.  The creek runs for a total of 3 miles from the natural plateau and then parallel to the Green River before entering it at mile 40.1.  Two lakes, Horseshoe Lake and Keevies Lake, are located within the Crisp Creek basin.  If you travel west from Black Diamond along the Auburn - Black Diamond highway, Crisp Creek is the first stream crossing that you will see.

Crisp Creek provides spawning and rearing habitat for coho, chinook, chum and winter steelhead and also serves as the water supply for the Keta Creek Hatchery operated by the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe.  The Hatchery is located just off of Green Valley Road, perhaps a mile or two west of Flaming Geyser State Park.

In addition to coho, chinook, chum and winter steelhead, the tribe also rears trout located in three large ponds.  These are really big fish, bigger than any rainbow that I've ever caught.  See if you can get a sense for the size of these lunkers in the picture that follows - many two plus pounders.

Water quality samples for Crisp Creek are monitored regularly by King County and based on this data, at least for now, this watershed is in great shape.  The critical variables of temperature and dissolved oxygen levels are currently well within DOE standards for suitable salmon rearing habitat.

Historical water temperature data in Crisp Creek consistently best state standards for salmon bearing streams - cooler is better.

Once again, dissolved oxygen appears to consistently exceed state standards.  This is good news.  Now, how to keep it that way with new development pending?

 

Going To The Dogs

If you guessed that Beagles were the most popular dog breed, you would be close but wrong - at least according to the American Kennel Club.  Though we had dogs as our children grew up, I think that Judy and I are among the few households in our community without a pet now.  At least based on wandering around, I would expect that dogs as pets predominate and I would guess that fully 80% or more of households in our community have pets, if not multiple pets.  What do you guess are the top 10 dog breeds that people keep as pets?  According to the American Kennel Club, here is the list for 2010.

1. Labradore Retriever
2. German Shepard Dog
3. Yorkshire Terrier
4. Beagle
5. Golden Retriever
6. Bulldog
7. Boxer
8. Dachshund
9. Poodle
10. Shih Tzu

Since my observations are essentially based on what I see outside the home and many of the breeds are primarily indoor house pets, I expect that what I see is skewed somewhat.  I see a lot of Labs, Beagles and Golden Retrievers.  What other differences would you expect to see in Black Diamond compared to the rest of the country?  Urban versus rural?

Bass Lake - Aquatic Vegetation Management Plan Now In The Works

Bass lake, located at the bottom of the above aerial view, is the largest of the Bass, Beaver and Dandy Lake complex acquired about 3 years ago by King County as open space and conservation land.  It's a really beautiful network of lakes connected by a stream that ultimately drains into the Green River just west of the SR 169 bridge across the gorge.  Recently, I reported on site restoration progress at Beaver Lake (the middle lake).  In this post I'd like to focus on Bass Lake and the Integrated Aquatic Vegetation Management Plan work that King County now has underway. 

Bass lake has boat launch access and is used by many for fishing - if you guessed fishing for bass, perch and other pan fish, you would have been right.  The problem is that Bass Lake is infested wtih the non-native invasive weed commonly known as milfoil.  To preserve the natural integrity of the lake, King County Water and Land Resources Division received a grant from the Washington Department of Ecology (DOE) to develop an Integrated Aquatic Vegetation Management Plan that evaluates the treatment options to control or eradicate milfoil from the lake.  There are also other noxious weeds around the lake that this plan will consider, including reed canary grass found on the south shore and Japanese knotweed found in a patch near the boat launch.  Several of our Middle Green River Coalition (MGRC) colleagues, including myself, are involved on a steering committee to oversee progress and provide input.

Why is this important?  Noxious weeds like this if left untreated pose a significant threat to take over not only the shoreline ecosystem, but also the aquatic ecosystem as well.  This would have a significant adverse impact on habitat for fish, birds and other animals that use the lake.  It will also cause problems for people who enjoy recreation, making access more challenging due to the weeds and fishing much less productive.  Forget swimming in the weeds.

Invasive weed surveys began in Bass Lake in the summer of 2010, with two more surveys scheduled for summer 2011.  Control method research and evaluation began  earlier this year.  Steering committee members can expect to receive draft copies of recommended control strategies by late October, with a final plan submitted to DOE by the end of the year.

Though I am certainly interested in preserving Bass Lake, we are very much hoping that Lake Sawyer will be next on the priority list for this same work in 2012.  Milfoil continues to be a problem in certain areas of the lake and growing.  King County now supports this work at Lake Sawyer next year but we'll have to see if continued program funding will be available.

For more information on the three lake Bass, Beaver and Dandy complex, follow this link.

John Henry Mine Schedule

In a letter dated April 28, the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) provided notice that it considers Pacific Coast Coal Company's (PCCC) permit revision application to be a "significant revision".  This means that public notice must be provided and public hearings held.  Following is OSM's projected schedule:

4/19/2011 to 5/3/2011      OSM reviews PCCC's application to determine administrative completeness.

5/13/2011 to 6/13/2011    OSM notifies government agencies of the applicant's intensions to mine.

5/13/2011 to 6/13/2011    PCCC publishes public notice in the newspaper.

6/13/2011 to 7/15/2011    Receive public or agency comments or objections.

8/15/2011 to 9/9/2011      OSM produces transcript

9/9/2011 to 10/10/2011    Decision to approve, approve with conditions or deny is made.

Total estimated time equals 22 weeks.  I would expect that PCCC is more than a little disappointed about not being able to proceed sooner.  On the other hand, for those wanting to provide input or express concerns, the public hearing process provides this opportunity.  You should soon be seeing notifications in the newspaper.

For more information re PCCC's plans, follow this link.

 

King County Employment Trends

First some historical data:

Being in the construction business, I can definately relate to this data.  According to the "experts", following is the outlook for the future:

About the only clear industry sectors expected to grow significantly are Health Care and Professional & Business Services.  I guess that we Baby Boomers are driving much of this.

This chart is a bit complex but also interesting.  It shows where the money is and where growth can best be expected.  Of note, however, the higher the location quotient, the less dependent these industries are in continuing to locate in the King County.  Food for thought here.

As we consider Black Diamond's future, I am still searching for where we can offer a unique advantage.  I continue to believe that LOCAL employment is the key to our community's future.  Otherwise, we become nothing more than a commuter suburb with all the traffic and other issues that this entails.  Given the natural beauty and many unique open space areas that we have here, there has to be a way for us to captalize on this.  Recreation - that's where I would like to see greater focus.  Your thoughts.

Adventures In Constructing A Rain Garden

The above picture taken earlier this week shows the progress so far in constructing our rain garden.  By means of background, the north side of our home is perpetually wet with four down-spouts that drain a flat slanted roof of about 1,500 square feet.  Do the numbers and that's lots of rainwater.  We started by installing two cisterns to collect some of this water for use in irrigating our garden areas.  But then what do we do when the cisterns get full - they are not that big and will regularly overflow unless alternative drainage is provided.  So what about a rain garden for the overflow?  Sounded like a great idea.

Initially, my goals were pretty modest.  The roof built in the late 1950's as part of a cabin expansion at the time isn't what you would call perfectly "plumb".  Drainage to the northwest end far exceeds flow volumes collected by the two downspouts nearer the chimney.  We even had to add a fourth downspout several years ago as we repaired the dry rot that had developed in the eaves due to the inadequate drain capacity.  If there is a "moss heaven", you'll find it on our walkway.  So, away we go.

My first decision was to do all the digging myself.  Afterall, two downspouts couldn't possibly require too much area particularly given the virtual "gravel pit" we have in our yard.  When I started digging, reality finally struck.  This is tough work.  Rocks were everywhere and trying to salvage any soil would require screening what was dug.  Ok, let's screen it.

Any idea how many rocks there are in this "soil" (what soil)?  No problem - personal determination always overcomes physical challenges.

I used a pick-axe to loosen the ground.  Then, right where the downspout with the biggest flow volumes dump into the cisterns and presumably our raingarden, my pick hits a big thud right into concrete.  One thing that you learn living in an old cabin dating back to the early 50's, there are always surprises.  In this case an old heating oil tank, since abandoned and filled in with concrete, happened to be located in the critical area.  They must have had excess concrete when decomissioning the oil tank and chose to dump this excess into our yard, just below the surface.  Oh well, minor problem - we can overcome this by giving our rain garden an interesting shape.

Next, I am out there digging and screening away while Judy is up on the roof of the original cabin clearing away debris - a flat roof of about 1,000 square feet and totally disconnected from the 1956 expansion roof.  Earlier, I had dug down and found a 6" black pipe that had been cut through by another contractor installing our yard irrigation system.  I cleaned out the pipe but thought nothing more of it.  A small lake had formed on top of the old roof as the drainspouts up top had clogged and as Judy cleared it ankle deep in water, guess who got wet?  All of a sudden, water was just gushing out of this old clogged pipe even though the roof drain was located on a completely different roof on the other side of our home.  Hmmm?  We might want to make this rain garden a bit bigger.

After digging deeper for a while and lengthening the "rain garden", we got hit with a cloudburst and I get wet again.  This time we learn that not only is there now a total of 2,500 square feet of roof area draining through into our rain garden, but the entire 200 feet of our paved driveway is also draining here too.  In the middle of this deluge, I start digging more drainage area further east.  If only the ground were flat.  As it turns out it's not and water as we know is kind of like being a lawyer - it's lazy and will flow in the easiest direction which is down hill (sorry about the lawyer analogy, I do understand that lawyers are real people too - well almost).  There is quite a slope downhill from our first downspout utlimately into the lake.  What happens if you dig more drainage downhill?  Duh - it drains downstream and in this case flooded my recently planted shade tolerant plants, draining the storage area upstream that I had dug earlier.  Now you understand why I am not an engineer!  But adapt I did and "damned" the river with rocks and a few expletives so that upstream surge storage could be utilized.  I did have to dig this area deeper and better account for surges, but as of now it's working just fine.  And we are getting the filtering of stormwater we want through the soil and eventually into groundwater.  Within 2 hours, our rain garden was nearly dry.

For one downspout we ended up using just a french drain - maybe we should call this all a "French Rain Garden"?

Seth Boetcher, City Public Works Director, has reported that the City's rain garden installed earlier this year has become a bit less permeable as fines accumulate on top of the rain garden's soil.  Maintenance, however, is pretty simple, so we can expect excellent long term performance.

In the end, I anticipate that Judy and I will end up, in large part due to the highly permeable soils we have here around the lake, with a much more effective rain garden than we orignially intended.  To have so much stormwater from our roof areas and driveway drain through a rain garden can do nothing but help our environment.  As our cisterns overflow, they now drain into the raingarden and we still have access to the water that they can store for irrigation of our gardens.  Looks to me like a winner.

More Lake Sawyer History

Photo courtesy of Peggy Hawkins

The above photo was taken in the 1920's by the famous photographer Clark Kinsey.  The two gentlemen on the right wearing vests are the founders/owners of the Lake Sawyer Mill Co. - John and Joseph Neukerchen.  Joseph on the far right is the grandfather of Peggy Hawkins who, along with her husband Fred, still have a cabin on the lake at the north end on land previously a vacation cabin owned by the Neukerchens.  Peggy Hawkins' lineage starts with Joseph Neukerchen, whose daugher Alice Neukerchen was Peggy's mother.  The Neukerchen family orginally started a sawmill in Issaquah in 1910, eventually expanding to Lake Sawyer, starting mill operations here in 1923.  Peggy and Fred still maintain their primary residence in Issaquah.  And guess who owns the Lake Sawyer cabin right next door to Peggy and Fred? if you guessed John Neukerchen, grandson of co-founder John pictured above, you would have been correct.  Following is a pictures provided by Peggy that shows another view of the sawmill that I had not previously seen.  For me, this photo most clearly defines the location of the mill in relationship to the peninsula located due west.

If you know where the Kales and Sperry's currently have homes, you are very close.  The Kales home as I understand it was actually the mess hall for the sawmill. 

More history and photos in later posts and thanks so much to the Hawkins for sharing their treasure of photos and memories.

Get Ready For A Big Hike In Solid Waste Rates In 2012

In March I attended a Suburban Cities Association Public Issue Committee meeting.  The agenda included a briefing by King County's Solid Waste Division regarding rate increases in "tipping fees" planned for 2012.  This amounts to an increase from $95 per ton currently to $107.25 per ton in 2012, or +12.9%. 

I have no basis for knowing whether an increase of this magnitude is justified, but what I find disturbing is the way King County is trying to sell this to us.  As if the above chart showing a 30% increase in rates over the last 6 years is somehow reasonable given that they held rates flat for 9 years during the early to mid 2000's.  It's as if they are telling us that because they were so "good to us" back then that it's totally reasonable that we should "pay the price" now.  This is an insult to our intelligence.  By any measure, a 30% increase over 6 years is a lot.  Is there something in their cool aid?

Just for grins, I prepared my own chart of statistics.  Goes to show that you can bend the data however you want to.  The County's goal of keeping rate increases below the rate of inflation are clearly not being met based on my analysis.  I wonder what this would look like if we picked 1980 as our base year, or why not 1998 just before the rate increase of 1999 that serves as the base year for King County's analysis?

In restrospect, I should have constructed the chart using a base value of $80 per ton.  In this way, it would even more clearly show how King County Solid Waste rates since 2007 have exceeded CPI (Consumer Price Index) inflation by a factor of more than 4 to 1.  As shown by the following chart, substantial increases in King County Solid Waste division debt may be a significant contributor.

To clarify, my point is not that a rate increase is or is not justified.  I just don't know since King County seems focused on superficial statistics.  Please, just share with us the facts and let us make our own determination as to whether such an increase in rates is justified or not.  And by facts, I mean show us where costs are increasing an why. 

Postscript - As follow-up I have placed a call to the Solid Waste Division Director.  In the event my understanding of the logic behind the inflation graphic used as basis by the Division to justify the rate increase is flawed, I will certainly post a correction.

Clean The Green - Big Success

Last Saturday, April 30,  was "Clean The Green" day and attendance was incredible.  We are getting close to the end of the season where rafting down the Green River is still possible.  Flow rates remain high given our cool weather and lots of rain, making it possible for the Howard Hanson dam to release good flow volumes, suitable for kayakers and rafters.  People turned out in big numbers as we worked to collect trash that has accumulated along the river.

The Middle Green River Coalition (MGRC) assembled two rafts and a pontoon craft to make the journey down the bigger rapids from Kanaskat-Palmer State Park to our take out point at Icy Creek - a journey of about 6 or 7 miles.  When Judy and I first signed up for this, I wondered if we would be up to making our way through Class 3 and 4 rapids, among the most difficult in the state.  And knowing that our goal was to Clean The Green on the way down, I had images of tying a rope around our waist and being tossed overboard when we saw some garbage or other debris.  Oh, let's get Judy on a drag line and hope that she can snag this one as we cascade down the river and through the rapids.  Well, it wasn't quite so tough as that.  We had great guides, very safety conscious and we really had fun - and picked up garbage along the way.  The following picture is taken at a site scouted earlier along the Green River that had been trashed by some people apparently on ATV's with all forms of firearms.

So much glass and garbage.  In all with several stops, we found tarps, a tent, a tire and much much more.  Enough to fill a pickup truck at our take out.  Note that helmets for everyone are required with Class 3 & 4 rapids.  The ride through the "nozzel" was particularly thrilling.  Following are some more pictures courtesy of Lisa Parsons.

Our pontoon boat leader and the remains of a truck that had been dumped into the Gorge.

Lisa and rafters.

Judy, Larry Delfiner and I stopping to pick up some more garbage.

State Parks Ranger Diana Dupuis - we filled her pickup with "stuff".

A very special thanks to David Delfiner and Larry Delfiner who were our guides down the river.  Great job guys, very thrilling but safe too.

Selleck - Some Of Our Local History Preserved

Earlier this week, the Black Diamond History web page posted some interesting history about the old lumber town of Selleck.  To get there, just follow Kent-Kangley road east until it dead ends.  We have many ghost towns around us such as Franklin, Bayne, Palmer, Kanaskat etc. but people still live in Selleck.  So let me piggy-back on what Ken Jensen posted earier.

The above picture was taken this past Wednesday of the old schoolhouse that has recently been converted into a condominium with several people now living there.  Clearly, not your typical condo - but history preserved rather than have the building torn down as is so often the case.

One of the unique things about Selleck was the presence of a significant Japanese community apparently working in the sawmill.  How this immigration of Japanese workers happened would be very interesting to learn.  The row of homes shown below, some of which still exist today, was familiarly known as Lavender Town or more crudely as Jap Town.

Photo courtesy of the Washington State Historical Society, catalogue ID No. 2002.5.14

The following picture of the Selleck baseball team with Frank Fukuda, probably taken in the 1920's or perhaps even earlier, clearly shows the ethnic make up of the community at the time.
Photo courtesy of University of Washington Libraries, ph collection 128.39

As a point of curiosity, I would be interested in learning more about what might have happened to this significant Japanese population during WWII.  Were they still there? Internment?  Are any of these families still living in the area?