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Protecting Biodiversity in Pierce County Through Open Space Planning
Growth Management Act Requirements for Open Space Planning
The Washington Growth Management Act requires every county in the state to address open space areas in their comprehensive plans. Pierce County knows this very well as this was one of the few issues appealed to the Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board (CPSGMHB) when the County adopted its comprehensive plan in 1995. The County lost that appeal and the CPSGMHB remanded the plan back for more work on the open space component.
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Creation of a Biodiversity Plan for Pierce County
During the open space revision process, the Pierce County planners were approached by WDFW and the University of Washington who asked them to include as open space those land areas that have the greatest fish and wildlife biological diversity or ?biodiversity.? Pierce County embraced this philosophy and, along with several key partners, embarked on a multi-year process to develop a Biodiversity Plan for Pierce County and then subsequently conducting a finer-level assessment of those lands within the Biodiversity Network. The main stakeholders in this process have been Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, University of Washington (Department of Urban Design and Planning - Remote Sensing Applications Laboratory and Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit - NatureMapping Program), Tahoma Audubon, and Metro Parks - Tacoma. The planning method used to identify biodiversity areas is called 'gap analysis.'
'Gap analysis' uses the mapping technologies of satellite imagery and the Geographical Information System (GIS) to create a current vegetation map. From that, distribution of wildlife species is derived and areas of high biodiversity are identified. The map is refined or ?ground-truthed? with any and all known plant community and wildlife occurrences from WDFW?s Priority Habitats and Species and Streamnet databases, the Department of Natural Resources? Heritage and Sensitive Plant Species databases, county natural resource inventories, and local expert biological opinion. These core habitat areas are connected by corridors of habitat, which are often located along waterways. The resulting coverage is the Biodiversity Network. The final Biodiversity Network identifies 16 biologically rich areas and connecting corridors that cover 267,784 acres of land. The habitat types represented in the Biodiversity Network include lowland riparian areas and wetlands, deciduous hardwoods, oak savannahs and prairies, deciduous old-growth forests, and alpine peaks and meadows. Many of these habitats contain imperiled species including Chinook Salmon, Western Gray Squirrel, Spotted Owl, Grizzly Bear, Gray Wolf, and Western Pond Turtle.
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Implementation Strategies for the Biodiversity Network
The Biodiversity Network coverage was integrated into the County's Comprehensive Plan Open Space Corridors map; first in 1999 and then updated and revised in 2004 based upon the Pierce County Biodiversity Network Assessment report. This information has been considered in community planning processes. In one community plan, the Biodiversity Network was the basis for the creation of a Residential [sensitive] Resource land use designation (which provides for reduced densities inside the urban growth area) and the establishment of habitat conservation based design standards such as low impact development techniques and minimum native vegetation retention. The County may also use the Biodiversity Network information in various incentive programs such as the Conservation Futures Program and Current Use Assessment Program.
This multi-pronged implementation strategy is putting emphasis on proactive conservation of multiple species, rather than on reactive restoration of individual threatened or endangered species. This approach helps guide county planners in directing more intense development away from identified bio-rich lands and can also guide private and public land conservation purchases or easements.
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The Pierce County Biodiversity Alliance (PCBA)
The Pierce County Biodiversity Alliance (PCBA) is comprised of a unique group of stakeholders, representing governmental, academic and non-profit agencies, who are interested in preserving the long-term biodiversity of Pierce County. Alliance members include Pierce County government; University of Washington - Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit and NatureMapping Program; Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; Metro Parks Tacoma; Tahoma Audubon Society; Friends of Pierce County; Pierce County Conservation District; Point Defiance Zoological Society; and U.S.G.S - National GAP Program.
The main emphasis of the PCBA is non-regulatory in nature and instead focuses on public outreach to property owners within this network, providing education on how to maintain the habitats and biological diversity. The PCBA goal is to establish biological surveys and monitoring programs and facilitate the development of habitat conservation plans that will provide detailed information on habitat quality and species presence/viability, restoration opportunities, and priorities for conservation and land acquisition for each BMA. The PCBA is now conducting the first pilot project for this process in the Gig Harbor BMA.
This endeavor advocates responsible land use and success will be achieved when each BMA and connecting corridor retains ecological function given the community's land-use objectives.
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PCBA Pilot Project - Gig Harbor (Crescent Valley) BMA
The Gig Harbor BMA was selected as a pilot implementation project. Crescent Valley is a special Puget Sound lowland environment comprised of Crescent Lake with an outlet into Crescent Creek, which traverses about three miles to deposit into the Gig Harbor Estuary.
The PCBA received small grants and conducted an intensive 24-hour species verification survey (bioblitz) in June, 2005 and community outreach efforts on private lands with media coverage. Preparation for the bioblitz began with a NatureMapping workshop to train citizens and experts on data collection protocols. Thirty-four landowners allowed access to their property. A total of 35 experts, 13 citizen scientists, and 4 landowners observed 72% of the predicted bird species, 57% of the predicted amphibians, 32% of the predicted mammals, 40% of the predicted reptiles, 3 fish species, 148 invertebrate samples that are undergoing identification, and 169 plant species. A community meeting is planned to present the results of the bioblitz. A second small bioblitz was also conducted in the winter of 2006.
The PCBA convened a citizen based advisory committee to help develop long-term biodiversity conservation strategies. The result of these public workshops and committee process was the development of the Crescent Valley BMA Stewardship Plan. This plan includes measures to address long-term conservation of biodiversity including actions such as enrollment in county incentive based land protection programs (Current Use Assessment - Public Benefits Rating System) or permanent dedication or purchase of properties as open space (Conservation Futures Program), restoration of native vegetation in areas of degraded habitat (Landowner Incentive Programs, Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary Program), and education on acceptable riparian/wetland land management. The plan may also be used to solicit funding for various implementation measures such as native vegetation restoration.
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PCBA/Washington Biodiversity Council Pilot - Lower White River BMA
In the Spring of 2006, the PCBA was selected by the Washington Biodiversity Council to conduct a pilot project for the Lower White River BMA. This effort involved a close partnership with the Puyallup River Watershed Council and affected local jurisdictions and tribes. The Lower White River BMA is approximately 1,560 acres in size. The primary habitats are riparian deciduous/conifer forest and associated wetlands that are adjacent to the Lower White River. This corridor bisects both King and Pierce Counties; the cities of Buckley, Auburn, Pacific, Sumner, Muckleshoot Tribal lands; and low density, rural residential areas, agricultural and forestry lands within unincorporated Pierce County.
A 24-hour Bioblitz was conducted for selected areas within the Lower White River BMA in June, 2006. Three sets of taxa teams covered three areas: Buckley, east of the Muckleshoot tribal lands, and Auburn/Pacific. A 12-hour focused Bioblitz, funded by an EPA grant, was conducted in the Cities of Auburn and Pacific in April, 2007. The Final Report to the Washington Biodiversity Council - White River BMA Project contains a detailed overview of the biodiversity efforts within this BMA.
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Contact Information
For more information about open space and biodiversity planning in Pierce County please contact Sean Gaffney, Interim Principal Planner, Planning and Land Services Department - Advance Planning Division at (253) 798-2724 or by email at sgaffne@co.pierce.wa.us. For more information about the NatureMapping Program see: http://depts.washington.edu/natmap/maps/.
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