Reading the Washington Landscape

Memories of Short Sand Beach

2012-01-27T12:34:00.000-08:00

Short Sands Beach, Oregon

Seeking aerial images of the sand burial site at Waldport, Oregon I posted on yesterday caused me to meander around and look at some other images of the Oregon coast. (Yes, this is not the Washington Landscape, but Washington used to be part of the same territory as Oregon up to 1853 and geologically we share with Oregon living on the same plate boundary with the Juan de Fucca Plate subducting beneath us.)

One site I checked out was Short Sands Beach. I have visited this beach three times. All three times were in the winter and all three times were semi epic. The above picture is clearly taken in the summer - a nice wide sandy beach.

My first venture to this beach involved traversing the beach from south to north to check out the headlands to the north. On the return I noted a very large wave at the head of the small bay. Not sure why it caught my attention and I did not yet know the term rogue wave, but I suggested running for the woods would be a very good idea. My companion did not share my concern and decided that escaping the water could be accomplished by scrambling up onto a 6-foot diameter driftwood log at the top of the beach versus smashing through the jungle at the top of the beach. I turned around just in time to see the recognition on my companions face that the wave was high enough that it was floating the log. A brief lumberjack act ensued before my friend tumbled off the log fortunately in the right direction as the wave began to pull back and rolled the entire massive log down the beach and into the sea with my friend not far behind. Another wave rolled in. The water was full of logs and the cobbles under foot were all rolling so foot purchase was minimal. I had tossed the backpack and went into this mess to try to assist and we stumbled back up into the woods out of reach of the waves and logs. A bit of a chilly hike out after our unexpected soak.

My second trip had a different result. I decided to camp along the coast during the winter despite the freezing rain as cold arctic air was pouring out of the Columbia River Gorge and reaching all the way to the coast during one of the coldest winters in Pacific Northwest history. But the real trouble was after setting up camp and realizing that a particularly virulent strain of the Asian flu that had been sweeping the nation had found me. By the time I hiked out and I gained an understanding of fever induced delirium I would prefer not to repeat anytime soon.

My third trip is still told would great enhancement by my brother Mike. We were staying a bit to the north at Cannon Beach and I suggested that Short Sands Beach was nice day hike. Being leery of the rogue wave issue we stuck to the forest trail. Only problem was that a major windstorm sometime since my last visit had obliterated the trail with downed massive trees. Hence we were compelled to climb and crawl over lots of large downed wood. Upon arrival at the headlands, none of my companions were impressed with the condition of what I had described as a trail on the exposed headland. A wave of cold rain and wind began to wrack us. On the trek back Lisa and Mike came up with the idea that I could start a tour group company called Odysseus Travels implying that survival was not part of the package.

All said, Short Sands Beach looks like a great place. It has been a long time since I have been there; perhaps I will give it another try in the summer versus the middle of winter.

Sand Burial in Waldport

2012-01-26T09:20:00.000-08:00

I routinely assess geology hazards: landslides, erosion, debris flows, channel migration, tsunami, soil liquefaction and even avalanches. Here's a geology hazard I have not dealt with: sand burial. This via Cliff Mass via Brad Smull and picture by Jason Durret.

The location is on the coast of Oregon at Waldport.

Not a particularly safe home site area on a sand spit. Throw in the tsunami risk, subduction quake subsidence risk and the long term prospects for these homes is not good. But in the short term a very wonderful sandy beach to live by - perhaps a little too much sand.

Nice Day on Orcas

2012-01-24T09:42:00.000-08:00

I really appreciate the National Weather Service. The challenge of determining where and how much snow and freezing rain caused the forecasters a tough time last week. But the big picture was accurate and the forecast nailed Monday (yesterday) very well. A nice break in the weather that I took advantage of scheduling field work. Lovey day with sun and even a bit of warmth. Much better than today with wind and rain. So thumbs up to the National Weather Service for making my life so easy.

My field day was out on Orcas Island. First was looking at joint and fractures on a cliff slope.

Fractures and joints in Constitution Formation, Orcas Island

Had some nice early morning views on this project.

View down East Sound

Turtleback Mountain on Orcas Island from East Sound

I also came across my current favorite native tree - Gary Oak.

There were three oaks growing in the talus along the route I took. A few lonely outliers. I am sure there may be other oaks in the area, but these were the first I had seen on this part of Orcas Island. There is an extensive oak forest area on the southwest side of Turtleback Mountain that extends down to West Sound. This small group of oaks are taking advantage of the rocky dry slope. I noted that the Douglas fir on the same slope had burn marks from past fires and many had broken tops as this can be a very windy spot.

Digesting LAMIRDs (Wonky, Long and Local)

2012-01-22T11:03:00.000-08:00

I have been digesting the Growth Management Hearing Board's ruling of invalidity on Whatcom County's rural planning http://www.gmhb.wa.gov/LoadDocument.aspx?did=2791. Its a long ruling and can only be loved by wonks. Perhaps this post can only be loved by wonks, but I will attempt to boil down the 177 page ruling. Wonky or not this digestive exercise has been very expensive to Whatcom County.

First invalidity means that the ordinance passed by the County Council last year is not valid. Second it is not as though everything the County Council passed was considered a violation of the State Growth Management Act (GMA); parts that were challenged were upheld. And lastly the challenge the County Council faced was inherited, but the County Council majority made changes to the original staff proposed plan that made the situation worse and then delved into making changes that had very little to do with the issue at hand.

A Little History

A couple of the major tenants of the GMA is to reduce sprawl and protect rural character among other things. After the act was passed it became clear that past growth planning had allowed lots of little and sometimes large scattered areas of development in rural areas. The lack of clarity on how to deal with these areas led to the passage of an amendment to the Gorwth Management Act in 1997 that laid out just how these pockets of more intense development in otherwise rural areas should be managed. Thus the creation of the term LAMIRDs (Limited Areas of More Intense Rural Development). Essentially LAMIRDs are areas that were already developed when the GMA passed in 1990. This created an odd situation in Whatcom County. Whatcom County had completed its rural planning per the GMA before the amendment became law. As such the county had not followed the amendment because the amendment did not exist. The County could have gone back and redid the LAMIRDs but chose not to.

Seven years passed and the county was required to update its rural planning per the GMA. The County administration's position was that because Whatcom County's 1997 rural plan had been upheld as valid, the County did not have to redo the LAMIRDs. So in 2004 the County Council passed a rural update without doing the LAMIRDs. The County had taken on a few LAMIRDs on a case by case basis and had greatly reduced some of the more egregiously large LAMIRDs. But the analyzing every LAMIRD for compliance with the GMA was challenged to the Hearings Board by Futurewise, a citizen GMA advocacy group. This challenge took some time. The Hearings Board rule for Futurewise. That ruling was challenged in Superior Court by a developer. The developer won. Futurewise challenged the ruling to the State Court of Appeals and won. The developer challenged the ruling to State Supreme Court. Futurewise won again.

Hence, Whatcom County started the process of reviewing all of the many LAMIRDs. A painful process of reviewing the outer boundaries of small unincorporated towns and hamlets and clumps of development scattered all over the rural areas of Whatcom County. Finally in 2010 after the County Council altered the staff recommendations substantially, the council passed a new rural plan. The new rural plan was challenged by Futurewise, the City of Bellingham, a group of local citizens and a property owner. On the basis of this challenge, the Board ruled the plan invalid.

Where the Council Went Sideways on the GMA

At the beginning of 2010 the County Council had in hand a complete rural plan that had been developed by the County Planning staff and many public hearings before the County Planning Commission. The County Council majority decided they did not like this plan and began their own hard work (along with County staff) to push the envelope in favor of less reduction in the size of the LAMIRDs. A tough situation as properties that developed over the last 20 years outside of the 1990 developed area boundary would become non conforming lots - a headache for a variety of reasons particularly for businesses.

Overall when it came to the areas of each the approximately 30 LAMIRDs the county did pretty well. A fair number of the LAMIRDs went unchallenged. Six of the challenged LAMIRDs were found by the Board as compliant with GMA. A few of the non compliant LAMIRDs will require very modest change to become compliant.

The LAMIRDs that were most problematic were the string of urban like business and industrial centers along the north-south highway between Bellingham and Lynden. The County Council left these areas too large. This particular development pattern is a formula for creating traffic problems and has very little to do with rural needs.

Another LAMIRD problem area were the LAMIRDs adjacent to Bellingham. Half developed areas become difficult areas to plan and expand urban growth and hence LAMIRDs are not looked well upon in these areas. Its a bit of a gray area in the GMA and the specifics are very complex and perhaps the County did not get complex enough to support the continued level of development in this semi suburb areas adjacent to Bellingham.

Where the County Council got really sideways was that they delved into areas that went beyond LAMIRDs. They created entire new rural zones and made some substantial changes to development rules in rural areas for businesses and industry. These new added ones and regulations that allow for expanded use within some the LAMIRDs well beyond what is currently allowed and well beyond what can reasonably considered rural.

Ruling on LAMIRDs

As noted above, many of the County LAMIRDs went unchallenged. Futurewise and citizen groups accepted that many of the LARMIRDs were well done. The hamlets of Glacier, Acme and many other scattered areas were well done. Several challenged areas the board found were in compliance. These included Sudden Valley, Cain Lake, Kendall, Nugents Corner and Point Roberts. A win for the County. It should be pointed out that the County had previously been through the equivalent of a LAMIRD review of Sudden Valley, Kendall and Point Roberts on a case by case basis.

The County also prevailed at Governors Point. Governors Point is a rocky peninsula south of Bellingham that the Council removed from more intensive development. Initially the Council majority wanted to keep this area in but in a rare show of interest in planning the County Executive stated he would veto the plan if Governors Point was left in.

The County lost on some minor boundary issues on a few LAMIRDs. And as noted above has to go back to the drawing board on the LARMIRDs around the periphery of Bellingham and out along the State Highway between Bellingahm and Lynden.

Ruling on Development Regulations and Zoning

Some of the rulings the County lost on and won on are minor technical issues of not a lot of consequence to the landscape. But where the County took a real beating was on the new zones and development regulations. The ruling on these matters can be summed with the following: "Failed to contain or control rural development", "Failed to reduce inappropriate conversion", Failed to protect visual compatibility". Creating zoning and development rules that made it wide open to build large commercial centers in rural areas did not sit well with the Board.

Ruling on Population in LAMIRDs and Rural Areas

The rural plan was also challenged on lack of consistency on population growth planning consistency and on impacts to sensitive areas.

Counties are required under GMA to establish plans consistent with future population growth. Whatcom County set a very lofty policy of trying to send most growth into urban areas in order to protect rural character and resource lands. This policy is very in line with the GMA. And it is a very hard policy to achieve much headway on because of past zoning that allowed thousands of lots to be created in the rural areas far beyond the projected growth policy the county has established for rural areas. By pushing so hard to keep zoning that allows larger LAMIRDs than allowed along with adding more liberal development regulations, the County opened up this issue to challenge. The challenge essentially pointed out in clear terms that the County's actions of allowing large LAMIRDs and the new added more intensive development zones were in direct conflict with County policy for rural areas - the County rural plan is not consistent with the zoning and development regulations that is passed.

This part of the ruling is precedent setting. It is not entirely clear to me how the County will resolve this part of the ruling. But what does seem clear is that the ruling justifies a strict confining of LAMIRDs as well as not allowing other schemes to allow more rural development beyond what has already been created by thousands of rural lots created under very liberal subdivision rules that were in effect up until 2003.

Lake Whatcom

Lake Whatcom is the drinking water source for the City of Bellingham as well as a fair number of non city residences served by a water district that utilizes the lake and areas outside the city that are served by City water. Over a very long time period the City of Bellingham was not particularly protective of its drinking water source and allowed significant development to take place within its drinking watershed to the point that the lake has become degraded. And yes, I say the City of Bellingham because the City urbanized the northern end of the lake and relied heavily on others to protect the rest of their own drinking water source - a really bad idea and one most cities would never do. Decades of bad management of the watershed that both the current city and county governments have inherited.

The board ruled that the rural zoning the County applied to the Lake Whatcom watershed would fail to protect the lake. The current Council however, should be credited with the fact that despite the zoning passed they have maintained a subdivision moratorium in the watershed for 6 years in recognition that the lake is in trouble. This section of the ruling may be of very little consequence given the Council's consistent position of reducing potential development in the watershed since the mid 2000s. But that said the recognition the board gave to a sensitive environment should be a consideration for development in sensitive environments elsewhere, be it drinking water protection or some other factor.

Chuckanut

The Chuckanut Corridor is a significant wildlife habitat corridor that the County has identified as an area that needs to be protected. It is a corridor of forested low mountains that extends from the Northwest Cascades to the shores of the Salish Sea.

The zoning area in question within this corridor was relatively insignificant, but like the Lake Whatcom issue, the ruling indicates that the Board is persuaded by the need to protect particularly sensitive areas. And in this case the area that is considered sensitive was identified as so by Whatcom County.

In part the County won a significant ruling in their favor on Chuckanut. The County chose to leave out the Governors Point area from LAMIRD designation. This was appealed by the developer of the point and the Board upheld the County's position. A very big change in direction. And the development potential at the point would have significant impacts.

Final Notes

I wrote this up primarily as an exercise to digest what this ruling by the Growth Management Hearings Board meant. It is a challenging ruling to understand and cannot be readily summed up.

It should be noted that I am Board Member of the Whatcom County Chapter of Futurewise one of the appellants in the case. However, my involvement in the appeal was very limited. However, I did testify to the council prior to their decision regarding the increase of intensity of commercial and industrial development and reduction of buffers between LAMIRDs and agricultural land and suggested they follow a more simple solution for Lake Whatcom that did not confuse everyone so much.

The very hard work of individual citizens on their free volunteer time is amazing to me. They did a remarkable job ensuring that their local government follows state law. What is even more remarkable is that their opponent - their own local government spent likely somewhere in the order of $250,000 in staff time rewriting sections of the rural plan that for the most part got shot down. And then followed that with a $40,000 contract with an outside attorney in a case that they lost.

Much criticism will be directed at the County Council on this. Some may be fair. But perhaps to be fair the Council members are not professional planners. The County Executive could have put the brakes on the amateur planning the Council was dragging planning staff through. But he did not and in fact allowed an environment where the head of planning resigned. Likewise the County Prosecutor may need to put more effort into assuring that Council gets better legal advice and when the Council deviates from that advice make it clear that they are on their own. The passivity of the professionals does not serve the Council or the public well.

Classic Over-Running Event

2012-01-20T09:49:00.000-08:00

Today is a classic over running event. A mild storm coming in from the west with southerly winds riding up over the pool of cold air in the Puget lowlands. At 10 in the morning in Bellingham its 29 F with north wind at 9 mph. But the clouds that I estimate at 2,500 feet are moving the opposite direction as the wind. South wind aloft and north wind at the surface. Its warm up above. Hence, snow and possible freezing rain then all rain.

With a series of rain storms through most of next week possible flooding and maybe even some slopes unraveling.

Lopez Island Madrone and Midden Soil

2012-01-19T08:06:00.000-08:00

Madrone on Lopez Island

Madrone trees are a favorite shoreline bluff tree along the bluffs of the Salish Sea. They certainly can grow elsewhere, but like the edge of bluffs where the soil gets dry in the summer. I have noted a relationship between some of the larger madrones and the soil in which they growing. When I first saw the majestic madrone above, I suspected that it might be growing out of midden - waste material deposited by past human inhabitants. Of course I was a bit predisposed to think this because of the overall setting.

Madrone and low shoreline bluff

Closer view of soil at top of bluff

Filled with organic material and shells

This certainly not the first time I have seen this relationship in the San Juan Islands crescent-beach-orcas-island-madrones. I often remind myself that people have been living longer in what is now Washington State than in my tribal homeland (Ireland). 14,000 years or longer of human occupation has impacts to ecosystems and to soil.

Bellingham vs Southern Wisconsin

2012-01-18T12:40:00.000-08:00

Both of our children moved to Wisconsin this year and are experiencing their first Midwest winter. I like to track the weather and have noted that Bellingham has generally been colder than southern Wisconsin thus far this winter. Today even though it has gotten cold in Wisconsin Bellingham is still colder with -2°F wind chill. But Bellingham and western Washington are slated to warm up by Friday or Saturday and that will not be the case for Raven and Will in Wisconsin.

Bellingham, Bellingham International Airport (KBLI)
Lat: 48.79944 Lon: -122.53917 Elev: 157
Last Update on 18 Jan 11:53 PST

Blowing Snow
16°F
(-9°C) Humidity: 70 %
Wind Speed: NNE 22 G 38 MPH
Barometer: 29.72 in (1007.70 mb)
Dewpoint: 8°F (-13°C)
Wind Chill: (-19°C)
Visibility: 10.00 Miles

Janesville / Rock County
Lat: 42.62 Lon: -89.03 Elev: 807
Last Update on Jan 18, 1:45 pm CST

Mostly Cloudy
19 °F
(-7 °C) Humidity: 58 %
Wind Speed: S 12 MPH
Barometer: 30.05"
Dewpoint: 7 °F (-14 °C)
Wind Chill: 7 °F (-14 °C)
Visibility: 10.00 mi.

Milwaukee, General Mitchell International Airport
Lat: 42.96 Lon: -87.9 Elev: 630
Last Update on Jan 18, 1:52 pm CST

Mostly Cloudy
19 °F
(-7 °C) Humidity: 59 %
Wind Speed: SW 12 MPH
Barometer: 30.08" (1019.9 mb)
Dewpoint: 7 °F (-14 °C)
Wind Chill: 7 °F (-14 °C)
Visibility: 10.00 mi.

Temperature Gradient

2012-01-17T21:46:00.000-08:00

In my earlier post today I noted the temperature gradient this morning between Bellingham and Abotsford British Columbia. Sam Crawford noted that most of the difference in temperature this morning was between Bellingham and Smith Road only a few miles north of town. Bellingham and Abotsford as of 9:25 pm this evening are now only 2 degrees apart now. But Bellingham and Mount Vernon 20 miles to the south of Bellingham are 17 degrees apart!

Abotsford 9F
Bellingham 11F
Mount Vernon 28F
Seattle 34F

This huge difference is the result of our mountains. Just north of the Washington State border is a big river - the Fraser. The Fraser extends deep into the interior of British Columbia to the northeast. When conditions are right cold continental air builds up in the interior and spills down the Fraser. Hence, Whatcom County has a winter mirco climate that brings us a taste of what it is like to live with real winter.

A final note. This has really been a tough time for the weather folks. Weather models were and to a degree still are having a difficult time with the unusual circumstance of a huge subtropical front and a modified Arctic air mass both heading towards Washington State at the same time.

Snow - Is Anyone Thinking About It?

2012-01-17T13:13:00.000-08:00

A little exercise before work this morning

Stratum Group's snow free sidewalks

Not sure I could add much to the snow discussion. Sporadic and somewhat random snow showers over western Washington the past two days and that appears to be the case today. Snowed fairly hard last night in Bellingham. The big question is how far south will the warm subtropical stream of moisture from the southwest hit the coast and how will it mix with the colder air over western Washington. Presently the warm system is projected too far south for much snow in Seattle on north but a good dose for southwest Washington although it may be a mix of snow and freezing rain.

For Bellingham where I live we are getting ready for very cold wind out of the Fraser River Canyon as the associated low with the subtropical system pulls air out of the interior of British Columbia. The temperature gradients from Fraser outflow events always fascinates me. This morning it briefly warmed to 34 in Bellingham, but Abostford only 20 miles to the north was at 18 and Hope up in the Fraser valley another 30 miles was 11. Since then Bellingham has dropped down to 21 a few occasional flakes of snow and a brief bit of sun and then back to snow.

The weather models and the local models for this snowy stretch have really been a challenge for the weather folks. It is during these events that one develops an appreciation of how the Olympic Range influences weather.

That said a possible policy issue in Bellingham is sidewalks and snow. And perhaps this round of snowy weather will stir that issue a bit. Because western Washington doe not typically have extended periods of snow sidewalks are often left untouched when it snows. However, as this current snow situation plays out Bellingham's sidewalks will stay snow covered and get progressively icier as it very well may be a few more days of sub freezing weather.

Regardless of a lack of of regulations regarding clearing of sidewalks I cleared mine at home then walked to work and cleared the walks around our office.

Perhaps it is because I was born in New Hampshire and lived for a time in the Midwest that my attitude towards what one does when it snows is a bit different that most Bellinghamhasters. Last winter the walking got tough for a period. Lisa got me some snow cleats for Christmas. They worked well for the walk home yesterday and I suspect they will be handy this evening. Too bad one needs them to traverse downtown.

Summary of Lummi Quarry Issues

2012-01-16T19:34:00.000-08:00

Update: I just received notice (1/19/12) that Whatcom County withdrew the SEPA determination of non significance (DNS) for the mining area designation for the quarry.

Nice chat with Joe Teeham on the radio this noon. The challenge of weighing need for aggregate and the fact that Whatcom County has tipped towards the remaining aggregate sources being located in either socially sensitive areas (near too many people), or in environmentally sensitive areas (next to the water and a natural resource conservation area), or in a site designated as forest resource land or agricultural resource land or too far from demand locations. Well done show that got the essence of the issues of aggregate mining.

The current hot mine issue is the proposal to expand a rock quarry on Lummi Island. This proposal will be located near people as there is a community immediately to the north. What is more this mine will require blasting and rock crushing and sorting. Lots of noise. The site also is immediately adjacent to the water. An advantage for shipping but the mine has already had a very hard time with stormwater. Most gravel mines are able to readily infiltrate stormwater. But in a quarry that is not so easily done. Another nagging issue is the mine apparently never got a permit to buid the pier it uses for loading barges. This proposal is also located in an environmentally sensitive area. And there are very legitimate concerns regarding long term stability of the rock cut slopes if the mine is allowed to expand.

Designation of this area as a mining area should come up for a vote by the Whatcom County Council sometime this next year. It is currently undergoing an environmental review under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). However, the county has taken the position that detailed analysis of specific mine issues will be done during mine permitting versus designating the area as a mine area and has issued a determination of non significance. My comments submitted to the County:

Please accept these comments regarding the SEPA determination for the Lummi Island Quarry MRL expansion proposal. The SEPA analysis should an assessment of the entire MRL proposal area as though the area will be mined. The County Council is being asked to determine if the area adjacent to the mine should be protected as a future mining site and is being asked to make a determination of how mining in this area will impact other resource lands such as forestry, habitat and shorelines as well as nearby residences. The council can not do this with such a limited SEPA.

The dip slope of the bedrock in this area is oriented such that by mining to depth the dip slope of the bedrock will likely be undermined causing slopes above the mined area to be negatively impacted. This is a classic bedrock stability problem that if allowed to proceed will leave a long lasting slope stability problem that would render a large up slope areas much less stable than it currently is. It has been my experience assessing slope stability of Lummi Formation (the formation at the site) that the dip slopes are very uniform over large distances and thus subject to sliding when undercut because joint sets are perpendicular to the dip slope creating unstable blocks of bedrock if the dip slopes are cut.

There is no way to assess this possibility with the information provided in the SEPA checklist. And hence there will be no way that the council can determine if the source of rock is a viable source for designating. Designation of MRLs requires specific information about the quality of the material. Designations should also include specific information about the impacts of mining that material and the issue ought not to be deferred to some unspecific future date leaving parties including the County uncertain about the MRL.

Lest one think that I am opposed to mining, I have assisted in permitting a number of aggregate mines in other counties. None of those mines had anywhere near the impacts the Lummi Quarry will have and all were substantially larger.

On the Joe Show

2012-01-16T08:36:00.000-08:00

Joe Teehan asked me to join him on his show at KBAI-AM 930. I think we are going to talk about mining issues in Whatcom County. Geology and policy. Maybe it is because of this post http://washingtonlandscape.blogspot.com/2011/12/impressive-lummi-quarry-video.html

Salal Traverse and Compacted Soil

2012-01-15T09:04:00.000-08:00

Sam and I had to make a traverse through what I call old growth salal. Salal can be a dominant understory plant in the forest in areas that are droughtier - places that dry out in the summer. In this case we were in a drier part of western Washington in the rain shadow area of the Olympic Mountains. This stretch of salal was over 8 feet high in places but more typically 5 feet.

Old growth salal

I have a distinct advantage over Sam in these situations. I can see over the top of the salal so I know where I am going. Sam being rather short is entirely dependent on me knowing where I am going. Also I have learned that when I get too tangled up I just roll over the salal to disengage my legs. A skill Sam has not figured out. But one advantage of salal compared to some other understory plants is it has no thorns.

Sam was much relieved when we reached an old logging road.

Sam finds the road a much easier route

But note a few things about the logging road. The road is at least as old as the trees in the forest which I estimate to be 40 years to 50 years and has not been used for a very long time. The salal has not invaded the road and the road itself has sedges indicative of periodically saturated soils - a condition that salal does not care for.

The soil at this site consists of silty to clayey glacial drift. The upper soil is well enough drained to be a very good soil for salal. But where compacted the soil is poorly drained and forms a mini wetland or near wetland strip through an otherwise dry forest. Same soil just compacted makes a big difference in what will grow. In this particular case the soil is derived from weathered silty to clayey glacial marine drift.

A Few Work Notes from the "Field"

2012-01-13T12:24:00.000-08:00

A mix of small field site visits this week. After really mild weather it felt a bit chilly in the morning. Not much detail on this post - just a sample of the stuff I did this week.

Sand and gravel deposit

Foreset beds at another pit

Another sand and gravel pit

I found the way rocks were accumulating at the base of the slope of this pit wall interesting. The bigger rocks with more momentum traveled further. Sometimes a fair distance further than the vast majority of the pebbles and cobbles. The funny thing is I realized that I more often seem to be at gravel pits in the winter when it has been cold and the pit wall just starts to thaw. Lots of rocks ravel out of the pit wall in that scenario.

Raveling pit wall

The opposite of sand and gravel - swamp. Got my feet wet on this project

I always enjoy seeing frost action at work. Ice lifting pebbles

Visited a dairy for some work on the environmental side

Manure waste lagoon

Had some time waiting for the Port Townsend ferry so checked out the beach nourishment

Dredge and barge from the ferry at Keystone

Tough going on steep slope

Fine view of container traffic in Admiralty Inlet with Mount Baker

Google and Steno

2012-01-11T17:40:00.000-08:00

In case you did not notice, Google let us know that it is Steno's birthday. Steno can be viewed as the first published geologist. Steno's Principles are nicely demonstrated in the Google image and are taught in all introductory geology classes: law of superposition, principle of original horizontality, and principle of lateral continuity.

The shells in the Google image are fitting as well because Steno accurately solved the puzzle of seashells in rocks and determined that they must be fossils - former living animals. This was a hotly contested issue at the time both scientifically and philosophically. Steno certainly was not the first to propose that shells were formerly living animals, but what he did was state the beginnings of an entirely new science. Furthermore he understood the mineralogy of replacement and explained that shell or bone or wood could be replaced particle by particle by minerals precipitating out of liquid within sediments.

The idea that shells in rocks in mountains posed a deep philosophical and religious problem because so many of the shells had no living counterpart. It raised the possibility of extinction of species. An issue that science and philosophy struggled with until Darwin. And for some still a terrible dilemma that they can not accept without their entire belief system crumbling.

Steno's principles and ideas on shells were not readily accepted by what was then the scientific community. However, those interested in mining and mineral surveys took up his principles right away. This was reflected by the fact that his thesis De solido was reprinted not only in Latin but in French as well. The non academic geology had been born and was being practiced.

Steno abandoned science shortly after he published his De solido. He took a vow of poverty and became a priest and served as a bishop. He was deeply devout and is being considered for sainthood by the Roman Catholic Church.

Steno showed his spiritual side even as a scientist when he stated:

               Beautiful is what we see.
               More beautiful is what we understand
               Most beautiful is what we do not comprehend

Wetlands and Farms: One Example at Panghorn Bog

2012-01-10T07:51:00.000-08:00

The Washington State Court of Appeals recently ruled in favor of Whatcom County regarding the clearing of a wetland on a farm in the northern part of the county. The farm had been a dairy farm and had been acquired by a berry farm. A portion of the farm consisted of a forested wetland and the new berry farm cleared a 10 acre chunk of the forest for a new blue berry field. The clearing was done without a permit - a violation of the County Critical Areas Ordinance. The county required the wetland impacts be repaired. The farm abandoned the field, but apparently paused at the restoration that was required. The farm appealed first to the County Hearing Examiner, then then the Council, then to the Superior Court and finally to the State Court of Appeals all of which upheld the County wetland enforcement.

2005 satellite image

2009 satellite image

2011 satellite image

County's are required to protect wetlands under the State Growth Management Act. The wetland rules are also governed by the Army Corps of Engineers. Indeed this particular wetland is under Army Corps rules as well as the County.

This farmer had wanted to utilize more acreage and the wetland regulations preclude that use. A local farm leader was quoted by Bellingham Herald reporter Jared Paben "We tend to allow the critical area, the environmental concern, to trump the resource concern, and I don't think it should be that simple." To some degree this conflict between two resource concerns is addressed in wetland rules. Buffers around wetlands are very greatly reduced for agriculture relative to other land uses. And it should be noted that in particular regard to water quantity wetland protection can be very important for agriculture. In this case the clearing and grading of a wetland area poses a drainage issue for other farmers. Water flow and drainage downstream from this wetland area could be potentially impact other farm fields. Hence, protection of the environment is in fact an important component of maintaining the hydrology of the streams and ditches in the area and farm fields as well. Higher stream flows due to drainage of wetland areas make it more difficult to maintain field drainage for farmers down steam.

An interesting note on this particular area is that the acreage in question was still forested in the first place. This area has been farmed for over 100 years. However, previous farmers had not drained or attempted to farm this acreage because it was too wet for traditional farming that had been done in the area. However, with the development of new blue berry varieties and new ways of processing blue berries as well as a high demand fields with organic rich muck soils such as this are attractive for blue berry farmers. Hence, land that had low value for many years is suddenly much higher value.

The extent of the organic rich muck soils can be seen in the satellite images and the soils map of the area delineates these organic rich muck soils as well.

Soil map with muck soil area highlighted in red

The area is located on a broad glacial outwash plain in northern Whatcom County. Most of the area is underlain by sand and gravel deposited by melt water streams when the glacial margin was located a short distance to the the north and east. Old channels and buried blocks of ice in the outwash left deep depressions that turned into peat bogs. The bog above is Panghorn Bog and was at one time mined for peat in the early 1900s.

Another resource conflict can be seen in the southeast portion of the satellite images. The outwash sand and gravel is excellent aggregate - pitting mining interests against agriculture.

Perplexing Behaviour Solved

2012-01-08T12:10:00.000-08:00

Earlier this winter I was doing some geology work on Lopez Island. The geology maps of the area indicated "undifferentiated glacial deposits". This is a frequently seen map unit in areas where the late unconsolidated sediments (non rock) have not been figured out or the variety of units and map scale preclude designating more specific units on the map. I kind of like working in these areas because it means I get to try to figure it out on my own.

Geology aside, it was a cloudy, chilly mid week day in the San Juans. Not the height of the tourist season and a time when island population is low. I drove out to the very end of Sperry Road to access some exposures along the shore. The road actually does not end. It continues across a causeway constructed over tidal areas between Lopez Island and what is essentially a separate island. However, the road at this point becomes a private road. This separate island was formerly a camp that was purchased by a wealthy Microsoft executive.

End of public section of Sperry Road

The swimming pool

I expected the location at the end of the road to be very quiet on a cold cloudy midweek day. Unexpectedly for me cars would drive to the end of the road and park next to mine in the turn around area. No one would get out. They'd simply sit in their car for awhile and then drive away. One fellow was reading a newspaper. I was able to solve the geology puzzle, but I remained perplexed by the behavior of the Homo sapiens. It simply was not the kind of day where people would be out enjoying the shoreline and no one got out of their cars. Was it a security detail keeping an eye on that odd guy (me) walking the shoreline?

A wet land scientist I work with later explained to me the odd behavior. Turns out that the location is a spot where cell phone coverage is available. Its a bit spotty in the San Juan Islands so local residents drive to this spot to make calls or await calls.

Odd Mail Box

2012-01-07T16:44:00.000-08:00

I came across this mail box while using a electric transmission line corridor to access a site. This mail box is a good mile and a half from the nearest public road. Initially I thought it was nuts to have a mail box this far from any reasonable mail route. It took me a bit to figure out it was a joke. But I did appreciate the effort.

Landslides and Screening Tools

2012-01-04T21:51:00.000-08:00

Update: I made a few edits to this based on some comments I received as well as my own self editing. Thanks! Ought not to have called screening tools models.

I've been working on some landslide evaluation and forestry. A very large storm in December 2007 that brought sustained heavy rain to northwest Oregon and southwest Washington provided an opportunity to evaluate the performance of a couple of slope stability screening tools that the Washington State Department of Natural Resources has developed. Turns out that both tools performed very well.

One DNR tool was developed using digital elevation models (DEMs) and assigning high, medium and low instability dependent primarily on landform characteristics and broad assumptions regarding soil properties and other stability factors in one tool (SLPSTAB) and one tool (HAZONE) relies primarily on historic slides and projects to the known areas of geology instability. The three slides in the approximate middle of the above image all correspond to areas the SLPSTAB designated as high instability. There are are highly unstable areas designated both north and southwest of the three slides that are tree covered and they did not fail. Likely the water interception combined with root strength held the soils in place. The clear cut harvest area to the west of the slides across the creek was designated as a medium instability area and did not fail - that slope is a little less steep.

The December 2007 storm and over one thousand landslides associated with that storm event has been keeping a few geologists busy as well as policy setters and lobbyists.

Washington’s Forest Practices Rules include site-specific prescriptions intended to prevent the increase in landsliding caused by forest practices beyond natural background rates and thus to reduce the impacts of landslides on aquatic species and public resources. That policy does not appear to have been met from the December 2007 storm. Big storms will cause landslides; however, the recurrence interval and magnitude of slides from the events like the December 2007 storm are higher than what would otherwise be expected.

The impacts to the fish bearing stream can be seen by comparing two Google Earth images from another area Kara Whittaker the lead author on the study evaluated.

Note that in the post slide image (3 years after the slides) the entire river valley is filled with new sediment and trees in the valley were removed by the debris flows that traveled down the river. The 1996 black and white image shows the river tree lined its entire length. The sediment loads into the river system from extensive landslides will have both short term and long term impacts on the river morphology and hence on fish species that live in this system.

Tracks in the Forest

2012-01-04T08:09:00.000-08:00

I was traversing across a forested slope New Year Day taking advantage of a spell of good weather working on the holiday but enjoying warm temperatures and no rain or wind. One thing I look for are changes in the slope aspect. A level area or a sudden dip in the slope hints at a deep-seated landslide. And in this case I was working outside any areas that had LiDAR. I had to figure this out without a short cut.

Slope break in the forest

At first I suspected a large slide scarp and looked further down the slope to see if any additional steps or scarps were present. But the feature I was seeing (a bit hard to photograph in the forest and it was subtle) appeared linear. Made me suspect an old road instead. Some past skid road in the forest from previous timber harvest. But then I came across this:

Rail in the woods

This rail line was built in 1900 to get logs out of the valley on the Olympic Peninsula. Not much is left of this old line built for one purpose. Once the available logs were harvested from the valley, the whole thing was left behind and for some reason this rail didn't get removed.

Cloud Cap on Rainier

2012-01-03T08:08:00.000-08:00

Rainier capped with a cloud

On my last trip across Puget Sound I had a nice view of Mount Rainier rising over 14,000 feet above me on the water. The mountain had a tell tale cap of cloud as air flowed up and over the mountain from an approaching warm front. A good predictor of coming weather sure enough it rained the next day. I enjoyed a rain free day even though it meant working on the weekend.

In our modern era, we have satellite images, weather buoys, and sophisticated computer models among other things in our arsenal for weather predictions. I was reading about early cattle ranching in central Washington and a bad winter in the 1850s and a medicine dance by the Yakima Indians that apparently brought warm weather and acclaim to the local medicine man. The rancher could not read the clouds, but suspected the medicine man could. Very likely he saw a cloud cap form on Mount Adams and knew warm air was coming soon.

Tsunami - A New Year Resolution for Washington and Oregon?

2012-01-02T08:44:00.000-08:00

Aionea, Japan (Y. Tsuji)

I have been giving some thought to the reports of tsunami generated debris that is heading towards the Pacific Northwest coast. More on that later. I did come across a couple of tsunami videos I had not previously seen. Both are associated with tsunami walls - a winner and a loser. Impressive. At least one town leader (the second video) had learned from previous experience. Have we in Washington State (and Oregon, northern California, B.C) acted on any lessons learned? Oh, and the picture above with the tsunami wall and the destruction behind the wall was taken in 1993. That tsunami generated 60-foot high waves.

Some More Whitebluffs Landslides

2012-01-01T08:20:00.000-08:00

Previous posts showed the large landslide caused by wetland creation at the north end of the Whitebluffs of the Hanford Reach National Monument huge-landslide-at-whitebluffs and slides at the south end of the Whitebluffs downstream of the Reach end-of-road-at-ringold-landslides.

There are other huge landslide areas. There is another large slide associated with irrigation water. This slide is located below a natural drainage area that receives run off from irrigation water. The water then flows via the subsurface to the face of the bluffs causing slope stability troubles. This slide is very similar to the northern slide as described in the previous post with a broad area of lumpy topography between the river the headwall scarps where the failure took place. And like the northern slide it too is lined along the top of the bluff with sand dunes.

Large slide viewed from the south with gray sand dunes along bluff top

Saddle Mountains are in the background and Columbia River is on the left.

The water source for this slide can not be simply turned off like the north slide where the canal feeding the wetlands was simply no longer used. This drainage is at least partially natural, but now with significantly more water passing through due to irrigation from the Columbia Basin project. The water route follows one of the routes of the Missoul Flood. This problem has been partially addressed by directing water into a ditch and routing the water to a break on the bluff slope to the north.

Blue lines denote Missoula Flood water routes

Canal has been dug to route water to a valley between bluffs

Besides the more recent landslide activity, a very large landslide complex is located along the central area of the bluffs. This slide complex is no longer active, but is larger than either of the slides to the north. This slide complex is massive in scale with very large back rotated blocks that form sets of ridges parallel to the river and the top of the bluff.

North end of slide complex

View is from the bluff top looking down onto the north end of the slide

The ridge between the river and the bluff is a large back rotated slide block

Large rotated blocks between bluff summit and river

View towards the south with multiple back rotated slide blocks forming ridges between the river and the bluff top. The slide complex continues beyond what can be viewed from a single spot

The gravel road on this eastern portion of the monument comes to and end at the top of this slide complex. The road does continue down to the river but has been gated. Alas I was getting short on light so that hike will have to wait another day.

Two maps below might help route finding. This is an area that has undergone a bit of change so may of the roads besides the main route really don't go anywhere or end at gates. I am not sure of all the history of this area. Some roads were for hunting access which is more limited now that the area has become a National Monument. Some of the roads may also been used to access gun emplacements to ward of attacks on Hanford.

One thing I have not mentioned - this reach, the Hanford Reach is in reference to the river. Besides the bluffs and landslides, this area has been protected as federal land since World War II. Interesting that nuclear weapons production along with the Yakima Firing Range would save the largest block of intact scrub steppe in the Washington State. The Hanford Reach also is the only non dammed part of the Columbia River in Washington State above Bonneville Dam. The river along this reach is not entirely free flowing as dams upstream control flows, but Hanford Reach has river braids and complex channels and velocity. The healthiest and nearly only main river stem salmon spawning grounds are along this reach of the river.

Energy Notes

2011-12-31T10:46:00.000-08:00

The United States Energy Information Administration puts out various energy reports with great graphics http://www.eia.gov/. Having spent a little time this past year on the high plains I was impressed with the intensity of the Bakken Shale Oil Boom oil-boom-in-western-north-dakota. This graphic shows how rapidly that oil play has developed.

I had also editorialized a bit on gas flaring from Bakken wells wasting-gas-for-short-term-gain. The EIA put out an interesting graphics on gas flaring as well. Note that the first graph shows that gas production exceeds the gas marketed. While the United States does not have a policy that would discourage flaring per se, North Dakota can charge a tax on all gas generated at a well regardless of whether it is marketed or not. North Dakota allows a one year period for flaring and can grant an extension beyond a year for hardship. I do not know much about the details on how this has been implemented, but for gassy wells an incentive to hold back production until infrastructure is in place.

The second graph shows that once the Bakken began rapid development North Dakota's overall non marketed gas peaked at 40% dipped as new pipelines were installed but has begun to lag again going over 35% last year.

The EIA also routinely puts out charts on coal - a subject that has once again become dear to Bellinghamhamsters. (I say once again as Bellingham was once an active coal mining town). As can be seen on the graph exports of coal from Australia, Indonesia and Russia have all increased very significantly over the past decade. Some folks in the United States would like to get in on that coal export action. But as noted in a previous post coal-terminals-in-washington-state the shipping terminal options are limited.

Last a graphic showing a huge energy advantage the the Pacific Northwest has. Greater than 61% of the electric capacity is hydro. The overall hydroelectric generation in the United States is 6%. The result is we have a rather skewered view of energy production. And more recently Washington has added significant wind energy electric generating capacity. Of course our challenge with such a heavy renewable energy portfolio is manging the variableness of that generation.

Follow Up on Permit Extensions

2011-12-30T08:36:00.000-08:00

This is a bit of a follow up on my previous post regarding permit extensions david-versus-whatcom-county. As noted in that post David challenged Whatcom County's permit extension ordinance to the Growth Management Hearings Board. The board ruled the ordinance invalid primarily based on the lack of environmental review. Whatcom County did not review of the proposal under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA).

County and City ordinances are presumed to be valid under the Growth Management Act. The only way to get a determination that an ordinance is not valid under the act is to prove that it is not valid to the Growth Management Hearsing Board. A challenging task.

Think about it and one realizes that there may very well be significant numbers of zoning and development regulations all over the state that are presumed valid but may very well be far from meeting the intent of the Growth Management Act. The only zoning and development regulations found to be invalid are those that are successfully challenged before the Board. The ordinance has to be challenged in a timely manner; one can not decide two years after an ordinance passed to bring a challenge to the Board. And the ordinance can only be challenged by those on the record as having raised objections to the County or City.

All this means having to stay on top of the nuances of just what the zoning and or development regulations mean and how they line up with a wide range of goals in the Growth Management Act. Growth planning gets very wonky and complex and is not easily translated to political sound bites.

An interesting issue regarding the Whatcom County case of permit extensions crossed my mind. Whatcom County was by no means the only local government that passed a permit extension ordinance without an environmental review (SEPA review). The City of Bellingham did the exact same thing and even called out within the ordinance itself that the ordinance was exempt from SEPA. I heard vaguely that a number of communities did the exact same thing around the state. So while Whatcom County's permit extension ordinance was deemed invalid, the City of Bellingham's ordinance still stands as does any other county or city that did the same.

To be fair, Bellingham and other local government permit extension ordinances may not be comparable to the impacts of Whatcom County's permit extension ordinance. Geographic area alone makes a big difference. In addition, nuances within past Whatcom county permit vesting dates and old regulations were such that there were clearly a number of subdivisions that would get extensions that would allow development under old very different regulations. For example dozens of lots in the Lake Whatcom watershed that would see no restrictions on impervious areas for minimizing stormwater impacts even though impervious area rules have been in place since 1999.

Some, but not all of the impacts, of Whatcom County's permit extension ordinance were brought before the Growth Management Hearings Board during the appeal. But for other local governments that did not do SEPA on permit extension ordinances, it is hard to know what the environmental impact was as there was no SEPA review.

White Fields Without the Snow

2011-12-29T08:03:00.000-08:00

It appears that it is likely that we will go past December before we get snow in the low lands of western Washington this year. A bit different than last winter when we had significant snow fall a week before Thanksgiving. But there is still plenty of white stuff on the flat lands of Skagit County - snow geese and trumpeter swans. Initially there were a few snow geese and then a few swans on the Skagit Flats. Now the numbers are impressive. Big flocks brightening the fields with their white feathers. Skagit County is a great place to see them as they are often visible along Interstate 5, Highway 20 and the Highway 10. You can also see them in Whatcom County, but not along the heavily traveled roads like in Skagit.

They show up late in the fall to winter over before heading back to the Arctic. Always a thrill to see that they have made it back for a winter visit. Dave Wenning over at Fidalgo Wild has some nice write ups and pictures.

wildfidalgo.birds-of-feather and wildfidalgo.lesser-snow-goose and wildfidalgo.trumpeter-swan

Geologic Pilgrimage: Mima Mounds

2011-12-27T10:18:00.000-08:00

Mima Mounds

Early this fall I took a side trip pilgrimage to the Mima Mounds. Amazingly and to some extent embarrassing that I had never gone before. It really does not take that much time to leave I-5 south of Olympia and check the mounds out. For geologists the mounds are great fun because there have been no end of ideas on how the mounds formed. A perplexing problem that I will not hazard adding to at this time. It is my understanding that David Tucker will be including a chapter in his much anticipated field trip guide book nwgeology/my-book. He even has a great picture of a mound in cross section from the gravel quarry adjacent to the mounds, but alas not written it up on his blog. Washburn (1988) provides an over view of the mounds and an evaluation of the reasonable theories. I am not sharing my preferred theory, but I will say that I am in agreement with Washburn that there is no grand mound theory for all the various mound sites scattered around the country.

While the Mima Mounds themselves are of great curiosity to geologists, there is another geologic aspect to this site. The Mima Mounds are located in Mima Prairie. Yep, we have grass land prairies in western Washington. The geology aspect of the Mima Prairie and some of the other prairies in western Washington is the very gravely glacial outwash underlying the site. So despite a wet climate, this area is exceedingly well drained and the substrate does not hold water. There are other factors as well that causes one to wonder about the anthropocene and the role of humans in regards to ecosystems.

The open prairie grass land ecosystem found at the Mima Mounds has become greatly diminished over the past 200 years. The Mima Mounds are a Natural Area Preserve managed by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. The mounds themselves are worthy of protection, but the open grass land ecosystem has become an endangered ecosystem with a variety of rare plants and animals found only in these prairie areas. There are other mound sites nearby the Mima Mounds, but the ecosystem is in a better condition at Mima Prairie.

Traditions, Culture and the Land

2011-12-24T16:57:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve. A time of traditions. A time when cultural layers may dictate traditions. And the landscape influences the culture and the traditions. My family - siblings and our own children all have a variety of traditions and plenty of ideas about what the traditions should be! Many of those traditions are dictated by family ancestry, but the landscape also has an influence as well as the people that live on that landscape.

Living in Bellingham, in the heart of what many people consider the Pacific Northwest has influenced my family traditions. One tradition that we had for many years was the annual Christmas Tree hunt. This involves going out into the rural landscape seeking tree farms. We had calculated this was easier than going all out and getting a Forest Service permit and likely cheaper with higher probability of getting an appropriately shaped and sized tree. This was not a tradition that either Lisa or I brought from our childhoods. Both of us had grown up in eastern Washington. No tree farms there and evergreens were miles away. So this new tradition was initially very fun.

Another tradition that I find common in western Washington and predates American/European settlement is smoked salmon. We have, like those that lived for millennium before us on this landscape, become Salmon People. Smoked salmon is given as gifts, eaten as appetizers, and sought out from the best smokers. A bit extra good this year as Will had worked in the salmon industry this summer and gotten some of the "good stuff".

Lutefisk is another tradition for many traditionalists from northern Europe that brought the traditional dish with them. However, it is a tradition that has not transferred as well as the salmon.

The weather this time of year is far too variable for traditional sleigh rides or ice skating. Lisa and I have fond memories of sledding down our street after putting gifts under the tree. Alas white Christmases are not common in Bellingham. More likely to be gray and 40s like this year. However, I learned during our second winter in Bellingham that Bellingham can get very cold. We traveled to see family in eastern Washington. Very cold there, but turned out it was nearly as cold in Bellingham as frigid air poured out of the Fraser Valley. We returned to frozen pipes.

Whatever your year end traditions. Enjoy them. And think about how the land has shaped your traditions.

Impressive Lummi Quarry Video

2011-12-22T19:51:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago I was contacted to see if I would be willing to help on opposing a quarry expansion on Lummi Island. I agreed to help, but thus far there has not been a lot for me to do. I did some minor reviewing. The anti quarry group put together a very impressive video on the quarry (see below). Often, hyperbole and hysteria can take over on an environmental issue. But in this case there is no single issue presented in this video that I disagree with and nor would I describe any of it as hyperbole or hysteria. (And some enviros that I have not hesitated using those terms).

The video is factual and accurate. And as someone that works on mine projects, it upsets me that a mining operation in a sensitive area like this has done such a horrible job and that the regulation of this mine has been such a failure.

On a purely technical basis there are many reasons that the mine area designation should not be expanded. But even though this blog attempts (and sometimes it is hard) to be neutral in presentation of issues, I will suggest another reason this mine expansion should be denied: Justice. This mine was granted an expanded mining area in the late 1990s. They could have manged the mine in an appropriate manner and followed water quality laws, water rights, and mine reclamation plans. They did not. They do not deserve even consideration for expansion. They are a black mark on the aggregate mining industry of which I have often been a participant during my geology career.

The above said, the process will proceed. A specific issue of environmental review is the most pressing at the moment. I'll probably get around to posting something on that at a future date and a review of how various counties have dealt designating and protecting mining resource lands for mining purposes.

David Versus Whatcom County - Wonky

2011-12-21T08:20:00.000-08:00

Typically, development permits must be completed within a certain time frame. Once a certain length of time passes, the application must be resubmitted if the permit did reach final approval. Otherwise a permit could be applied for and then the applicant could do no work on the application for 10 years or 20 years or longer and then show up to complete an application following regulations that are 10 years or older.

As a geologist working on geology hazard assessments and strormwater impacts, I can think of a variety of scenarios where extending permit application periods over a long time period is a bad idea. Indeed, a fair bit of the more difficult work I do are on lots that were created years ago with very little thought to the geology. Lots on steep slopes with difficult access. Lots along rivers that have migrating channels. Current development rules in most places now require a fair bit of thought before permits are granted so that dangerous or environmentally harmful development does not happen. One local Whatcomcentric example: prior to 2005 new lots could be created in alluvial fan hazard areas. The County passed regulations disallowing that in 2005. Another example: stormwater impacts are now better understood and new stormwater regulations have been developed to address the water quality impacts over the past 10 years throughout the state.

In 2010 the Whatcom County Council passed an ordinance that automatically granted extensions to permit applications that had not been finalized. The rationale for this action was economic hard times. However, the county never considered the environmental impact of granting the automatic extensions which granted extensions to applications that had originally been submitted over 5 years ago and in some cases in the 1990s and some, due to peculiarities that I do fully understand, that were submitted in the 1980s.

Prior to this ordinance, Whatcom County already had a permit extension process that worked on a case by case basis. And in fact the county did extend permits due to hardship, but in that process they could consider the hardship and consider the impacts of granting the extension. In some cases the county could grant the extension, but still require the development follow new wetland or stormwater rules.

A fair number of development project applications get submitted that are never completed. Hardship can be one cause. How that hardship happens can vary. Certainly the down turn in real estate and willingness of financial institutions to loan on real estate of late could be viewed as a hardship in some cases.

But I would suggest that there is another hardship that is often self inflicted. Over the past decade new wetland rules, stormwater rules, geology hazard rules, and shoreline rules have been adopted. It takes time and a lot of public process to develop new rules. And during that time a fair number of development applications get submitted in order to vest to the old rules before the new rules take effect. I have seen this as a consultant particularly on shoreline properties in counties that are updating shoreline rules. More often than not the change in the rules are minor, but the fear that no development will be allowed sometimes drives folks to put in applications when they would otherwise not be ready.

This automatic permit extension ordinance was appealed to Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board by David Stalheim. The Board ruled the ordinance invalid in August 2011. Pretty direct. The Board primarily ruled against the county on the lack of environmental review because potentially harmful projects would be allowed to automatically move forward without any assessment of the impacts. New lots created on alluvial fans or in areas where stormwater is already causing harm or in locations that have since been deemed as rural, but the county took awhile to change the zoning as required by the Growth Management Act.

But the case is not over. The ordinance was ruled invalid, but before that ruling permit application extensions were allowed without any review of the environmental consequences including four that were processed after the ruling of invalidity. Hence, the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board has a tough decision - What to do about the fact that during the time before the ordinance was ruled invalid, permit applications were extended using what the Board considered an invalid ordinance?

I would suggest that this case should set an important precedent. That would be that permits that are approved under an ordinance that was ruled invalid should be likewise considered invalid. Not sure if the Hearings Board can navigate that legal path, but not doing so could set a very bad precedent: Counties could knowing pass bad ordinances and open the window for a rush of applications that then become vested under a regulation that was later determined to be illegal.

Appealing ordinances to the Growth Management Hearings Board is no small task. It is a challenging legal process and typically means taking on the legal staff of the County or City challenged and often other participants. David Stalheim has appealed three Whatcom County decisions (I joined him on one). Thus far he has prevailed on all his cases. He has proven to be a remarkable citizen advocate. I should add that Jean Melious has provided David assisstance and the late Dean Martin tracked down processed permits.

LIP of the Month

2011-12-19T07:50:00.000-08:00

I have been getting my share of LIP over the past number of days http://www.largeigneousprovinces.org/LOM. LIP stands for Large Igneous Provinces. The Large Igneous Provinces Commission part of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior puts out a monthly paper by members on LIP.

From Barry and others (2010)

Washington State has one of the best studied LIPs - the Columbia River Basalts. The Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) have been a great LIP study site for a variety of reasons: 1) the CRBG are relatively young - older LIPs have been more eroded and tectonically disrupted, 2) the CRBG flows are relatively horizontal with only modest folds so that many individual flows can readily be traced, 3) access to the CRBG by geologists is relatively easy - lots or roads, not too cold not too hot, much of the CRBG is desert (although the CRBG does extend to very wet southwest Washington/northwest Oregon) and 4) lots of funding as the a portion of the CRBG was considered as a nuclear waste repository at one time.

Another noteworthy aspect of the CRBG is that it juxtaposes some other LIPs. A younger LIP is located across southern Idaho. In addition, the CRBG abuts the Crescent Formation basalts in western Washington and the Crescent basalts are very large in volume and fit the category of many LIPs in that the Crescent has been tectonically disrupted so it is not so easy to recognize as a LIP.

Given the amount of LIP we have here in Washington and the Pacific Northwest (I couldn't help myself) there are plenty of opportunities to see LIPs. Dave Tucker just posted a field trip to the Crescent LIP and a remarkable pillow basalt section http://nwgeology.wordpress.com/the-fieldtrips/pillow-lava-sites-in-washington/pillow-lava-heart-o-the-hills-road-olympic-national-park/

A Moment in Deep Time: Back to Back Unconformities on Highway 174

2011-12-17T09:33:00.000-08:00

When I told an associate about looking at the unconformity at the the base of the CRBG he noted that unconformities are "a visceral experience". It is a wondrous thing to place a finger on a point in deep time; "Here lava covered the landscape that was here before".

This last summer I had made several trips to the Grand Coulee area. Besides the dam and all the features associated within Missoula Floods and the great ice features on the Waterville Plateau southwest of the dam, the area is also a place where the base of the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) can be observed.

There is something particularly appealing about the base of the CRBG. For one thing the CRBG covers a vast area of eastern Washington and even covers parts of the Cascade Range in southern Washington and areas of southwest Washington. Huge lava flows! All the excitement about the Missoula Floods, but underneath all those Missoula Flood deposits and land forms is another remarkable flood. Vast floods of lava that flowed out of fissures in northeast Oregon and covered everything between there and Grand Coulee Dam with lava. Lava flows that extended all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Now that is an epic flood!

The Grand Coulee Dam area is an area where the epic lava floods thinned and and ran up against the highlands of the Okanogan. The Columbia River valley cuts down through the lava to the older rocks below. It is a place where one can touch a deep moment in time.

Highway 174 east of Grand Coulee Dam takes one from the dam up a dry creek valley to the northeast part of the Waterville Plateau. The plateau is mostly underlain by glacial scoured basalt with fantastic ice-age features. The dam is underlain by granite. Somewhere between the granites underling the dam and the top of the plateau there must be a spot to have that visceral experience of touching a moment in time when a huge change took place, that point in time when a landscape was buried. Highway 174 does not disappoint; it cuts through the contact with an unexpectedly spectacular exposure plus an additional bonus of another much younger unconformity; another spot in time where everything changed. Back to back unconformities!

The base of a basalt lava flow

Dark lava on top of a sandy residuum soil below

Base of basalt

Dark basalt on residuum soil

Part way up the dry creek valley is an exposure of Columbia River Basalt overlying what appears to be a reddish to buff sand. The reddish color is indicative of oxidation iron often associated with deeply weathered soils and initially I suspected this sand was a layer of sand that had been deeply weathered and had been deposited between basalt flows. I stopped and took a closer look.

Compact clump of reddish oxidized sand. Holding an ancient soil.

Close up view showing that the individual grains are angular minerals

The angular mineral fragments as well as the range of minerals indicates that this sand is not sediment but weathered granite - residuum soil. It is granitic bedrock that had been deeply weathered into a soil. A soil that was formed from the weathered granite underlying the soil. A soil that was 15 million years old. 15 million years a go lava flowed over this soil and buried it. I could touch that moment in time.

A fantastic unnconformity with 15 million year old basalt overlying 45 to 50 million year old granite. The soil horizon of deeply weathered granite made it all the better. The only thing missing were fossils (another site for that). The very next road cut to the west provides a view of another unconformity.

Further up the road is a different nonconformity - grayish cobbly silts overlying the weathered granite

Here the highly weathered granite begins to look more like rock than the reddish sand.

Instead of basalt overlying the granite as a 15 million year old unconformity, this unconformity is glacial till over granite - perhaps 17 thousand years old. The gray color is due to the till consisting primarily of ground up basalt

Across the road the till is thicker and the granite is decidedly granite

The unweathered granite

A Selection of Trees on Orcas Island

2011-12-15T16:58:00.000-08:00

Even though the San Juan Islands are only a few miles from my home base of Bellingham, the trees are different. At my first early morning site earlier this week I got to see a nice mix on a south facing slope on Orcas Island. Madrones are common all along the shores of the Salish Sea and Douglas firs are all over, but lodge pole pines are not so common and Rocky Mountain junipers are very restricted. A short while later I got to see some interesting mature Garry oak.

Pacific madrones are common along the edges of and on steep slopes of the Salish Sea. The seem to thrive in hash challenging growing conditions. This one is growing out of glacial till and bedrock fractures

Pacific madrone bark is part of its aesthetic appeal

Douglas fir is a champion at growing in all sorts of environments

Base of the Douglas fir holding loose soil together just above the bedrock

Note the drift wood logs tossed up and propped up by the tree

A rare tree in western Washington - Rocky Mountain juniper

Lodge pole pine.

Locally lodge pole is often called shore pine but I don't care for the term because it does well away from the shore and in fact some of the thickest stands are on the higher slopes of Orcas Island. But the tree shows up along the shore in dry area as well.

A mature Garry oak in the park-like setting on the south side of Turtleback Mountain

Garry oak on its side

The downed Garry oak had not bee blown down recently. Clearly its heart wood was in poor shape, but the outer wood and bark were in good condition and the tree had done a fair bit of healing and as can be seen still was producing leaves as can be seen by the leaves on the ground around the tree and a few still clinging to the tree. I have seen this sort of thing at other sites on Turtleback Mountain with Douglas fir - a curious thing.

Tipped over but recovered Douglas fir on Turtleback Mountain

Traffic Jam on Lopez Island

2011-12-14T12:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a good work day - a day in the San Juan Islands. I visited Orcas Island and Lopez Island. Very nice scenery. The downside is that the days are now very short which means the ferry ride out to Orcas was mostly in the dark with only a hint of light in the sky and the ferry ride back to Anacortes from Lopez was also dark.

I did enjoy the traffic jam on Lopez Island. Lopez is an island with extensive grass pastures and over the years has gained some acclaim for its high quality lamb and/or mutton and wool. In a way it has been regaining its status as a sheep raising area as the early American settlement on the island prairies involved sheep. The sheep were being moved from one pasture to another with the use of a pickup and at least one dog.

Traffic alert on Center Road, Lopez Island

A group pause to nibble before the dog got them moving again

Skagit River, Conway Hill Drainage and Sun

2011-12-13T05:27:00.000-08:00

Had a nice sunrise drive down from Bellingham to Seattle yesterday morning. As a passenger I got to do more side ways looking than normal. Had a nice view down the Skagit River and the newly reconfigured dike, morning sky, setting moon and steamy river.

Newly reconfigured Skagit River Dike

Most of the dike work took place last summer. New rock and better angles for floods. A line of woody material was cabled along the bank to provide some flow friction but mostly to provide refuge sites for fish.

A bit further on we left the broad Skagit flats and headed up onto the glaciated slope of Conway Hill. The hill is underlain by silty to clayey glacial units deposits. A drainage canal and levy snakes along the base of the hill between the hill and the flats below to capture surface water and shunt it through a series of ditches and canals and through tidal flood gates in order to keep the fields on the flats from being under water.

Drainage system at base of Conway Hill south of Mount Vernon

The highlight though was heading up onto the uplands south of the Stilliguamish River south of the Arlington exit. The sun was going to shine! Sunday the fog cleared out of Bellingham just before sunset. After a weekend of icy, foggy weather it was nice to have a little brightness. We gave a little cheer when we saw this:

Here comes the sun through the fog

Lake Padden to Urbanize or Not Urbanize

2011-12-11T15:32:00.000-08:00

Lake Padden watershed and urban growth

Urban growth areas are areas that are designated under the Washington State Growth Management Act as areas that will be urbanized in the future. One of Bellingham's designated growth areas is in the Lake Padden watershed. The city has had growth expansion plans for this area that date back well before the Growth Management Act. The area was designated for growth under the Growth Management Act by the City of Bellingham in 1997. In 1997 Whatcom County approved the City's growth plans.

This growth area has created some dilemmas. Although approved in 1997 by Wahtcom County, periodically the growth boundaries must be reviewed and updated. During the update process in 2007 questions began to be raised by the county regarding the Lake Padden area. Specifically, Did the city have a capital facilities plan for providing urban services to the area? This is an important aspect of the Growth Management Act. It is the conservative part of the Act. The part that should protect tax payers and utility rate payers. Capital Facility Plans should answer the questions about how will the roads, fire and police service, water service, schools, sewer service and more recently stormwater management be paid for. Something every good fiscal hawk should be concerned about.

The Lake Padden area is a tough nut under the Growth Management Act. There have been development schemes in the works for this area for a long time - long before the Growth Management Act came along in the early 1990s. But regardless of the original schemes for this area being urbanized, the area does not match well with the goals of the growth management act. Urbanizing this area is going to be expensive. Thus far most of the urbanization efforts in the area have been heavily subsidized with much of the money coming in the form of federal and or state grants for road improvement projects and the construction of an elementary school.

These partial urbanization efforts combined with the years of the area being considered a future growth area has created an area that falls into the cracks of Growth Management controversy. It turns out that it is really really hard for cities and counties to say, "You know what, we need to rethink this plan for urban growth; it doesn't look like it is working out very well."

Back in 2007, the City of Bellingham had proposed dramatically increasing the density around the lake. This was done in part to try to make the capital facilities costs work out. The City Planning Commission had said yes. The City Council had said yes. The County Planning Commission had said yes, but with somewhat less density which made City officials unhappy. I had been following the process for a while and had gone to a City Council meeting when a member of the public wondered if it was a good idea to urbanize the Lake Padden watershed. I don't know who that citizen was, but I pulled up a topographic map the next day.

Topo of Lake Padden watershed

Right away I noticed that lake has a very small watershed. Hence, this lake could easily turn into the equivalent of a large storm water pond. The city was proposing putting high density housing in at least 40% of the watershed. The Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed city growth plan noted that there were already water quality issues in the lake and in the stream downstream of the lake. So it was suggested that perhaps not only should the higher density proposal for this area be rejected, but that the size of the urban growth area in the watershed be shrunk. The majority of the County Council members thought the idea was a good one. At the time there were pending subdivisions in the watershed so it made no sense to pull the growth area back all the way back, but the growth plans were pulled back.

But that was only the beginning of the Lake Padden issue. Due to a variety of complex Growth Management Act planning issues that had nothing to do with Lake Padden, the whole Bellingham growth plan had to be reviewed again two years later.

A couple of changes had taken place since the 2007. First the two large subdivisions that had been planned for the watershed failed to become final and were no longer vested. Their problem was they were unable to get water service due to the high costs of building a new water tank and lines into the area combined with the fact the City of Bellingham won't extend water lines unless an area is going to be annexed into the city. The developers had applied to be annexed, but the city rejected the annexation proposal because adding the area into the city was going to be very expensive - think roads, water lines, sewer, police, fire. It was now clear that the city could not afford passing the costs of the capital facilities onto city tax payers and utlity rate payers in a fair manner.

Whatcom County Planning did something during the new review process that they had not previously done. The County demanded that each city provide a capital facilities plan for all proposed growth areas including ares that had been previously designated. This is a requirement under the State Growth Management Act. For the Lake Padden watershed area, it became clear that the city did not have a viable plan for funding the needed projects to support this area as an urban area. Hence, the County placed this area into a reserve status.

The developers of the area did not like this so they filed an appeal to the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board. This board settles disputes between parties on growth planning issues under the Growth Management Act. At least some members of the County Council are sympathetic to the developers and have put forward the idea of putting this area back in urban growth area status. Its the old argument that is a constant issue on growth planning under the Growth Management Act - it is hard to back away from past growth plans no matter how bad they might be.

Much attention is being directed at the County Council on this issue, both by development proponents and those that question the wisdom of developing without capital facilities planned.

But it is an interesting dilemma for the County Council. The message from the City of Bellingham has been mixed. You see, Bellingham has left this area in their own growth plans. Hence, when the developers appeal the county taking the area out of the City of Bellingham Growth Area, it is the county that must defend that decision. And the developers will be sure to point to the fact that the city still includes the area in its growth plans. If the County puts the area back in the City Growth Area, that decision will surely be appealed as well. Based on the lack of capital facilities plans as well as some other significant issues, there is very likely little chance that Lake Padden area will be designated a growth area.

During recent County Council deliberations a County Council Member stated that this area as a growth area is just common sense. I do not think he meant that those that thought it was a bad idea lacked common sense, but development in this area may not make that much sense. Without a plan for how to pay for all the urban streets, fire service, police service, water lines, sewer lines and stormwater management it really is a bit too early to tell if growth in this area is common sense or not.

Stormwater impacts are a part of the challenge of this area. That is for another wonky post. But, it may be time for the City of Bllingham to take another look at their urban growth plans even though the law does not require an update until 2016. Otherwise the issues around Lake Padden will linger for years to come in a manner that may be unfair to everybody.

Hazard Rock Removal

2011-12-10T09:46:00.000-08:00

Rock fall hazard reduction project

I have had the fun of doing hazard rock removal on a couple of occasions. Nothing as dramatic as the crew below. Although at one project I did work on the fall line height for the removed rocks was on the order of 300 feet. Those rocks had some velocity when they hit the road below! When you drive past a steep rock road cut think of the folks like this that make it safer. Especially so during wet winter weather followed by a little freeze-thaw action. Whenever, I have done hazard rock removal I just think of myself as a sped up freeze-thaw agent. Great fun, and perhaps I missed my true calling as a geologist.

Crown Point State Park, Grand Coulee Dam

2011-12-08T16:48:00.000-08:00

Grand Coulee Dam. Note bridge which was built during Lacey Murrow's (other-murrow-brother) time as Director of Highways

Living in Washington State it is sometimes easy to forget what a remarkable structure Grand Coulee dam is. This is the anthropocene. The electric power generated turned Washington State into a huge aluminum metal producer and vast swaths of eastern Washington were converted from dry land wheat or poor range land to irrigated crop land. The dam also brought an end to huge salmon runs on the upper river ending an entire way of life for First Nations Peoples upstream of the dam and had a huge impact as well on downstream fisheries.

Just downstream of the dam is a short side road off of State Highway 174 to Crown Point State Park.

Crown Point State Park (Google Maps)

Crown Point perched on granite cliffs provides a great view of the dam as well as the surrounding landscape. I like the green oasis of the town of Grande Coulee tucked into the rocky landscape above the west bank of the river. The granite at the Point is Eocene to Paleocene Keller Butte Pluton. This granitic rock is the foundation rock the dam is anchored into. Grande Coulee is located in an area where some crustal extension with associated grabben formation (down dropped blocks forming valleys) and volcanic activity took place during the Eocene, and various intrusions of granite and associated volcanics from that period extend to the north. South of the dam almost all of these rocks are covered by younger Columbia River Basalt Group basalt lava flows.

The downstream view gives one the sense of this powerful but controlled river. A huge force of water that surges through the dams turbines. One massive hydroelectric source.

A powerful river flowing northward at this location before it bends first west and then back to the south.

Note the distinct terrace in the distance along the valley side.

The Grand Coulee dam was not the first dam at this location. During the ice age, the Okanogan ice lobe blocked the Columbia River in the same area. At that time a much larger lake formed than the current Lake Roosevelt. This lake backed all the way up to the Spokane area. The terraces pictured above were from later, smaller versions of the lake as the ice lobe progressively retreated to the north. The level terraces are remnants of the former lake bottoms that remain along the sides of the valley.
Evidence of the past presence of ice at Grand Coulee Dam can be seen on the striated granitic surfaces around the Crown Point viewing area. Just be careful not to fall off some of the cliffs!

Striated granite slab at Crown Point, Grand Coulee Dam

The Other Murrow Brother

2011-12-06T07:12:00.000-08:00

Mercer Island in the Lake Washington would have been a great gravel mine resource if all those people hadn't moved there and covered up the deposit with houses. Its proximity to Seattle led to the island becoming a suburban community faster than the need for gravel. Its boost to suburbia along with other communities east of the lake was the construction of the first floating bridge in Washington State. Lake Washington is deep and wide enough that the most practical way to bridge the lake was a floating bridge.

It was a bold and I am sure to some a bit crazy sounding to build a floating bridge. But Lacey Murrow the Director of Highways pushed the idea and the first floating bridge was completed across the 200-foot deep section of Lake Washington in 1940. The bridge was named after Murrow in the 1960s after he died. A parallel floating bridge was built in the 1990s and named after Homer Hadley, the designer of the first bridge.

Murrow's leadership on bridge building in the 1930s greatly shaped many of the communities around Washington State. He was Director of Highways at the time of the building the bridges at Deception Pass at the north end of Whidbey Island. He also started the bridge across the Columbia just downstream of Grand Coulee Dam. The infamous Tacoma Narrows Bridge which did not not turn out so well initially was started under his directorship. He also set up the bridge tolling authority which led to the ability to pay for a number of other bridges around the state.

Lacey Murrow grew up in Blanchard, Washington and went to high school in Edison, Washington. His younger brother was Ed Murrow, the famous radio and television journalist who brought reports from Europe during WWII, and he took on Joseph McCarthy's activities in congress. The community hall in Blanchard is very proud of the Ed Murrow legacy, but his older brother did pretty well for Washington State as well.

Huge Landslide at Whitebluffs

2011-12-03T08:57:00.000-08:00

The White Bluffs along the east side of the Columbia River on the Hanford Reach National Monument are located across the river from the former towns of Hanford and Whitebluffs. The bluffs have been formed by the Columbia River down cutting and moving laterally against the deep silts and sands and old soil horizons that make up the bluffs. The northern portions of the bluffs are within the Hanford Reach National Monument created by President Bill Clinton.

I recently visited the northernmost slide area a few miles south of Highway 24. I had previously observed a tumble weed filled canal along Highway 24 leading towards the Hanford Reach Monument and speculated that the canal had previously been used to enhance wildlife populations but was no longer in use.

Tumble weed filled canal

The story of the canal became clearer while I was doing a bit of research on the Pleistocene and Pliocene sediments of the Pasco Basin. Indeed the canal had been used as a water conduit to create a wetland area on the Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Area in an area now part of the Hanford Reach National Monument. However, the introduction of water created perched ground water that flowed towards the steep bluffs along the river and water started to seep out at much greater volumes from seeps and springs along the white bluffs. The water greatly weakened the silt units on the bluff and a huge landslide was triggered.

Satellite overview of canal, wetland and landslide

As can be seen the slide area is two miles wide. This slide really caused some concerns about it being big enough that the river might get diverted toward some of the nuclear reactors that were used for weapons grade nuclear fuel production at the Hanford area. The water supply to the wetlands was cut off once this problem became apparent.

View of large slide

More typical slides into the river south of large slide

These slides were triggered by the river undermining the steep bluff

Another view with the typical slides in the foreground and the large slide in the distance

Buff colored layered silts at the top of the bluff are Missoula Flood deposits

Besides the landslides there are some other geologic features. One is that the entire White Bluffs area was submerged by flood waters from The Missoula Floods. This is one of those mind bending flood locations because the river is so far below. But as can be seen by the presence of Missoula Flood silts this was a quiet water area. The area flooded when water backed up at the narrow constriction at Wallula Gap model-of-ice-age-flood. Besides silt, the flood waters had ice bergs and the ice bergs contained rocks. Hence, while traversing across the top of the bluffs I came across angular ice rafted boulders and cobbles.

One-foot diameter granite boulder

Angular cobbles with silt.

The top of the large landslide area is lined with large sand dunes. The loose landslide sediments provide a supply of sand that is blown up the bluff face to the top of the bluff. The bluff itself acts as a barrier that causes the wind to rapidly accelerate as the air flows up and over the top edge of the bluff.

Sand dunes line the top of the bluff above the large landslide complex

Sam and I look down the face of the dune at our shadows

Sam charges down the dune face

Sam takes in the view between runs down the dune

Mushroom growing within the dune field

Driftless

2011-12-02T08:14:00.000-08:00

On my return from points east I got a nice, if not a bit of a fuzzy, view of the Driftless Area of northeast Iowa as well as adjoining states. The area was not glaciated during the last few glacial periods. The continental ice sheets instead wrapped around the area. It was, at least for a time, an island in a sea of ice along the southern margin of the ice sheets. The term driftless refers to the lack of glacial drift desposits in the area.

As such the area has not been rubbed smooth by glacial ice like other areas on all sides of the driftless area. And the soils, topography and ecology of the area is markedly different than glaciated areas that surround the driftless area. Note in the photograph the generally incised stream valleys that this older surface of land has compared to the smooth plains that begin at the bottom of the photograph.

Driftless Area, northeast Iowa

Image from University of Minnesota Extension

I enjoyed the view of this area as Will and I drove across this area in August. While driving across northern Iowa, Will took a long 1.5 hour nap and when he woke joked that I was driving in circles as we were still driving through miles of gentle plains with corn and soy. The scenery changed abruptly upon entering the driftless area. Compared to the plains that surround this area the area is rugged with steep hills. And after days on the plains very scenic.

Another aspect of the view I enjoyed was just the week before I had written up a couple of sections on a paper I am working on that included a description of a driftless areas in southwest Washington State. The same deeply incised stream channel network and different soils. An ancient landscape compared to the glaciated and Missoula flood landscapes that cover much but not all of Washington State.

Andesite from Washington State in Chicago

2011-11-30T07:37:00.000-08:00

Even if your not that interested in architecture and urban design, you will become so when in Chicago. Lots of great buildings and public spaces. And some geology in some of those buildings HERE or for a great resource on stone and buildings check out David Williams' stories-in-stone.

One of my favorite buildings in Chicago is the Tribune Building with its flying buttresses on the upper floor and Gothic touches.

Tribune Building left of center with flying buttresses

Entrance to the Tribune Building

I noticed a feature on the walls of the Tribune Building I had not noticed before. On the walk up to the entrance pictured above note the protruding objects embedded in the walls. These objects also had caught the attention of some French visitors as well as my own attention. The protrusions were rocks, stones and bricks taken from other buildings or places and cemented into and onto the walls of the Tribune Building.

Stones and building materials embedded within walls of the Tribune Building

Of course this led to a quest to find if there was a stone from Washington State. And sure enough there was a chunk of andesite from Washington State.

A piece of Washington in the Tribune Building

The Yellowstone hotspot was well represented with lava from Oregon, Idaho and Wyoming all possibly from the path of the hotspot over time:

Basalt from near the mouth of the Columbia River - I am not sure this is hot spot lava as it may be a more recent ocean floor basalt accreted to the North American margin.

Craters of the Moon basalt is very likely from the hotspot path

This piece of Wyoming looked is obsidian

One more rock in the walls of the building (there are 120 stones from around the world) is from Germany.

Basalt from Remagen Bridge across the Rhine River

A small group of Allied forces got a view of the Remagen Bridge in March 1944 and were surprised to see that it was still standing as the Germany forces had pulled back across the natural defense of the river and blown most of the bridges. An immediate change of invasion plans took place and Allied forces were immediately diverted to the Remagen Bridge before the Germans could destroy the bridge. My father was among those diverted and Remagen is where he began a full month on the front lines pushing into Germany. The bridge span did collapse from German shelling a few days after my father made the crossing, but the basalt support towers of the bridge are still standing.

Some Water Views

2011-11-29T07:50:00.000-08:00

I headed east for a combination of Turkey Day and other activities so posting opportunities have been limited as it should be. Departure from Seattle provided a great view of the third runway storm water pond for treating storm water run off from all that pavement.

Next we had a great view of a sediment plume in the South Sound between Seattle and Tacoma. Heavy rain fall had generated a plug of sediment discharged into the sound.

The source of a at least part of the sediment was evident in the muddy waters of Commencement Bay in Tacoma from the Puyallup River.

Then the ground was obscured with clouds but with a brief break to see Bonny Lake, a glacial carved depression on the uplands east of Tacoma.

Then a long stretch of clouds with only very fuzzy views of eastern Washington before seeing a nice meandering river somewhere in Montana. Not entirely sure where this was as it was a brief view of the ground before more clouds.

Things cleared up over North Dakota which was fun as I had been in North Dakota for a spell this summer and recognized many features. I liked the image below because it shows that North Dakota is a watery state. Lots of ice age kettles and depressions filled with water.

For Turkey Day Travelers

2011-11-23T07:57:00.000-08:00

High River Levels Bring More Than Flood Risk

2011-11-22T09:24:00.000-08:00

With heavy rains there is the risk of river flooding. But the another risk is channel migration. That is the risk that the channel of a river will shift. I recently assessed a reach of a northwest river for channel migration risk. Pretty simple evidence was visible to show that the river has been recently migrating.

Concrete foundation stem wall and concrete post supports

Undermined structure

undermined trees

Another home foundation

Utilities leading to where homes sites are now occupied by the river

It was not the first time I had assessed this particular river. Other reaches of this river have migrated much more dramatically over the past 50 years. At one reach upstream of the pictures above the river did a complete course shift in one storm event moving to a new channel nearly one mile away from the previous channel. The particular reach I was investigating was on a reach I first looked at ten years ago. I was on the opposite side of the river on that project and it was very clear the river was starting to migrate away from the property - good news for one side of the river is not so good for the other side.

The risk of flooding along this particular reach of river is low. The 100-year flood inundation area does not extend over much of the valley. But the risk of channel migration, a much more catastrophic problem, is obviously much greater.

Doc Hastings and San Juan Island National Conservation Area Proposal

2011-11-20T09:22:00.000-08:00

I have previously posted about a proposed San Juan Island National Conservation Area
national-conservation-area-and-san-juan
sam-crawford-proposes-supporting
whatcom-county-council-supports-san

Seems National Conservation Areas are among the things Doc Hastings Chair of the United States Congressal House Committee on Natural Resources does not care for.

Per McClatchy reporter Rob Hotakeinen:

"When Salazar suggested listing the San Juans and sites in eight other states as new wilderness and conservation areas, Hastings was quick to object.
He said Congress "has the sole authority" to decide which lands should be designated as wilderness "and which should instead be allowed to contribute to the full range of recreational, conservation, economic and resource benefits that carefully managed multiple-use lands provide."
Besides, Hastings said, the country can't afford any more public land."

Designation of Natural Conservation Areas as proposed does require an act of Congress as does the designation of wilderness areas. I know that Ken Salazar (Interior Secretary) is well aware of this. I am not sure what Mr. Hastings meant by "the country can't afford any more public land" as the lands in question are already owned by the public. In fact, part of the motivation for the San Juan designation is to better and more efficiently manage these lands.

The context of Hastings comments was in regards to a hearing on energy prodction from public lands and waters. Wilderness or conservation areas often trigger quick objections on the broad principle of not wanting to lock up lands from resource extraction. Hastings is an advocate for opening up more land for oil and gas development. Hence, wilderness proposals and conservation areas may get a bit of broad brush treatment that is not necessarily reflective of the underlying geology. Not much chance of energy production from the small scattered islands and rocks in the San Juan Islands of northwest Washington and other than quarry rock not much mining value either.

Besides the energy issue, Hastings' comments regarding public land raises an over century old argument about public ownership of lands. It also revolves around the long standing struggle between local desires to extract revenue from Federal land and Federal control of those lands. In this regard, National Conservation Areas should have some appeal as it involves local planning efforts.

It is a bit ironic that the background picture for the House Committee on Natural Resources web page has a picture of a wilderness area in Washington State as its background image http://naturalresources.house.gov/ and Doc Hastings' on web page includes a rolling set of pictures that includes a view of a Hanford Reach National Monument and a National Scenic Area.

Perhaps those images tell a truer story about the values that tend to prevail over the rhetoric and political dogma, otherwise pictures of open pit coal mines and other resource extraction images should be included.

Hanford Sand Dunes

2011-11-19T09:44:00.000-08:00

Sand dunes at Hanford area viewed from across the Columbia River at Ringold

Dunes are the faint light area in the satellite image (USGS)

Having grown up in eastern Washington I found that while traveling or living any distance from eastern Washington I frequently had to explain that eastern Washington is dry. In fact, large swaths of eastern Washington is desert. Parts of the east side basin are so dry that it is marginal for even sage brush to survive. And there are several areas of sand dunes in this dry landscape.

Hanford sand dunes and Columbia River.

Irrigated land on the east side of the river is irrigated via the Columbia Basin Project

The largest dune field in eastern Washington is on the U.S, Department of Energy Hanford Reserve. A fair bit of the dune area at Hanford has become stabilized with vegetation hinting that for a time the area was even drier. But the core area of the Hanford dunes still contains a large active dune field. Public entrance to the dune fields at Hanford is restricted since the Hanford area was established as a nuclear materials production site. I got a glimpse of the Hanford dunes from across the river on a recent landslide inspection adventure.

The sand for these dunes is derived from from sands deposited by Missoula Flood waters that swept across the Hanford area depositing gravel, sand and silts. The dry climate and prevailing southwest winds has formed the dune fields which are slowly being blown into the Columbia River. Perhaps some of the sand from these dunes blown into the Columbia is now part of the sand dunes along the beaches of the southwest Washington coast.

Great Cattle Drives of Eastern Washington

2011-11-17T18:45:00.000-08:00

The great cattle drive: Dalles, Oregon to

the Cariboo Mines of British Columbia 1862

Back in high school I took a class called Novel taught by Jim Deatherage. We read a variety of novels some of which I still remember very clearly. For a western novel we read A Thousand for the Cariboo by Bill Gulick. Gulick took the story of Andrew Splawn's cattle drive from the Dalles, Oregon to the Cariboo Country of British Columbia and turned it into a novel. I loved the story, and should add that Jim Deatherage ranked as one of the greatest teachers I ever had.

Gulick's wife Jeanne came across a self-published book by Andrew Splawn titled KA-MI-AKIN The Last Hero of the Yakimas that was published in 1917 in a second hand book shop. The book includes Splawn's account of the cattle drive from the Dalles, Oregon to Barkerville, British Columbia. Gulick and other historians have cited Splawn's accounts.

So I tracked down a print of A.J. Splawn's KA-MI-AKIN The Last Hero of the Yakimas in part because I am very interested in first hand accounts as to what the Washington landscaped once looked like. Splawn moved to what is now the Goldendale area in 1860 from the Willamette Valley at age 16. This was just two years after the Yakima War that had swept across eastern Washington.

In regards to Kamiakin, Splawn does not disappoint. His writing is not a researched history, it is a history as he remembers it and and as told by people that he knew that participated in the treaty negotiations and the fighting on both sides. Splawn met Kamiakin several years after the war and had several encounters with Moses (moses-epic-figure-of-19th-century) another important historic figure that shaped our state.

Though the book is titled KA-MI-AKIN, the story of the great Yakima leader is only the early part of the book. This book is a first hand account of the post fur trade west. The book is mix of stories of early settlement farming, mining and the great cattle drives. The Pacific Northwest cattle drives were epic and many a western novel and movie is based on the life that Splawn wrote about. He is frequently referenced as he provided first person accounts of cattle drives and meetings he had with various Indians, early pioneers, and military leaders.

I traced a couple of Splawn's cattle drives. He made the epic Dalles to the Cariboo trip more than once and that route is shown above. Note the drive is approximately 1,000 miles. His first trip included over wintering the cattle in British Columbia - a learning experience for an 18 year old. He also drove cattle from the present day Selah area to Lewiston, Idaho shown below. The purpose of these drives was to take cattle directly to the mines to feed the miners. At the time there were no towns in Washington along the routes driven and the routes would best be described as lawless and very risky. They passed through significant tracts of land controlled by Indians that had yet to agree to ceding land and many of the Europeans and Americans were flat out criminals and at the time there was no court system to speak of in Washington Territory and a fairly weak one in British Columbia. Mining in north Washington, Idaho and the Cariboo drove much of the early agriculture in eastern Washington and is what made Splawn a successful businessman.

Splawn's Selah, Washington to Lewiston, Idaho drive

Number notations below

1 - Selah

2 - Cold Creek at present day Hanford

3 - Whitebluffs crossing of the Columbia River

4 - Washtucna Coulee including a stop at two lakes in the coulee one near present day Connell the second near Kahlotus.

5 - Palouse River - they followed the river from just upstream of where it cuts into a narrow gorge to Union Flat Creek

6 - Union Flat Creek. A long creek valley that took the cattle up to Union Flat on the plateau south of Pullman and above Lewiston.

7 - Lewiston. The drive actually continued past Lewiston to the Boise Basin as they wanted better prices for the cattle than what was offered in Lewiston.

Mini Badland Southeast of Bridgeport

2011-11-15T08:24:00.000-08:00

Highway 174 from Grand Coulee to Bridgeport takes one up onto the northeast part of the Watterville Plateau and glacier scoured landscapes. The road then drops down into the East Foster Creek drainage and follows the drainage back down to the Columbia River to Bridgeport and Chief Joseph Dam. This valley has some mini badlands. Bare white/gray silt bluffs are scattered along the valley like old dump piles of soil, and the same silts area exposed along steep cut bank slopes adjacent to the creek.

Level terraces along the valley sides provide a clue as to the origin of the silt that makes up the bad land. Once the Okanogan ice lobe retreated back off the Watterville Plateau it still dammed the Columbia River creating a lake that extended up stream and up the valley the road passes down. That lake was filled with silt from finely ground rock from the glacial ice. The fine silts settled on the lake bed as a thick blanket of silt. Subsequent erosion has left a mini bad land and the terraces in the East Foster Creek drainage. The soil properties of the silt are somehow not conducive to plant cover at least in this local climate.

Lake terrace is the level line bench on the valley slope.

The lake formed by the Okanogan ice lobe varied in size and depth depending on how far the ice extended to the south and how thick the ice was. Sediments from this glacial lake are a common feature all along the Columbia River valley upstream from Chief Joseph dam. As posted previously the lake also must have had some big ice bergs as some huge boulders are scattered within the lake sediments glacial-erratics-near-grand-coulee-dam. Another version of the lake played a key role in shaping and directing the Missoula Floods across eastern Washington as water from the lake spilled out of the valley south across the landscape.

Missoula Forest Fire 2011

2011-11-14T08:22:00.000-08:00

Wild land fire east of Missoula, Montana

Forest fires near Missoula, Montana area are not uncommon. The forest in this area is subject to forest fires as many years there is a distinct dry period when the forest becomes fire susceptible. The forest is very similar to forest areas of eastern Washington; however, the recurrence of fires may be more frequent in Montana as lightning strikes are more common in this area.

The picture above shows that a forest fire does not mean that the entire forest is killed. Large areas of trees from this burn survived as the fire was limited to the understory and most of the trees would likely survive. In the picture above the fire was burning down hill, into a very light wind, the air temperature was not too hot as it was late in the day, trees are well spaced, and the understory was not thick. Other areas in this fire were burned more intensely - places with thicker forest, places where the fire burned when the air was hotter, and places where wind and topography drove the flames higher.

Having inspected burned areas in the past as well as this fire, I have learned to take reported acres burned in a bit different perspective. A 50,000 acre fire does not mean all the trees within the 50,000 acres were burned. Fire is an important part of forest landscapes and land management, And political sometimes a hot issue (pun sort of intended). Post fire impacts to geomorphic processes are an interesting subject that has been gaining attention with studies of post fire run off and sediment loads in stream systems. It turns out that the intensity of the fire makes a big difference in post fire rain water infiltration. Very intensely burned areas not only kill all the trees but also are subject to higher flood risk due not only the loss of tree canopy but can also be at risk due to soil alteration from the heat.

Clark and his dog with fire on the slope above the Clark Fork

Winter, Wind and Whidbey Island

2011-11-12T09:17:00.000-08:00

Sunshine and gravel bars on the Sauk River

Winter has arrived. It is the time of year to routinely check weather forecasts for planning field work and adventures. I did very well this week with a trip up to the Sauk River in the North Cascades on sunny Thursday allowing for pleasant conditions while trying to figure out somewhat perplexing problem. Felt quite smug as Friday was a far different day. Wind and a couple of rounds of sleet in Bellingham with snow levels dropping down to between 1,500 feet and 2,000 feet.

Big winds surged down the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Cliff Mass did a write up on the winds HERE.

Wind chart via Cliff Mass and UW.

I was tempted to head down to the west shore of Whidbey Island to see how big the wind generated waves were. But I had some reports to review and research and writing. If I had I may have run into Hugh Shipman. He did make the trip and has provided several posts with pictures HERE. So I got to stay cozy and take a virtual trip.

End of the Road at Ringold Landslides

2011-11-10T16:13:00.000-08:00

I recently took a trip up along the east bank of the Columbia River across from the Hanford area. After passing by a couple of the water slides and man made waterfalls end-of-line-for-canals, the road comes to an abrupt end.

End of the Ringold Road.

The Columbia River Road ends at a landslide.

The site is reached via Road 68 off of Highway 12/Interstate 182 northwest of Pasco

The road formerly continued north along the river before it was closed I believe in the 1960s. Irrigation on the plateau above caused groundwater to become perched on the silts of the Ringold Formation bluffs above the river triggering a series of landslides closing the riverside road.

Landslide scarps on the Ringold bluffs.

Orchards and other irrigated crop land is located above.

Note the green wetland on the mid slope.

The slopes were already steep and potentially unstable with some old landslides before the irrigation began. The slope is steep from toe erosion from the Columbia River. The irrigation has simply caused the frequency of landslides on this reach of bluffs to increase with slopes failing that otherwise would not because of the added water.

Fractured blocks on landslide surface with Columbia River below

Steam plume is from Washington Public Power Supply System nuclear power plant at Hanford

Silt/clay unit of Ringold Formation. Besides acting as a perching,

the unit is very weak from wetting and drying.

One of several headwall scarps exposing silts and clays

Finely layered silts in block on the slide surface

Volcanic ash unit

Volcanic ash

The Ringold Formation is well exposed all along the bluffs on the east side of the Columbia River in the Pasco Basin. Many of the silt units are decidedly white. These light colored silts along with units of volcanic ash give the area its name, White Bluffs. The formation overlies the older Miocene Columbia River Basalt Group and is overlain by Plio-Pleistocene alluvial and soil sediments. The age of the formation is estimated to range from 8.5 to 3.4 million years old. The deposits are are generally not very lithified. The sediments are derived from the ancient Columbia River, Snake River, Palouse River and a few other streams that flowed into the Pasco Basin. The formation has a fair bit of volcanic ash and deeply weathered soils.

The presence of the Ringold Formation hints that the Pasco Basin in south central Washington has been a subsiding basin since at least the end of the Miocene and given the thickness of the underlying basalts in the basin probably for millions of years before that. The preponderance of silts and lake deposits in the upper portion of the formation where the slides are taking place may be the result of changes in the Columbia River gradient down stream of the Pasco Basin. The Columbia River flows through the Cascade Mountains downstream through the Columbia River Gorge. It is easy to imagine a scenario whereby the Columbia would have been blocked by lava flows that would have backed the river up into a lake covering much of the Pasco Basin, but there are alternative mechanisms that could have changed the gradient as well.

The Columbia River Road ends at a spot where landslides soils deeply buried the road, but there are plenty of more landslides to the north beyond the road closure.

The end of the road can be seen in the USGS image above as well as section of the old road to the north

Active slides below irrigated land to the north

(USGS image)

Further north the slide area can be accessed via Columbia River Road from the north via Fir Road. A few homes have been built on a bench area above the river. I have not checked this reach out but the green swath to the east of the homes indicates perched groundwater on the slope.

Homes on bench area above river approximately half mile north of active slide area

Hay Rolls on Right-of-Ways

2011-11-09T16:04:00.000-08:00

Hay rolls on highway right-of-way, North Dakota

I spent some time this past summer on the northern Great Plains of the United States. A common feature I observed was cut hay rolls along the right-of-way of highways in Nebraska, the Dakotas and Montana. Not something one sees in Washington State. In part this is because most hay production in eastern Washington depends on irrigation and in western Washington farm land is fairly limited compared to the plains and even then summers are often too dry for much hay production. Regardless, I liked seeing the land along highway right-of-ways utilized. Given the need to cut back the jungle in western Washington, perhaps Christmas tree farms on the right-of-ways would work.

Theodore Roosevelt and Landslides

2011-11-08T07:30:00.000-08:00

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota

For geologists badlands are great fun. Lots of well exposed formations and raw geomorphic processes to behold. My early geology years were all about hard rocks, mines and metamorphic processes. But I found a recent trip into some badlands had me very enthusiastic about the work I currently do on slope stability. Lots of great landslides to check out.

This bad land area is not in Washington State. Theodore Roosevelt bought and operated a ranch here in these badlands. After his first wife died he came here to heal. He drew great inspiration from this landscape. Douglas Brinkley in Wilderness Warrior titled a chapter of the book Cradle of Conservation: the Elkhorn Ranch of North Dakota. That conservation ethic had a profound impact on the Washington State landscape we know today: 8 National Wildlife Refuges and 8 National Forests covering tens of thousands of acres were set aside in Washington State by Roosevelt.

The site of Roosevelt's ranch is now part of Theodore Roosevelt National Park in southwest North Dakota. With the near complete demise of the bison on the Great Plains, the area was very attractive for cattle ranchers in the late 1800s as the grasses had been ungrazed for several years and their had been no droughts or terrible cold spells.

Besides the history and alien like landscape, the park is full of landslides.

Landslide block. The hill in the foreground is coherent detached slide block from the slope on the left.

Another slide block with classic back slope from rotation

Cracks on road surface indicating an ongoing problem

Dip on road surface and patches mark the outer edge of a large failure involving the road.

Same failure looking down from above along the edge of the slide area.

The road was clearly constructed across an old slide surface

Expansive clay within the slide area. Bentonite swells when wet making it useful for sealing wells and landfills but a real problem for slope stability.

This section of road is in real trouble at another slide location

Yet another slide in the early stages beginning to fracture the road

View to Little Missouri River from the headwall of new slide

This slide did not impact a road but made a trail a bit tricky

Inverted topography: Southwest North Dakota is not flat, the hills are just downward

Lake Lenore and What to do with 20,000 Pounds of Sodium

2011-11-06T09:47:00.000-08:00

So you have 20,000 pound of excess sodium that you don't need. What to do? Hey, lets take it up to Lake Lenore and roll the sodium filled drums down a cliff. We can film it and post it on YouTube. It would be really cool.

Lake Lenore in central Washington is located within the Grand Coulee down stream of Dry Falls. The lake is within the big canyon carved by the Missoula Floods. I came across this an amazing post WWII clip of the disposal of sodium at the lake. Plenty of fun to watch. Not sure they were thinking about YouTube posts, but this was probably a popular clip in the local movie theaters.

Kelli Linville: Clearly Opposed to Coal

2011-11-04T08:50:00.000-07:00

Back in February I began putting together a bit longer than normal post on the potential coal terminal sites in Washington State coal-terminals-in-washington-state. The purpose of the post was to think through some of the issues from a state-wide perspective about coal terminal locations. At that time a proposed Longview coal terminal was in the news and there was a proposal for exporting coal at Cherry Point in northwest Washington. I have written a few other posts about the issue of exporting coal from the Powder River Basin to China via Washington State coal-stories, bellingham-and-fort-collins, coal-terminal-preemptive-strike, coal-politics-comes-to-washington and coal-politics-in-bellingham-yuk.

Just prior to putting that post up in February 2011, the mayor of Bellingham came out in favor of the proposed coal terminal at Cherry Point. The mayor dismissed objections to the coal terminal by stating "It (coal export) is not the smartest thing for the U.S. to do. It's not the dumbest thing we've ever done either. ... I live in the real world. A lot of people operate from a theoretical perspective." (Bellingham Herald). That statement caused Reading the Washington Landscape to deviate a bit off neutrality on politics and I took a very, very, subtle dig at the mayor. You see, I do not view CO2 levels in our atmosphere going to levels not seen since the Eocene as being even remotely not a really dumb thing.

The mayor had previously brought forward a resolution in favor of the terminal in October 2010 in strong support of the terminal 25oct2010_AB19001.PDF that included the statement "the Mayor of Bellingham, Dan Pike, joins with Council in its strong support of this project." and "We (City of Bellingham) seek to ensure that our policies and actions encourage, foster and facilitate .... expeditious development of the shipping terminal project of SSA Marine."

The mayor remained in favor of the project all the way into May of this year. The Bellingham Herald's John Stark reported that at a Sierra Club meeting on the issue "The meeting was jam packed, and most of the people there seemed upset at the thought of as many as nine loaded coal trains rumbling along the city waterfront each day. Linville (challenger to the mayor) told the group she had always been in favor of a multi-purpose export pier at Cherry Point as a source of jobs and tax revenue, but she opposed a single-purpose coal terminal. "I don't support coal burning," she told the May crowd. "I would much rather be exporting clean energy technology to China." At the same meeting, Pike expressed deepening concerns about negative impacts on waterfront redevelopment and city traffic, but he still talked of finding ways to avoid those impacts, rather than blocking the project altogether. Among other things, he repeated his suggestion that some or all of the coal trains headed for Cherry Point could be routed via a lightly used line along Highway 9 through Acme, rather than through Bellingham. Linville said she didn't think it was right to shift the negative impacts of coal trains to somebody else." http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/07/24/2111417/bellingham-mayoral-candidates.html#ixzz1cihkVL9C

Kelli Linville clearly stated in May "I do not support burning coal". In May, Mayor Pike was still in favor of the terminal but with valid concerns about the impacts of rail traffic to the city.

In June the mayor came out opposed to the coal terminal. Almost immediately the mayor campaign shifted into presenting Dan Pike as the first leader to oppose the coal project. The campaign has gone further and claimed Kelli Linville has been on the fence and imply that she is in favor of the coal terminal. Never mind what Kelli Linville said so clearly in May "I do not support burning coal."

Kelli Linville has a legislative history regarding coal, CO2 as well as dealing with some very difficult policy issues that often paralyze politicians. Kelli's position on the Washington State Climate Action Team led to State CO2 legislation to reduce CO2 emissions. That legislation led to Washington State getting involved in the appeal of the coal terminal project in Longview this past winter on the basis that the project would increase Washington State's CO2 emissions.

Specifically to coal: Kelli sponsored legislation that led to a process that will close the last remaining coal fired electric power plant in Washington State.

When Kelli stated in May "I do not support burning coal", she meant it.

Reading the Washington Landscape is about notes and observations regarding the Washington landscape. I have made a fair effort to keep political opinions out of this blog. But our landscapes are greatly shaped by people and politics plays a significant role in policy that shapes our landscape.

Back in February I noted that the coal terminal issue in Whatcom County and in Longview was "A nice divisive issue to pit community folks against each other". Indeed I was right, but I had assumed that the divide would be between those in favor and those opposed. I did not anticipate that people clearly opposed to the terminal would be treated as though they were in favor. And I did not anticipate that organizations and issues would be hijacked in the manner they have.

This post was inspired by the actions of an organization I have been a member of for many years, Washington Conservation Voters (WCV). WCV endorsed me five times during my political era. Washington State Conservation Voters has very badly damaged their reputation with their disregard for the truth on this issue and their willingness to manipulate voters with a campaign of misinformation.

WCV's bad behavior:

Thoughts on Manis Mastodon and Western Washington

2011-11-02T12:15:00.000-07:00

Lots of buzz regarding the pre-Clovis spear point embedded in the rib of a mastodon found south of Sequim, Washington. The age of this mastodon is an important determination regarding the presence of man in North America at 13,800 years ago. People were hunting mastodons on the Olympic Peninsula prior to glacial ice fully retreating from northern Washington State.
sciencemag.org - Pre-Clovis Mastodon Hunting
http://archaeology.about.com/od/preclovissites/qt/Manis-Mastodon.htm

The discovery was not a new find. Emanuel Manis found the mastodon bones while digging a pond with a backhoe on his property in near Sequim, Washington in 1977. Some very great archeology has been found with backhoes and Mr. Manis took his discovery seriously. He made some phone calls and soon had an archeology dig on his property led by Carl Gustafson of Washington State University. Mastodons fossils are not a rare occurrence in western Washington; however, despite all my traverses on steep eroding slopes I have thus far never had the good fortune to find one.

Gustafson took the find seriously because the bones were within a wetland area and provided an excellent opportunity via pollen counts to get a handle on the climate conditions. What is more, the site had a layer of volcanic ash so a relative date could be determined. Gustafson then made the astonishing discovery of a bone spear point embedded within a rib of the animal. Furthermore Gustafson estimated that the animal lived 14,000 years ago.

Archaeologists are a skeptical and cautious bunch and the site fell into that enigma category of a very old human site but of uncertain age. But new advances in technology and tools for dating have been developed and it turns out Gustafson was real close on his estimate. A team of scientists dated the mastodon with the bone spear point at 13,800 years old (see above link to Science Magazine article (abstract only unless you are a Science subscriber)).

What was western Washington like 13,800 years ago. Apparently Sequim was a fairly dry place at that time just as it is today only drier. The wetland area had pollen indicative of a brush covered landscape and included cactus. This is consistent with western Washington being drier at the late stages of the ice age.

But a very tantalizing aspect of this site is the fact that people were on the Olympic Peninsula so soon after the ice retreated from the area. In fact there was still substantial glacial ice in the northwest corner of Washington State at that time. It is very likely that there were ice bergs floating about the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
An intriguing feature of the coastal areas near Sequim and Puget Sound is that the shoreline was different than today.

Image from Ralf Haugerud and Harvey Greenburg (2000)

puget-sound-13980-bc (includes link to clip)

Note that Puget Sound was bigger 13,000 years ago. The reason was that the mass of glacial ice had pressed the local surface of the earth downward. As the ice retreated, the pressed down areas were flooded with water. Rebound lifted many areas out of the water over the the next few thousand years. Hence, shoreline locations are substantially different today compared to the time of the Manis mastodon hunt.

The presence of humans in this area so soon after the glacial ice retreated raises some other very interesting question about the first human settlers. Is it possible that the first arrivals to western Washington did not arrive via land but by water. If they did, their coastal camp sites or settlements are now deeply submerged as the outer coast, where there was no glacial ice, sea levels were much lower during the ice age.

Another fascinating question: Were people in eastern Washington at the same time. If humans were present some of them had eye witness views of the huge Missoula floods. One book I read on the floods speculated on just that and in that speculative account things did not work out so well for the witnesses.

But finally the confirmation that humans were present in western Washington before the ice age ended means that the post ice-age ecosystem and landscape evolution in at least western Washington was influenced by the presence of man from the very beginning. The ecosystems evolved with man. If the first people had not arrived so early, perhaps western Washington would be a bit different today than it is. Perhaps mastodons and giant bison (there is a likely very old bison butcher site on Orcas Island) would have still been meandering about the lowlands of western Washington for a longer period.

Release the River: Condit Dam Removal

2011-11-01T08:19:00.000-07:00

The biggest dam removal project in Washington history had a spectacular start this last weekend. Condit Dam built in 1913 had a tunnel blasted through its base with the final blast this past week. The lake behind the hole drained down in a couple of hours. The dam removal came after nearly a 20 year process to get to this point. When Pacific Power applied to relicense the dam in 1991, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner (FERC) provided as conditions for renewal a new fish passage structure and operation of the dam in a manner that was less harmful to fish. The fish passage structure was very expensive and the new operational requirements limited the electric generation that made the dam less profitable. After years of operating with an annual license Pacific Power opted for removing the dam.

However, there was further wrangling over the dam. Skamania and Klickitat Counties sought taking control of the dam but in the end they too decided it was not feasible. The next struggle was just how was the dam to be removed. There was a lot of sediment built up behind the dam. FERC wanted the sediment dredged; however, Pacific Corp argued against the high cost and presented the approach that while the impacts of a sudden breach might be harmful, the period of damage would be short lived. In the end Pacific Power prevailed with sudden breach approach. And I will say that it makes for good video as well as interesting geology processes.

Two videos: first is some great footage of the breach, flooding and erosion assembled by Columbia River Keeper and the second an overview of the project by Pacific Power. The term "release the river" is a quote of Treebeard in Lord of the Rings.

Quotes From Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S Herald

2011-10-30T10:27:00.000-07:00

I noted in a previous post how it was hard to leave-off once started reading Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Herald by Berthold Seeman flattery-rocks-berthold-seemann. I found his writing style very enjoyable and very illuminating of certain facts and perceptions. The voyage of the Herald included a survey of the waters and inlets of the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the late 1840s as well surveys in Alaska and off the coast of Central and South America including the Galapagos.

Seeman's observations of sites along the Strait of Juan de Fuca and in particular very early Victoria have been a valuable resource in understanding the landscapes of the area right at that point in time where the transition from First Nations to European/American dominance was taking place. In particular our understanding of the oak/prairie ecosystems as well as the role of fire in western Washington and parts of British Columbia owe much to Seeman and his book is frequency referenced.

But beyond the technical merits I very much enjoyed the book and the writing style.

A few quotes:

"Formerly, when everything was new and striking, both to the author and the reader, an amusing and instructive work was easily written. But now, nearly every school-boy is able to give a tolerably accurate account of the most remote corners of the globe, and if a traveler wants to bring forward something new, he must dive into details which, valuable as they may be to science, are not always appreciated by the general reader." - Preface to the Narrative

"The beautiful service for the dead appears more impressive at sea than in other situations. The silence within the ship, disturbed by nothing but the slow tolling of the bell, - the attentive and even pious demeanor of the men, - the unmarked spot in which the body is committed to the deep, - seem to shadow forth the unknown and illimitable eternity far more than the most solemn pageantry on land." - Commenting on the three sea burials between Panama and Flattery Rocks

"Our heads were full of American War, in consequence of the dispute about the Oregon Territory." - Given the delays in communication, there was some concern about what circumstances they find themselves when encountering Americans as a huge chunk of land was in dispute between the two countries.

"While nature has imparted to most animals a desire for cleanliness, uncivilized man, with all the intelligence, ingenuity, cunning, and skill of his class, seems in general to be uncleanly, to revel in filth." - Alas perhaps it is all too easy to fall into revelling in filth.

Goose Egg Hill, Hanford

2011-10-27T12:31:00.000-07:00

This a post that I initially thought would take 5 minutes to write up. But the more I looked at this hill the more interesting it got. The post is based on the referenced geologic maps, but the land form itself and how it survived the Missolua floods is my own interpretation. I was not able to find any specific interpretation of the hill; hence, the interpretation is mostly my own but with reliance on a lot of great work by others in the area and my interpretation should be not be considered peer reviewed.

Approximately half way across the Hanford area on the northeast side of Highway 240 is a conical hill, Goose Egg Hill. Its conical profile is unusual in this area. The hill is a natural feature; although given its location within a weapons grade nuclear production reserve, one might speculate it is man made. The scale of the hill is difficult to discern as it is located in a landscape without scale. The hill is approximately 140 feet higher than the surrounding plain.

Goose Egg Hill, Hanford

Goose Egg Hill location (Google Maps)

The geology of the hill has been variously interpreted over the years. I have a colorful geologic map series (Rockwell, 1979) that indicates the hill is part of the Pasco Gravels. The Pasco Gravels were deposited by flood waters from the Missoula floods. A previous interpretation was the hill was a large mound of debris deposited by a grounded ice berg left behind by the floods. There are berg mounds in the area Bjornstad and Fetch (2002). Reidel and Fecht (1994) interpret the hill to be underlain by a pre Missoula flood gravel unit that underlies the oldest Missoula outburst floods with a correlated age of 1 to 3 million years old. Bjornstad and Fecht (2002) suggest that it may be a remnant of a dissected flood bar.

Given the conical shape, I prefer the the Reidel and Fecht (1994) interpretation that it is an older feature that predates the Missoula floods. This area was likely elevated prior to the flood as it is located along the inferred axis of an anticline (Reidel and Fecht, 1994). Hence, the area where the hill is located would represent uplifted fluvial deposits from an ancestral Columbia River or a tributary. Under this interpretation, the conical hill shape is an erosional remnant that is reminiscent of a similar hill above the Yakima River (pushtay-odd-hill-near-selah-washington).

One problem with the interpretation that Goose Egg Hill represents an older erosional surface is How did this feature survive the Missoula floods that inundated this area? An overview of the Hanford area and the flood water is provided by Bjornstad and Fecht (2002).

Hanford Area from Bjornstad and Fecht (2002)

Goose Egg Hill is located near the center of the map above as indicated by the letter (G). Initially the flood waters poured into the area via Sentinel Gap to the north and the Othello Channels to the east. Initially Goose Egg Hill would have been above the flood waters. The hill would not be inundated until the water backed up from the restriction at Wallula Gap just off the southeast corner of the map. Under this interpretation Goose Egg Hill was inundated with quiet water simply pooling into the short lived Lake Lewis formed by the constriction at Wallula Gap. There were still currents from the large volumes of water rushing into the lake and these currents created the huge gravel bars - Cold Creek Bar and Priest Rapids Bar located north of Goose Egg Hill. The hill was far enough away from the high currents that it was not eroded and far enough away that that is was also not buried by the bars.

Still water deposits of silt (Touchet Beds) likely covered many areas that were inundated where there was little current, but those silts were stripped away from many areas as currents developed again as the lake drained away. The above map indicates silts underlie the area southwest of Goose Egg Hill, and the flood silt deposits are also indicated on all of the geology maps of the area and are readily apparent along the highway in this area. It may be that Goose Egg Hill happened to be located at just the right spot where the currents were not strong enough to erode the hill but there was enough current to prevent the hill from being buried in silt and the hill was far enough downstream from the building Cold Creek Bar that it never got buried. As the lake drained current channels developed forming the Central Hanford Braidplain to the northeast of Goose Egg Hill. After the floods, the area has been further altered by winds moving sand deposits from the flood into dune fields that now cover much of the Central Hanford Braidplain.

The area around Goose Egg Hill holds another surprise. Take a gander (pun sort of intended) at the area around Goose Egg Hill and note the crack-like surface on the surrounding plain.

Goose Egg Hill and patterned ground (USGS)

The patterned ground is not very apparent except from the air as in the above satellite image. Note the scale. The pattern is the result of clastic dikes forming in the rapidly deposited flood sediments (Bjornstad and Fecht, 2002). As the mass of new sediment pressed down on previously deposited sediments the underlying sediments were compressed squeezing water out. The escaping water ruptured through the overlying sediments. The fractures are filled with sediment from the underlying material and are called clastic dikes. The soils along the clastic dikes at the surface have different porosity and water holding capacity and thus the clastic dikes are expressed by variation in plants that grow on the surface which is visible from the air or to a clever observer on the ground.

It would be great to take a walk about to the summit of Goose Egg Hill and examine the proposed hill theories as well as the clastic dikes on the ground surface. However, the hill is located in the United States Department of Energy Hanford Site.

Goose Egg Hill and trespass warning

The Hanford area geology has been an intensely studied due to the extensive areas of subsurface contamination as well as detailed investigations associated with a formerly proposed nuclear waste repository. Hence, the mapping in the area is very detailed and our understanding of many features in eastern Washington has a great deal to do with detailed studies associated with the nuclear facilities at the site.

Highway 240 cuts across the Hanford Area northwest of Richland. This highway was completed in the late 1960s and in the 1970s was an interesting road to drive. It was a through route across the United States Department of Energy Hanford Site. This large tract of land was set aside for the production of weapons grade nuclear fuel during World War II. The small town of Handford and the farming communities along the river were condemned and those that lived there had only a few weeks to move. They were only allowed back for a brief period to harvest the last year of farming crops (Dale Webber, personal communication, 2011).

The highway passes nowhere near the old town or the nuclear facilities. Only distant glimpses of the facilities can be seen. The road passes through the driest area of Washington State. The combination of the Cascade Range rain shadow, the low elevation as well as the high ridge of Rattlesnake Mountain lowers the average rainfall to 6 inches per year. It is also one of the hottest places in the state during the summer.

The highway is now essentially the boundary between the United States Department of Energy Hanford Site and the Hanford Reach National Monument. The initial Hanford site was large for the purpose of secrecy and security and much of the area became a large wilderness. For a time the area had a herd of wild horses and in more recent years elk have moved into the area to graze on the vast grass lands on a seasonal basis.

Bainbridge Raised Beach - From the South

2011-10-26T06:42:00.000-07:00

I posted on the raised beach at the south end of Bainbridge Island previously raised-beach-along-seattle-fault. Yesterday, I got a closer view of the raised beach on the Seattle to Bremerton Ferry.

Restoration Point, southeast end of Bainbridge Island

The uplifted area is the grass covered ground between the shoreline and the trees on the steep slope up to the houses. The uplifted area is a classic platform shoreline that formerly was a bedrock wave cut platform within the tidal zone that has now been uplifted within the Seattle Fault Zone. The fault zone consists of several fault strands some of which reach the surface as can be seen on the LIDAR image.

LIDAR of south Bainbridge Island showing raised shore and fault scarp

The north-south streak like ridges are drumlins from the passage of the Puget Ice Lobe

Note the scarp and raised shore post date the drumlins

My trip across the sound to Bremerton was on the foggy side with a cool fall chill in the air. The boat stopped for a bit to allow the east bound Bremerton to Seattle ferry to emerge from the fog. But the trip ended in bright sun and a nice view of the Bremerton Naval Ship Yard.

The Walla Walla emerges from the fog

Naval Ship Yard, Bremerton, WA.

End of the Line for Canals: Waterslides and Waterfalls

2011-10-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

The irrigated areas of eastern Washington are laced with canals. Most of the canals follow the contours of the land to transport water to farm fields. Occasionally an aqueduct, tunnel or siphon is used to get water across an obstruction too difficult or expensive to route around. But eventually the canal comes to an end. I recently took a trip into the southern part of the Columbia Basin Project and came across the end of several canals that are at the lower part of the Columbia Basin Project. Some of these canals end in a manner that will be for a future post, but others send water back to the Columbia River via concrete lined slides and waterfalls. Water originally pulled from the river at Grand Coulee is returned to the river.

The first canal looks like a spectacularly speedy water slide; however......

View up the canal looks like great fun

View at the bottom looks very exciting

Perhaps would be best to enjoy the plunge pool without taking the ride

The second canal is a narrower more individual affair; however...

View up the canal from bridge

This ride includes dips

View down to the end looks like a bit of a drop

A really bad ending

By the way the splash pool of this canal has created a nice exposure of the conglomerate unit of the Ringold Formation.

Canal number three has a nice long straight run and is not so steep. This canal follows a valley carved down from a Missoula flood channel, Koontz Coulee, that has been irrigated.

View up the canal slide

The ending on this one is not a vertical drop

The pool was chaotic whitewater but I failed to take a good picture of it

This same canal continued to another drop.

This slide had baffles that would beat the heck out of anyone that would try running it.

I lived in this area during that period of one's age when one did compulsive and flat out stupid things. But I will say I never tried any of the slides. Nor did I know anyone that did. I am not sure anyone was reckless enough. There were always plenty of stories about kids getting killed and warning signs about the dangers. And besides we had plenty of other places to swim. I will add that this was prior to pesticide restrictions and at the early stages of the Clean Water Act and the canals did not have a great reputation as clean places.

A while back I worked on a canal project where we set up a monitoring scheme for tracking wildlife that tried to cross the canal systems. The canals had little side bays with steps so animals that fell in could get out. One idea was to properly locate the escape sites so that by the time the trapped animal reached the escape site it was not too exhausted. Of course another idea was to locate bridges at key crossing locations used by animals. In areas where the escape steps were not property located, animals would die and then float down the canal where they would accumulate at debris gates.

Coal Politics in Bellingham: Yuk

2011-10-21T16:43:00.000-07:00

Back in February I did a post on proposed coal terminals in Washington State. In that post I described the issue as "A nice divisive issue to pit community folks against each other". At the time, I figured that it would be a divide between those in favor of the terminal and those opposed. Indeed there has been some divisiveness along those lines; however, there is now divisiveness amongst coal terminal opponents.

After initially being in favor of the coal terminal, the incumbent mayor is now very firmly opposed to the coal terminal. The mayor is up for election and his opponent is also firmly opposed to the coal terminal. One would think that would be enough on that issue at least in the context of an election. One of those issues that political opponents can say "Hey, there is something we both agree on."

But no, the Bellingham community gets this door bell piece:

This is what Kelli Linville said: "I have been consistent from day one. I do not support exporting coal or any other non-renewable natural resources. I do not now, nor have I ever, supported a coal terminal at Cherry Point. I have worked against exporting and burning coal for many years. I will vigorously ensure that we are engaged in the scoping and permitting process from beginning to end to ensure our interests are represented."

A while back a friend of mine said that he feared the Bellingham mayor's race will be decided on the coal issue. Even though the mayor has no say in the permit process. And even though both candidates oppose the coal terminal. Of course one would not know that from the above door bell piece. But that's the point. Yuk.

Geoprobe Work

2011-10-20T07:27:00.000-07:00

On occasion we oversee geoprobe investigations. Geoprobes developed as a less costly means of collecting soil samples for geotechnical and environmental purposes. Under the right geology circumstances they are a great approach for getting sub surface information. Essentially they are a hollow tube pushed into the ground and then pulled out with a sample of soil inside the tube. The wonders of hydraulics and extremely tough alloys do the trick.

Truck mounted geoprobe

Pushing the probe into the ground

Small tractor like rig. These types of rigs are great on steep slopes or inside buildings

Samples are collected in plastic tubes that can either be hauled back to the office or cut open at the site for sending off for chemical analyses.

On a recent project we probed through an upper unit of sand and gravel (fill) down into Bellingham Glacial Marine Drift. The Bellingham Drift was deposited towards the late stages of the last glacial period when the Puget ice lobe retreated out of the Puget low lands. The mass of up to 6,000 feet of glacial ice had pressed the local earth surface downward. As the ice retreated the sea flooded over the land that had been pressed down by the ice such that the ice lobe was for a time floating on inland sea. The melting ice rained a steady load of finely ground rock silt and clay onto the sea floor below as well occasional pebbles, cobbles and boulders. This phenomenon was most pronounced in the Bellingham area as the ice had been thicker here than areas to the south and the glacial ice lingered longer in this area; hence, the name Bellingham Drift.

Where the drift has remained saturated it is very soft - a bit stiffer than tooth paste. A bit of a challenge for constructing big heavy buildings but pretty good at preventing the movement of contaminants as long as it is the silt/clay variety of the drift.

Geoprobe core samples of soft Bellingham Drift

I have a habit of making balls out of the extra sample material.

More skilled geos might shape figures

Washington State's Other Mounds

2011-10-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

I recently made a geologic pilgrimage of sorts. As I was on one of my crazy trips for work (Port Discovery and Port Ludlow followed by a drive down the west shore of Hood Canal and then across White Pass to Kennewick), I made a minor detour and visited the Mima Mounds south of Olympia (or west of Littlerock).

The Mima Mounds are a landscape of mounds that are on the order of 2 to 6 feet high that cover a swath of glacial outwash gravels. A whole range of theories have been put forth on how the mounds formed. My own take on the mounds is that geologists have had a great time coming up with theories on the Mima Mounds and some other mound landscapes as well. One of the great things about the Mima Mounds is the theories. They have inspired creative thinking and great joy that there are landscapes that we still do not fully understand.

But this post is not about the Mima Mounds. That is for another day. This post is to note that there are lots of other mound sites in Washington State - particularly on the east side of the Cascades. One of my favorite routes in Washington State is along the upper, high portion of the northern side of the Columbia Basin between Wenatchee and Spokane. Lots of great geology and landscapes including several areas with mounds that are very similar in size to the Mima Mounds.

Mounds Along Highway 174 northeast of Grand Coulee

An approximately 3-foot high mound

This particular mound site is located on the northeast portion of the Watterville Plateau. I spotted these mounds just after reaching the plateau top above the Columbia River valley west of Grand Coulee Dam. This site has been glaciated by the Okanogan ice lobe and is underlain by thin glacial till over basalt bedrock.

A cursory read about various mound sites in western North America suggests that there is no single explanation for the mounds and a remarkable variety of explanations for each mound site are often proposed. This mound site on the northeast edge of the Watterville seems to be no different - it seems that a variety of explanations or theories are possible. A scattered number of basalt boulders left by the ice lobe in the vicinity suggests one explanation, but I would not want to place any bets. And perhaps the mounds at this site actually were formed in various ways but with a similar end result.

Basalt boulders on the Waterville Plateau

Of course there are anthropogenic explanations as well. The recently formed mounds pictured below are located a few miles west of the mounds pictured above.

Mounds in plowed field on the northern Waterville Plateau

And then there are the mounds in southern Wisconsin and other Midwestern sites. The mounds in Beloit, Wisconsin are similar in size. Prior to "development" of the area there were thousands of similar mounds in Wisconsin and elsewhere in the Midwest. Most, like the ones pictured below, are similar in size to the Mima Mounds and the mounds scattered around sites in eastern Washington. The Beloit mounds had some ritual meaning to the local First Nations. And perhaps a message to geologists that not all mounds were formed in the same way.

Mounds in the lawn, Beloit, Wisconsin.

Washington State Board of Natural Resources Punts Again on Lake Whatcom

2011-10-17T09:05:00.000-07:00

Washington State Board of Natural Resorces

I recently took a trip down to Olympia to testify before the Washington State Board of Natural Resources. This board sets policy for the management of state owned trust lands and state managed forest board lands. The management duties are carried out by the Department of Natural Resources.

The state owned trust lands, Land Grants, were given to the state by the federal government at the time of statehood as a means to generate revenue for schools and capital projects associated with state government. The common school trust lands are the largest.

The state also manages what are termed forest board lands. Forest board lands were created after cut and run logging operations in the early 1900s left tens of thousands of acres of cut over land that county governments had foreclosed on due to failure to pay property taxes. Management of these lands was taken over by the State so that they could be properly reforested. One county, Grays Harbor County, was allowed to opt out of the program. Grays Harbor manages their own county forest board lands. All other counties are allowed to take over management of forest board land for park purposes through a process called reconveyance. A few parks have been created in this manner.

The board consists of six members: Dean of University of Washington College of the Environment, Governor (appointed person), State Lands Commissioner (elected), State Superintendent of Public Instruction (elected), Dean of Washington State University School of Agriculture and a county commissioner or council person from a county with state managed timber land. Since the Board's creation along with the Department of Natural Resources, the board acts as the trustees for these state managed land. As such the board's primary focus tends to be on issues overseeing the generation of money from these lands via leases and timber sales. They also make sure that any land exchanges are fair to the trusts.

A full discussion of the nuances and legal issues around management of land grant trusts and county board lands will have to wait another day.

The purposes of my trip along with numerous other folks was to encourage the Board to complete a land exchange between Land Grant trust lands and Forest Board lands in the Lake Whatcom watershed in Whatcom County. The proposed exchange is the result of Whatcom County wanting to take over management of the Forest Board lands in the watershed as a forest preserve park. Currently the Land Grant lands and Forest Board lands are intermingled in a checkerboard configuration. The idea behind the exchange was to place the Land Grant lands in a coherent easily managed block and the Forest Board lands in another more easily managed block. Sounds simple, but as best I can tell the rub is that the Board of Natural Resources really does not like the idea of a county reconveying land. The Board had this issue before them in June and tabled it. At this last meeting on October 10, the board again tabled wanting additional information and asking for measures that they do not have the authority to require. I have to opine here that the additional information requests and other measures is a delay tactic.

I have been through this same process before. In the early 2000s the State Legislature required the Department of Natural Resources to develop a management plan specific to the Lake Whatcom watershed. Once that plan was developed by the Department, the Board of Natural Resources tabled the plan for 10 months until Whatcom County filed a lawsuit. State DNR's lack of effort in defending and upholding that plan as well as efforts to undermine the plan and even swap the land the plan applied to out of the watershed triggered the County to consider taking over management of at least the Forest Board lands - lands that belong to the county after tax foreclosures but are managed by the DNR with Board of Natural Resources oversite.

The decision by the Board to table the land exchange does not prevent Whatcom County from moving forward with reconveyance. That decision is up to the County. The County had delayed that decision for 4+ years in the spirit of cooperation with the DNR to come up with a better land package for management. That cooperative approach mas memorialized in an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The Board is not so inclined to be cooperative and the MOU apparently carries no weight with the board members thinking.

The Board appears to be taking a position that by taking no action on the exchange and delaying, the county government will change their mind after spending nearly $300,000 to support the exchange for a better management plan. Perhaps they hope reconveyance will be less likely to happen. They really do not like reconveyance and the loss of state control that goes with it. At least one member expressed a concern that other counties might do similar reconveyances. This board views such actions as not a good thing.

Heading into the Board of Natural Resources meeting to testify

A Few October Notes While Traversing Washington State

2011-10-15T09:19:00.000-07:00

I recently traversed across Washington State. A few observations. I spotted some fall colors worthy of New England on the upper slopes above Snoqualmie Pass off of Interstate 90. I suspect by the coloration that the color is primarily vine maple with possible mountain ash.

Further on my way along the road - large boulders just south of Sentinel Gap on Highway 243. The boulders were deposited by one of the Missoula floods. Flood flow velocities were very high as the water tore through Sentinel Gap plucking off basalt boulders and rolling them across the landscape towards the south. The boulders at this location were pushed towards the road into a row when the field was cleared of boulders in the 1980s for growing grapes.

A bit past the boulders the road is lined with wooden bins in preparation for apple harvest near Desert Aire. This is a desert area, but water is provided via irrigation canals from the Columbia Basin Project. One problem - there is a big labor shortage this year. By some estimates %40 of the pickers and packers are as our governor stated "document challenged". With crack downs on employers, some farms are having a hard time finding workers.

Crossing the Hanford Site is a conical hill called Goose Egg Hill. An unusual feature given the location that I'll have to write up on some future post along with another unique but more subtle feature that surrounds the hill. The hill is within the Department of Energy Hanford site. This is a place where weapons grade nuclear material was manufactured. Lots of waste sites and contaminated areas. The Department of Energy spent $1.96 billion of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Stimulus) money here over the past two years. They got a lot done, but the area faces lay-offs as the money has been spent. With the local congress person Doc Hastings the chair of Natural Resources Committee there may be some leverage for more federal money even though Doc Hastings voted against the Recovery Act funding.

Spin on the Marcellus Shale and an Energy Revolution

2011-10-14T09:42:00.000-07:00

I found this article on the Marcellus Shale by the Associated Press very interesting: AP Marcellus Shale Spin. Issues are very rarely black and white. For the scientists and policy wonks caught in the middle of this, it must be tough. It is hard to not proclaim a pox on both sides. Even when one comes to a conclusion on one side or another it can be disconcerting to be in anyway associated with arguments that rely on made up information. Nough said!

But for those that may not be familiar with the Marcellus Shale or Utica Shale or Bakken Formation (Bakken Formation posts HERE and HERE) as well as a number of other recent gas and oil boom areas, there is an energy revolution of sorts taking place in the United States. An if you live above one of these geologic formations you are likely experiencing more than just the energy revolution - Who would have thought western North Dakota would have a massive housing shortage? I know from my time in North Dakota this summer the place is being over run by oil field workers.

There certainly has been significant changes in energy production in Washington State and elsewhere in regards to wind energy in particular. But for those that think that peak oil is upon us and that oil production or natural gas production will be in steep decline anytime soon, you might be disappointed. That said, how we utilize the new energy fields should be given some thought.

How all this will relate to Washington State is hard to say. Washington State still amazingly has never had a commercial operating oil well that I know of and extremely limited natural gas production. The near term impact may be the shifting of oil sources impacting the refineries in northwest Washington that rely on tankers of oil from Alaska or crude via pipeline from Canada. With natural gas prices dropping due to the new production elsewhere, I suspect it may be awhile before coal bed methane hydrofracturing starts in Washington State. IN the meantime, perhaps we could learn a thing or two from Pennsylvania and New York.

Home on the Railroad, Benton City

2011-10-13T09:09:00.000-07:00

Home on old railroad grade with rail bridge over Yakima River, Benton City, Washington

I spotted this house located on the old rail grade across the Yakima River from Benton City. The rail line was originally built by the North Coast Railroad from Kennewick to Yakima in approximately 1900. A variety of folks with funding from the east built rail spurs that would connect to the big cross county lines. Part of the schemes were also to plat communities along the rail routes and develop the areas along the rail lines so that rail would sell property and then the properties would produce rail customers.

The North Coast Railroad was taken over by the Oregon and Washington Railroad and Navigation Company in 1909. This company appeared to be a merger of a number of linked spur rails with backing by the Union Pacific. The Union Pacific controlled this particular line since 1910. The rail line has been abandoned for many years, replaced by a line that follows a different route from Kennewick to Yakima not far to the south of this line. In recent years the railroad properties along this abandoned stretch of rail have been sold off - including the home site above as well as a parcel that crossed Washington State Department of Natural Resources managed land.

I am not sure of the condition of the bridge next to the home; however, the elevated rail grade provides a place well above flood waters on the Yakima River.

City of Nooksack Considers Swift Creek Asbestos Impacts

2011-10-12T08:49:00.000-07:00

Back in July 2010 I posted on a proposal by Nooksack and Sumas to expand their growth areas into flood plain areas along the Sumas River floods-and-urban-landscapesl. Besides the flood risks there was also the fact that sediments deposited by floods on the Sumas River contain asbestos. I submitted comments and spoke at the County Council public hearing about this issue as well as few other urban growth issues.

After that public hearing both Nooksack and Sumas withdrew their request for larger growth areas and this week settled their dispute with the County by agreeing that they will work with the county on new plans for growth that will consider some of the concerns the two cities have regarding their growth boundaries.

Within in the concerns incorporated in the resolution stating the agreements was this for the City of Nooksack:

"Review of areas potentially impacted by Swift Creek sediment and associated risks, and consideration of proposed measures to manage or mitigate such risks."

and this very wonky issue:

Whatcom County Land Capacity Analysis Detailed Methodology to consider incorporating areas documented by Nooksack as being impacted by sediment from Swift Creek potentially containing naturally occurring asbestos (NOA) into the critical areas/sensitive environmental areas subtraction component of the land capacity analysis.

It is great to see the City of Nooksack is taking the Swift Creek issue seriously and will be be planning accordingly. Pretty great for such a small community.

Swift Creek Landslide: Density Sampling at a Growing Problem

2011-10-09T08:53:00.000-07:00

Thursday morning I ventured out to the active Swift Creek landslide. I have not developed a ranking system for landslides, but I am fairly certain that if one was devised, the Swift Creek slide would rank as one of the worst slides in Washington State. The Swift Creek slide is an act in progress and the situation and potential costs continue to get worse. The lower portion of the slide below the bedrock failure area has been moving progressively down the mountain slope in the Swift Creek drainage. I have called this badlands area whatcom-countys-desert in a previous post describing the slide and have posted a few other times regarding a number of big landslides on Sumas Mountain lidar-sumas-moutain. The slide has been and continues to slide down the mountain side in the Swift Creek drainage. The slide is now pressing well into a narrow canyon section of the creek and the unraveled broken up area continues to expand.

View of slide from the northwest flank of the slide toe area

View of lower toe area of the slide looking down toward Swift Creek

Kim Ninnemann and Scott Linneman contemplate the route ahead

View across the toe area of the slide

Scott Linneman and Ben Ferreira contemplate sampling sites

Southwest flank of toe area pushing into forest on the south valley wall

Kim Ninneman and Ben Ferreira traversing the slope

Part of Thursday's effort was to gather bulk density data on the slide. So we scrambled around to fresh exposures of the upper newly failing area and then the highly broken up sediment on the lower slide. Very dense blocks of bedrock within the slide are shot full of veins of asbestos form minerals and once the rock breaks out onto the slope it readily crumbles and weathers. In addition some of the "rock" has been completely altered to clay. It still looks like rock and retains many of the features of the original rock structure but is now clay.

Classic block of ultramafite crumbling apart

Breaking a block of ultramafite weathered to clay

Circle above hammer is a brass ring pressed into the "rock" for bulk density measurement

Highly fractured slide surface

Samples here were also relatively very low density

The landscape of the surface of the lower slide really is a strange and different place to be on the side of a mountain slope in western Washington. It was though I was back in the bad lands of western North Dakota. Fortunately it was early enough in the wet season to be able to traverse the slope without getting stuck in the mud if one stayed alert to avoid wet areas. I only sunk into the mud to my ankles a couple of times. Numerous milky springs are located on the slide surface. The milk is suspended sediment that consists primarily of asbestos.

Milky white spring

extremely fine sediment coloring water is mostly asbestos

Longer asbestos form minerals picked up on the slide surface

Blocks of Huntingdon basal conglomerate collapsed onto the slide surface

The conglomerate was deposited directly onto the weathered ultramifite approximately 50 million years ago

At the very lower end of the slide, trouble brewing. The slide already contributes huge sediment loads Swift Creek, but the slide toe area has changed considerably since I was last up on the slide four years ago. The slide has moved down into a narrow restricted portion of the canyon and is pressing into trees. A pool of water has formed on the toe area behind a large block of rock. The slide toe area has not eroded, the toe area immediately above the narrows is very steep and the slide is beginning to deflect the creek to within a few feet of a potential new channel route poses a significant risk of a large debris flow which will send a large surge of sediment and debris down the stream.

Pending problem on lower toe as water pools within landslide area at a constriction in the valley

This site is a potential debris flow trigger with lots of loose material blocked up behind the pool of water

View looking up slide from pool pictured above

Kim Ninneman and Scott Linneman contemplate pooled water with slide area above them

Slide pushing into the forest has pushed stream (not visible) into the forest

I plan to do a follow up on the downstream impacts to Swift Creek and the land around Swift Creek on a future post.

Zombies, Dolores O'Riordan, Patty Murray - Moms in Tennis Shoes

2011-10-08T08:07:00.000-07:00

From http://acemaxx-analytics-dispinar.blogspot.com/2011/10/zombie-economics-updated.html

Paul Krugan posted a link to a political cartoon (above) that utilized many of his terms for a variety of political economic ideas in-the-long-run-we-are-undead. One term used by political commentaries about bad ideas that never die are zombie ideas. ApexNerd over at Latte Republic has used this term as well to hilarious effect regarding local issues in Whatcom County. Krugman added the Cranberries reunited playing Zombie. I was on my lap top and the song paused with a view of Dolores O'Riodan's feet. And I thought "Another mom in tennis shoes". Dolores stepped away from rock and roll stardom to stay at home with her kids prior to the video posted below.

United States Senator Patty Murray (Washington) used the phrase "mom in tennis shoes" to describe herself during her successful political campaigns including election to the United States Senate. This was a play on an apparently dismissive elected that referred to her as just a mom in tennis shoes. The mom in tennis shoes is now the co chair of the United States Congress Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction. Hope she will be a good Very Serious Person in this position and she still has the good sense of a mom in tennis shoes.

I learned long ago that moms in tennis shoes are very serious people. As for Dolores O'Riordan - I have to say she is a very serious rock and roller mom in tennis shoes.

Of Wolves and Tapeworms - Rewriting Genesis

2011-10-07T18:45:00.000-07:00

Via a participant at a hearing on wolves in north central Washington:

Top moment from yesterday's wolf hearing: An upstanding Okanogan County Commissioner expressed his concerns (yet again) on how wolves carry a danger of infecting us all with tapeworms. This took a while, so he got buzzed at the three minute limit. But he continued after the buzzer to add this morsel of ultimate relevance: "When I last read the bible, Adam and Eve were here before wolves." I'm not sure where in the chronology the tapeworms fall.

The Commissioner needs to reread Genesis, "And God said, 'Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds' ...And God saw that it was good. Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness' : So FIRST the wolves and tapeworms, THEN the people.

Lisa Hannigan and Swift Creek Landslide

2011-10-06T18:12:00.000-07:00

Multiple cloud layers viewed from Sumas Mountain, Whatcom County, Washington

Swift Creek Landslide, Sumas Mountain, Whatcom County, Washington

After enjoying Lisa Hannigan at the Tractor in Seattle's Ballard Neighborhood last night with my Lisa, I checked out a landslide today on Sumas Mountain. Lots of damp misty weather the last few days. Lisa Hannigan noted during the show she felt at home and enjoyed the moist weather (not exactly in those words). She also dedicated "I Don't Know" to Steven Colbert who gave her a nice plug a couple of years ago. The downside of the rainy weather is Lisa Hannigan missed the views of the Cascades, Olympics and our big strato volcanoes. She will have to come back and visit again. We would much appreciate that.

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Heading to the Tractor in Ballard to see Lisa Hannigan

2011-10-05T08:24:00.000-07:00

Lisa Hannigan is getting a glimpse of Washington State. Music from my tribal homeland at the Tractor in the Ballard Neighborhood in Seattle.

And a video that always cheers me up.

McBee Road Landslide

2011-10-04T09:01:00.000-07:00

Ancient landslide south of Kiona and Benton City

McBee Road traverses across the slide

There are a fair number of large ancient landslides on the north facing slopes of the folds in the Yakima Fold Belt. The folds are generally very asymmetric with very steep north slopes and gentle south slopes. The folds are tight enough on the steep north slopes to have highly fractured the basalt bedrock of the Columbia River Basalt Group and in some areas minor thrust faults are present. The above picture was taken in the morning from the road that crosses the south slope of Red Mountain - a hot spot vineyard area. I had been on McBee Road earlier in the morning and had observed the landslide from the side.

Side view of landslide at McBee Road

A coherent slide block with a classic back slope towards the slide area can be seen on the right along with the classic lumpy terrain on the slide area compared to the smooth plainer slopes with valleys between me and the landslide. Many of the slides may have been triggered by the lower sloes getting saturated and/or eroded by the flood waters from the Missoula floods.

The bunch grass also stood out very well in the early morning light. The land is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The steepness and dry conditions apparently never appealed to any homesteaders or the railroad land men leaving this land area in public ownership.

Windows and Islands in the Basalt near Creston Washington

2011-10-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

Highway 2 traverses across the very northern edge of the Columbia Basin between Wenatchee and Spokane. The road crosses through alternating deep loess soils with winter wheat and channeled scabland where soil was stripped by the Missolula Floods. In this far northern and higher scabland area, stands of ponderosa grow within the joints and fractures in the bedrock and aspen grows in the low scoured out areas where soils are wet.

Granitic outcrop east of Creston.

Blue arrows denote Missoula Flood flow paths that stripped off loess soils

Most of the bedrock along the route is dark brown Columbia River Group flood basalts that covered vast tracts of eastern Washington. However, a short distance east of Creston is a patch of light colored rock. On the western side of the Telford Scabland telford-scabland-highway-2 in one of the deepest channels is a patch of granitic rock. The age of this isolated granite outcrop is not known but it is very similar to granites to the north that are late Cretaceous to early Tertiary associated with Lincoln Metamorphic Core Complex. Hence, this outlier of granite in an otherwise basalt area is likely a southern extension of the core complex. The basalts are thinner in this area of eastern Washington as this area must have been elevated during the Miocene and is a fairly long ways from the Columbia Basalt Group eruptive centers in northeast Oregon and southeastern Washington.

Outcrops of light colored bedrock on road cuts along Highway 2

Outcrop of granite east of Creston

It is not a spectacular outcrop. But it is different compared the much younger Miocene basalts and Pleistocene ice-age landscape that dominates nearly the entire Columbia Basin.The granite along Highway 2 was exposed by the erosion through the somewhat thin basalts in this area by the Missoula flood waters creating a window to the rocks underlying the basalt. Of coarse a few miles to the north is the deep Columbia Rviver valley incised down through the basalts into the underlying complex series of core complexes and older grabbens filled with sediments and volcanics from the period prior to the great Miocene flood basalts covering the area.

Creston Butte, a short distance to the west and just south of the town of Creston, is underlain by much older gneiss of very uncertain age. It has been correlated with similar units that are Ordovician in age as well as similar units that are Precambrian in age. Its isolated position surrounded by miles of basalt and Pleistocene sediments combined with very complex geology underlying the basalts poses a difficult geology interpretation challenge.

Creston Butte

Road to the summit and radio towers on Creston Butte.

The summit area of Creston Butte was likely never covered by the basalt lava flows. This butte is one of several buttes that consist of much older rock rising above the surrounding Miocene Columbia River Group flood basalts. Isolated buttes that protrude through lava flows are referred to as steptoes. The termed is derived from Steptoe Butte located on the eastern side of the Columbia River Group flood basalts. The higher elevation above the surrounding landscape exposes the summit of Creston Butte as well as the other buttes in the area to higher winds and more erosion through storm water run off and prevented them from being completely covered entirely by eolian silts like much of the surrounding land.

I try to imagine Miocene mammals living in eastern Washington gathered on Creston Butte and other steptoes driven to these high points by lava flows. Would have been a great place to watch the flood basalts cover the land. And Creston Butte was the high point on another island during the Missoula floods.

Creston Butte is not exactly a spectacular summit, but it is the furthest west steptoe rising above the flood basalts. A couple of more steptoes are located just south of Davenport along highway 2 and these buttes are mapped as being underlain by Precambrian gneiss.

Buttes south of Davenport

Sunrise Up the Skagit

2011-10-01T09:18:00.000-07:00

Sun rise breaking through clouds looking up the Skagit Valley

The sun rises are rapidly becoming later and later in early fall. And the weather is starting to shift to a wetter pattern. In short we are leaving the long days of northern light to the short days of wet and dark. We have to take what light we can get! Whenever I drive Interstate 5 across the lower Skagit Valley the view up the Skagit Valley is always worth a look. The Skagit Valley is a deep valley that penetrates deep into the North Cascade Range. There is often weather up the valley and if not weather clear views of the jagged interior peaks deep within the range.

I just have a point and quick click digital camera. The image is not exactly how the scene appeared to my eye as the foreground was not so dark, but the image did capture the silver/gold atmosphere of the early morning sun breaking through the heavy clouds.