The Chehalis Basin Collaborative for Salmon Habitat and American Rivers held a community meeting Thursday, March 13, at the Twin Cities Senior Center to present details of their new proposed project for Coal Creek to the public and hear feedback.
Kirsten Harma, lead entity coordinator of the Chehalis Basin Collaborative for Salmon Habitat, and Brandon Parsons, the director of river restoration with American Rivers, led the meeting with some help from Bob Russell, a citizen representative who has spearheaded the project.
Russell announced earlier this week at a Chehalis City Council meeting that the state Office of Chehalis Basin awarded $280,000 in funding for a study of Coal Creek. The money will kick start phase one of a project aimed at restoration and recreation on the land in Chehalis.
That funding will be managed by American Rivers, a national nonprofit for river restoration, through a contract with the state of Washington Department of Ecology.
This operation is a team effort between American Rivers and the Chehalis Basin Collaborative for Salmon Habitat, which itself is an organization aimed at restoration that leads salmon recovery projects that can benefit communities. It does so by finding a home for state and federal funding marked for salmon habitat recovery, according to their website.
“Salmon recovery projects benefit more than just salmon,” states the Chehalis Basin Collaborative for Salmon Habitat website. “They protect agricultural lands, provide flood protection, fix roads, bridges and other infrastructure, and create tourism and recreational opportunities. Because projects are managed at a local level, they help bring money into the local communities.”
The meeting led off with an informational session on the project's goals and next steps hoping that the citizens present would share their own vision for the project. The goals laid out at the start included healthier salmon runs, recreational access, improved appearance, bird and fish watching and water storage during smaller floods.
This first phase of funding will go toward community engagement, legal reviews and concept designs, but the majority — $150,000 — is earmarked for a feasibility study.
To make that happen, American Rivers will provide a project manager followed by consultants who will study the quality of the soil, the layout, zoning and a wealth of other factors to understand exactly what they are working with and what they could do to improve the more than 80 acres of floodplain.
They hope to begin work on the study this summer, Parsons said.
During the presentation, Harma and Parsons focused on the role of the community and their hope for the community to be well served by and included in the project.
“Our intent is to let the community needs drive this,” Parsons said. “It was a great community event, and this is a community project, so this is the first step toward that goal.”
After their presentation, Harma and Parsons turned their attention to the audience and asked their own questions about what citizens want from this project, if they want to contribute and how they would like to do that.
“It was great to see interest in what the feasibility study will turn up in regards to enhancing habitat for salmon, but also for birds and other wildlife that are supported by healthy wetland ecosystems,” Harma said. “There is a lot of interest in trails for recreation at the site.”
A small but enthusiastic group began brainstorming their own ideas or concerns.
The most common concerns were over accessibility and parking. The group hopes the new site, whether it's trails, a boardwalk or something else, will be easy to get to and use so everyone can engage with nature.
Chehalis Mayor Tony Ketchum came to show support from the city and on his own behalf.
“The people that were there were excited and had good input,” Ketchum said. “I myself am excited about putting something there. Some place that's beautiful for people to bring their families.”
