Chalk Line

Freeze Gopher!

Will Stakelin
Government Affairs Director

Thanks to a varmint called the Mazama Pocket Gopher, Thurston County is being turned into our very own Caddyshack.  It seems like only yesterday I was watching Carl Spackler, played by Bill Murray, being tortured by a gopher on the golf course in the 1980 comedy - Caddyshack.  For those who have seen the movie you can appreciate the extreme measures Carl took in an attempt to rid the course of the pesky little gopher - yelling "Freeze Gopher" - and how the gopher tormented him.

Recently the humor carried over to BIAW's summer conference.  During the Executive Officers' and Government Affairs Director's meeting, in which issues affecting the building industry are shared from around the State, the topic of the Mazama Pocket Gopher was shared with my colleagues.  When I mentioned the Mazama Pocket Gopher you can image the response - laughter.  Carl Spackler and Caddyshack all over again!

Unfortunately, the Mazama Pocket Gopher is no laughing matter and this fuzzy little rodent is causing a growing number of landowners to be prohibited from developing their land.  Projects are on hold and the Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) is behind the latest attack on private property rights.  Several years ago the Mazama Pocket Gopher was listed as a "Threatened Species" under the state's "Species of Concern".  It's not an "Endangered Species" like the infamous Spotted Owl, but protected none the less.

According to an article in the Tacoma News Tribune (published online on May 20, 2008) the Mazama Pocket Gopher resides in "the most violent spot on Fort Lewis - the post's largest artillery impact area."  The Army uses the artillery impact area for live-fire training and it is "littered with so much old ammunition that post officials don't allow people to set foot on the ground unless they go through unexploded ordinance training."

This firing range is the "sanctuary" for four species one of which is the Mazama Pocket Gopher.  I'm sure the Department of Defense (DOD) feels sorry for bombing the precious habitat and that's why two years ago the DOD began paying The Nature Conservancy to ensure the survival off-post of populations of several species, which includes the Mazama Pocket Gopher, through the "Army Compatible Use Buffer program" or ACUB.  The gopher resides on a military firing range (no noise or threat there) but needs extra protection when it comes to privately owned lands.

According to the article, The Nature Conservancy has received $1.5 million and could get up to $2.2 million from DOD for conservation efforts for species such as the Mazama Pocket Gopher.  These funds were made available by Congress in 2004 authorizing DOD to pay for conservation projects surrounding military installations which include the prairie lands of Thurston County.  The first year's appropriation was $12 million.  In 2007, Congress provided $40 million and the amount is expected to increase to $60 million!  Here is where the problem starts for Thurston County land owners. 

In other areas, The Nature Conservancy has used the money to purchase land to protect species such as the Mazama Pocket Gopher.  However, The Nature Conservancy has taken a different approach in Thurston County and instead of buying suitable property and relocating the Mazama Pocket Gopher they have decided to "restore and maintain lands where the creatures have historically thrived," according to the article. 

The Nature Conservancy's habitat restoration effort is primarily aimed at state or county-owned prairie properties in Thurston County.  WDFW has become their enforcement division clamping down on individual property owners who are unfortunate enough to have a Mazama Pocket Gopher on their land.  

WDFW has transformed their role of protecting species of concern from being hunted or fished into an overzealous de facto moratorium on land development.  Rather than providing guidance to local jurisdictions on how to protect the Mazama Pocket Gopher AND be sensitive to landowner's needs and property rights WDFW is rendering whole parcels undevelopable.  Using very little science WDFW instituted a 10 meter radius x 3 around each Mazama Pocket Gopher mound as a protective buffer.  One land owner in Thurston County has been told his property is completely undevelopable due the combined radiuses being larger than the parcel itself. 

The Olympia Master Builders (OMB) and others want the WDFW to adequately protect species of concern, but it needs to start with a realistic management plan based both on proven science and common sense.  Prohibiting development of private land with no ability to mitigate is not an acceptable plan.

OMB has made a formal public records request for all documents and information on the Mazama Pocket Gopher from the WDFW to gain a better understanding of the process they have followed regarding the  Gopher.  WDFW recently issued a letter requesting jurisdictions in Thurston County hold off on issuing decisions on issuing permits related to six projects in Thurston County with Mazama Pocket Gophers. Per the letter, WDFW wants "additional time in the permitting/SEPA review and decision process for the development proposals." 

The letter went on to say: "WDFW is currently arranging a meeting with all local jurisdictions and public entities to discuss ways we might refine the planning and permitting flexibility, minimize regulatory burdens on landowners, and develop the best option for long-term protection of the pocket gopher."  

The "regulatory burdens on landowners" is actually a regulatory "takings" under the Fifth Amendment requiring compensation to the landowner once their property is rendered unusable as the result of governmental regulations.  Unfortunately, local jurisdictions are caught in the middle - WDFW doesn't deny a permit - local jurisdictions do setting them up for potential litigation.  OMB is going to do everything we can to ensure that WDFW will be respectful of not only the Mazama Pocket Gopher's needs, but work with local jurisdictions in allowing individual property owners their right to use their land.
        
Quote:  "I have to laugh, because I've outsmarted even myself. My enemy, my foe, is an animal. In order to conquer the animal, I have to learn to think like an animal. And, whenever possible, to look like one. I've gotta get inside this guy's pelt and crawl around for a few days."  Carl Spackler - Caddyshack.