Ryan Mello Announces $7 Million for Chambers Creek Bridge Replacement & Dam Removal

The existing Chambers Creek Bridge is structurally deficient and must be replaced. PSRC’s Bridge Pilot Program will fully fund the project’s design phase. Construction is scheduled for 2030. ________________________________________________________________ By Kirk Kirkland The Puget Sound Regional Council’s (PSRC) Executive Board approved $7 million in new funding to advance Pierce County’s Chambers Creek Bridge Replacement project. […]

Tribe Eyes Wildlife Refuge for Industrial Oyster Aquaculture

by Kirk Kirkland The Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge and Protection Island are for the birds. They pause here annually to feed in preparation for their migration across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. On August 16, 2023, Protect the Peninsula’s Future, the Coalition to Protect Puget Sound Habitat, and Beyond Pesticides sued the U.S. Fish […]

Look for Migrating Birds Passing Morse & Dungeness Refuges

By Kirk Kirkland Millions of birds are flying across Washington State during the spring migration season. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology tracks these overnight movements using advanced weather radar data. Many of these migrating birds travel along the Pacific Flyway passing over Pierce County. They pause to rest and feed in local green spaces before […]

Land Transfer Discussions Fail to Address Taxing Problems

By Kirk Kirkland A well-funded public relations campaign is sweeping the North Olympic Peninsula. It frames the proposed federal land transfer of the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge complex to tribal sovereign trust as a conservation-friendly certainty. The narrative claims seamless management. The underlying infrastructure data, however, reveals an entirely different reality. The proposed transfer ignores […]