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Home My WebLink AboutWetlands Reconnaissance - PLN General - 2/24/2004 ^�Frn,F,F RECEIVED D FEB 2 7 2004 y. �� 78R4 STATE OF WASHINGTON MCCD - PLANNING DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY PO Box 47775 • Olympia, Washington 98504-7775 • (360)407-6300 February 24, 2004 Kristin French Mason County Dept. of Community Development PO Box 279 Shelton,WA 98584 Re: Wetlands Reconnaissance for Parcel Number 12309-31-90073,Bear Creek Dewatto Road; Connie Wurm/Carol DiMarco Dear Kristin: I was glad to be able to provide technical field assistance regarding the Wurm parcel on February 13. 1 inspected the site with you and concluded that slope wetlands are present on the parcel and that excavation of the building pad did encroach into wetlands and wetland buffers. The cut slope formed by recent excavation and grading of a building pad provided a good opportunity to inspect soils. At the west end of the site,at zero to ten inches below the surface the soil was a very dark sandy loam(7.5YR 2.5/1)and below ten inches it was a 2.5Y 4/2 gravelly sandy loam with pore linings showing indicators of reduction and oxidation. These soil colors and other indicators are indicative of hydric soil conditions. Soils in the vicinity of this parcel are mapped as those of the Everett soil series: Everett gravelly sandy loam, 5 to15 percent slopes and 15 to 30 percent slopes and Everett gravelly loamy sand, 15-30 percent slopes. The Everett soils are non-hydric and somewhat excessively drained; although the Everett gravelly loamy sand(15-30 percent slopes)may have hydric inclusions at the location of alluvial cones. Also,wetland conditions may still form wherever the soils are ponded or saturated long enough to form anaerobic conditions in the upper part. . Direct observation was made of wetland hydrology. The undisturbed soils at the western and southwestern portions of this property were saturated to the surface and water was pouring into an unlined bore hole at 10 inches below the surface. Vegetation on the undisturbed portions of this property and further west,off of the property,is mixed mature forest,consisting of western redcedar,western hemlock,red alder,big-leaf maple, and salmonberry with thick understory patches of sedge. This is considered to be a hydrophytic, or wetland vegetation community. The western redcedars appeared to be well over 80 years old(judging by their size and complex growth habit),more than likely qualifying this as a mature forested wetland. Historical aerial photos(showing past presence or absence of a forest at this location), local knowledge of the historical land uses,or coring a sample of these trees can be useful in verifying the age of this forest. The presence of over 1 acre of mature forested wetland would result in the categorization of portions of this wetland as Category 1. It is probable that those wetland portions of the property that are no longer forested would receive a rating of category II or III,yielding a dual rating of I/II or I/III for wetlands on the subject parcel. It is important to keep in mind that when dual ratings are applied the entire wetland 1 Ms.Kristin French February 24,2004 Page 2 of 2 must be considered for the lower rating,without consideration of the fact that part of it is mature forest. In other words,consider the mature forested area along with the non-forested area when counting up significant habitat value points(question Q.4 of the wetland rating field data form) for the wetland. The stratigraphy of the area south of Tiger Lake is further indication of the presence of wetlands in this vicinity. The plateau encompassing Tiger Lake is predominantly glacial till(Alderwood Soils). This area has a cemented till layer 24 to 32 inches below the ground surface. The hillslopes below this plateau are predominantly Everett soils, formed as outwash channels between ridges of Alderwood soils. As water moves horizontally below the ground surface along the cemented till of the Alderwood soils,it will surface as hillside seeps along these ridges at the location of the Everett soils. Studying the National Wetland Inventory Maps for this location(Wildcat Lake and Belfair quadrangles)reveals that these hillside seeps have led to the formation of slope wetlands at many of these Alderwood to Everett soils interfaces. It was not possible to determine precisely where wetlands had occurred on the disturbed portions of the property, as up to 4 feet of native soil appears to have been graded off in places. Based on the location of wetlands around the graded building pad,I drew a rough sketch of where wetlands may likely have occurred(attached). It appears that the wetland extended some distance(approximately 50 feet)into the area of the existing building pad. Wetland buffers would have extended further onto the property from that point. Even if wetlands did not extend into the area of the building pad,this area is clearly buffer of the Category I wetland. My recommendation at this point is to have the landowner hire a wetland consultant to determine more precisely the existing and pre-existing locations of wetlands on this parcel and to propose a wetland and wetland buffer restoration plan. Please telephone me, at(360)407-6221, if you have any concerns or questions regarding these comments or if I may be of further assistance. Sincerely Ann Boeholt,Wetland Specialist Shorelands and Environmental Assistance Program AB:dn Enclosure f . 4 MIA" os5b.0 coo i � 5'0 � r I n�t0� , o CL M � iv NE1�ivcK .� �i 'S CDi �RbO Yes ow S "� m t J 0 N r uATtil N AREA S —o y d 1 p s a Q o � Jp � N cl x �, uNas��►�aEu N �, s � --F ia -• i I Qxt d)- t i n. 4 o I 3