On August 1, OlyEcosystems bought this property from the logging company to ensure it will never be developed. We will replant the forest this winter and will be asking volunteers to help with mulching the trees.
Please, No Trespassing.
The property is currently closed to visitors due to unsafe conditions.
At this time, OCEP has committed $85K to mitigation and erosion control measures before the rains come. Our goal includes building gravel trails at the same time since we already have the equipment on site and the logging road will soon be removed. Our plans include linking up to the City’s Cooper Crest Open Space trails that were cut off in addition to building a corner-to-corner walking path.
We have no funds for trail building.
We had hoped that the City would support this work in a timely way. At this time, it is not clear whether that support will arrive. What is now clear is that it will not arrive soon enough to help us avoid significant erosion. We have a short window of time to get this work completed.
We are appealing to the public for $20K by October 15 to complete this work.
During September, we will continue to have heavy machinery on site while we mitigate the slash piles left by the logging operation and remediate the compacted logging road. When this phase is complete, we will shift into preparations for fall planting.
Thank you for your understanding and support!
Normally an announcement of a conservation success is a moment for celebration – the hard work of our conservation volunteers and the community come together and help to secure the future for all.
This announcement is more somber.
A forested wetland on the highest hill of Olympia is no more.
Clearcutting destroys an area’s ecological integrity in many ways. Our forests provide abundant and pure water, a stable climate, wildlife habitat, and clean air. This area includes the headwaters of one arm of the Green Cove Creek, which is Olympia’s best potential salmon recovery habitat. The site:
Is a critical area for aquifer recharge,
provides habitat to threatened species, and
stabilizes the slope to prevent landslides.
The loss of this forest creates conditions that greatly exacerbate the possibility of
- flooding,
- fire,
- landslides,
- contamination of ground and surface waters,
- damage to road and culvert infrastructure, and
- destruction of fish habitat.
But there is one piece of good news in this troubling story: OlyEcosystems has purchased this land and will – with community support – slowly restore this once-beautiful forest back to health.
It will not be easy and most of us will not live to see this forest in its fullest sense again but we are committed to the future of the Pacific Northwest and to tomorrow’s children.
Your hard work and ours is the only viable answer for what comes next.
