Richland residents have every right to be furious about the state of “restoration” in W.E. Johnson Park. Ten acres of shrub steppe habitat look more like an abandoned corner lot overrun with weeds.
Dirt, invasive species and construction tape have replaced nature. We hope the city learns a valuable lesson from this bungled project.
W.E. Johnson Park sprawls over 236 acres on the east bank of the Yakima River. It is mostly undeveloped, a natural break between neighborhoods and the river. Bird watchers, horseback riders, hikers and anyone looking for a natural respite frequent the park.
Last month, park visitors discovered the destruction. Workers had cleared vegetation and left exposed earth, ripe for weeds to take hold, especially invasive Russian knapweed.
As reported by the Tri-City Herald’s Wendy Culverwell, the area was cleared as part of an environmental restoration project tied to a hotel development near Columbia Center mall.
West77 Partners, a Nevada-based developer, is building a 126-room hotel that will target temporary workers like visiting nurses and construction workers.
West77 is removing some sagebrush for its project. Under a city ordinance, the company must therefore restore twice the amount of sagebrush habitat elsewhere. It’s a good rule to ensure that developers leave Richland’s natural spaces better off than before they broke ground.
This is the first time the city has applied the ordinance, and it’s safe to say that despite the best intentions it did not go as well as anyone had hoped. West77 worked with J-U-B Engineering and WildLands, a local restoration firm, on the project, but they didn’t consult the public.
West77 does not appear to have been skirting the law or trying to sneak one by the public. It thought it was taking the right steps. Indeed, there does not appear to be any ill intent in any of this.
Part of the problem is that the project hit during a transition period at the city. Laura Hester, Richland’s beleaguered parks and public facilities director, abruptly resigned last year after being on the job for less than 10 months. Her successor, Chris Waite, got the job at the end of April.
As he was getting his footing, W.E. Johnson happened. Public outreach and engagement that could have and should have happened did not.
Instead, members of Tapteal Greenway, the Lower Columbia Basin Audubon Society and other conservation groups discovered what had happened without warning.
It’s far from clear that this was even the best place for a restoration project. The birds and other animals that live in the park were hardly crying out for an upgrade. Chalk an iffy site selection up to the transition as well.
Now everything is on hold amid the righteous furor.
Planting native species can’t happen until later in the year. In the meantime, there probably will need to be repeated applications of weedkillers to keep things under control.
That’s far from an ideal solution in the middle of a natural park. It doesn’t take much breeze to blow Roundup onto nearby plants.
When the next restoration project comes along, communication will be critical. Richland has passionate experts who care about natural areas.
It is foolish not to tap that resource when a developer comes along looking for the easiest way to fulfill its restoration obligation. Hold a public hearing and have the developer call local conservationists who can help identify the best sites for restoration and the best ways to go about it.
That’s the lesson for next time, though. For now, reach out to those same people and collaboratively figure out the best way forward to mitigate the “mitigation” at W.E. Johnson Park.
With all the construction going on around the Tri-Cities we will never get back to the bucolic fields of asparagus and the miles of fruit trees we once enjoyed.
But our other cities can learn from Richland’s mistake and sharpen their need to take care of more than building permits and traffic lights.
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