Thurston County planning commission sets Aug. 20 hearing for 76.96‑acre Gorgas open‑space application

The Thurston County Planning Commission voted unanimously to set a public hearing Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. to consider Roland and Cindy Gorgas’s application to enroll 76.96 acres in the county’s Open Space Tax Program.

Marissa Westman, a biologist with Thurston County Community Planning, told commissioners the Gorgas parcel is mapped in the Long Term Agriculture (LTA) zone and that the owners are seeking enrollment under the farm and agricultural conservation and significant wildlife habitat area categories. Westman said roughly 15 acres are proposed for farm and agricultural conservation with the remainder classified as significant wildlife habitat.

The application packet described ongoing agricultural uses including haying and honeybee rearing by Forest Dog Farms, no residential structures subtracted from the enrollment, and supporting documents that include a land conservation plan and a habitat management report prepared by qualified specialists. Westman said the site contains wetland habitat, ponds, an intermittent stream and mixed‑stage forest and is located southeast of Yelm in the Yelm Creek Basin of the Nisqually watershed. She said the parcel lies within a mapped…