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Thurston County commissioners favor hybrid riparian buffer approach; staff to do gap analysis and add meetings
Summary
Commissioners on April 15 directed staff to pursue a hybrid riparian protection framework that combines a flexible, site-specific option and a simple large-buffer option, and to prepare a gap analysis and additional meetings through October before drafting code; staff also reviewed WDFW guidance recommending RMZs (channel migration zone plus site-potential tree height) and treating fish-bearing and non-fish-bearing streams consistently.
Thurston County Planning Commission commissioners on April 15 signaled support for a hybrid approach to protecting riparian areas and other fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas, directing staff to return with a formal gap analysis and additional meetings before drafting ordinance language.
Staff presented Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) guidance recommending a riparian management zone (RMZ) defined as the channel migration zone plus the site-potential tree height, with a recommended 100-foot minimum RMZ for streams. Staff explained that site-potential tree height is an estimate of how tall dominant tree species on a site could grow over a long-term horizon and that combining it with a channel migration zone produces a buffer intended to protect key riparian functions such as shade, woody debris contribution,…
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