Protecting rare prairie into the year 2040
Nov 12, 2009
Conservation Northwest staff joined other coalition members to testify against the Cross-Base Highway and urge protection for Washington's rare prairie habitat.
Taylors checkerspot is an endangerd butterfly whose larvae feed on Indian paintbrush on native prairie at the proposed site of the Cross-Base Highway. Photo by Rod Gilbert
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At a Puget Sound Regional Council's policy board meeting today in downtown Seattle, Conservation Northwest staff joined other coalition members to testify against the Cross-Base Highway and urge protection for Washington's rare prairie habitat.
The meeting was a critical decision point for the board as it voted on recommendations for Transportation 2040, which lays out a vision for Puget Sound's transportation system for the next 30 years. Transportation 2040 provides a huge opportunity to think about transportation in a new way that considers alternative modes of transportation and the contribution of our transportation system to climate change.
Currently, the project list includes the destructive Cross-Base Highway in Pierce County, and a coalition of people are trying to change that.
"Often we like to talk in numbers about transportation," Jen Watkins of Conservation Northwest stated in her public comments, "so here are some of the numbers we do know about the Cross Base Highway: Only 3 percent of the biologically rich oak-prairie habitat remains in Washington, 162 acres is directly lost to this highway, over 1,600 acres of this endangered habitat is fragmented by this proposed highway."
She closed her comments with the number, "over 160, that is the number of members that sent in comments to this council in a matter of hours yesterday opposing the inclusion of the Cross-Base Highway in your list."
It is always fantastic to put real numbers to the voices of our members, and include that tangible support in our testimonies. Thank you for making our voice louder!
Our testimony followed strong comments from our coalition partners including representatives from the Woodbrook Hunt Club, Tahoma Audubon, and Starfire Farms. At one point, coalition member Colby Chester stated in his comments, "If I sound emotional, it is because I am emotional: Why would we destroy such a rare habitat for an unnecessary road?"
A final decision on a whether the highway is included in the transportation plans for the region will be made this winter, and with your help Conservation Northwest will continue to build pressure to ensure the Cross-Base Highway is withdrawn and rare oak-prairie habitat protected.
