Dr. Mark Harmon

Many Griffin area residents, being as we are within a few short minutes of the Thurston-Mason county line, are probably aware of the questions raised regarding the environmental credibility of the biomass incinerators proposed for the Shelton area. Promoters are working to sell political leaders on the idea that burning locally-harvested wood, to generate electricity, is an environmentally friendly, renewable energy source. Opponents describe pollution worse than burning coal and argue burning biomass has a huge carbon footprint. What is the truth about biomass and the environment?

From one of our neighborhood association partners, the Olympia Coalition of Neighborhood Associations, we have received notice that Dr. Mark Harmon, professor and Richardson Chair of Forest Science at Oregon State University, will be speaking at the Evergreen State College on November 4.

November 4
6 to 8 PM
The Evergreen State College
Lecture Hall 1

The presentation is free and open to the public.

Dr. Harmon is a professor and chair of the forest science department at Oregon State University. His research has been referenced to both credit and discredit the idea of achieving carbon neutrality by using waste wood of forest management for energy. This is a community presentation on forest carbon and carbon cycling. Dr. Harmon is offering a one-hour lecture, with an hour for questions and discussion.

Click here for the Oregon State University biography on Mark Harmon.

Some of his commonly referenced papers include:
Mark Harmon's 2009 Congressional Testimony on Forest Carbon Sequestration -
http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/images/Documents/20090303/npfpl/oversight/testimony_harmon.pdf

Potential Upper Bounds of Carbon Stores in Forests of the Pacific Northwest -
http://www.biol.wwu.edu/hooper/Smithwicketal2002EcolAppl_UpperBoundsofCstoresinPNWforests.pdf

Successional changes in live and dead wood carbon stores: implications for net ecosystem productivity -
http://treephys.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/22/2-3/77.pdf

There is a $2 parking fee at the college. Directions and a campus map can be found here:
http://www.evergreen.edu/tour/gethere.htm

For more information opposing construction of the Shelton biomass facility, click this link. 
 
Click here for King5 coverage of the opposition to the Shelton biomass facility.
 
Click here for Northwest Renewable News coverage, "Plan for Shelton, WA biomass plant is great news for region"
 
Click here to read "The Stranger's" coverage of the Shelton biomass plant.
 
And click here to read a brief article that appeared in the "Kitsap Sun."
 
 

"Steamboat Island Road" features an interactive map

Hi Neighbor! For many living on the Steamboat Island Peninsula, it's hard to get to know your neighbors. Sure, you may know a few people on your street, but beyond that, how many people do you know on the peninsula? Many people spend more time off the peninsula than on it. But they would still like to know more of their neighbors, buy from businesses and garage sales on the peninsula, and attend local events.

Finding myself in similar straits, I created a website to help.

Steamboat Island Road Website - http://steamboatislandroad.yellowbearjourney.com/

This directory is for everybody in the Steamboat Island area, just outside of Olympia, WA. It will allow the people, businesses, non-profits, and communities of the Steamboat Island area to network, collaborate, and buy local.

If you want to post your business here, contact us with business title, category, and contact info. Contact info can include website, address (only if customers are coming to your door), phone, and email address. If you don’t have a website, we can help you create it.

Business listings are $72/yr. Discounts may be available. Key businesses and non-profits receive free listings, but are encouraged to support this website by purchasing their listing. All businesses listed on this website are listed in the directory. Businesses that have customers coming to their door also get listed on the map.

We also encourage you to join the Griffin Neighborhood Association, which is involved in similar efforts.

Please send us your Event, For Sale, Wanted, and Free postings. Include the Item, the Price, if you want it or are selling it, and contact info. Postings are a minimum of $1 and a maximum of $5 depending on the price. Garage sale postings are $5. All postings submitted and paid for will be posted within two weeks.

Advertise here. There is one spot on the main page that goes for $20/month - first come first serve. Additional add spots are available on a second page for $10/month. These prices are for businesses on the peninsula. Prices are double for other businesses.

Dale Stubbart dale@yellowbearjourney.com
Certified Deep Green to save energy while you surf the web.

Exciting news! With the support of homeowners in the Griffin area, the Steamboat Conservation Partnership has helped Capitol Land Trust conserve another 1.25 miles of coastal habitat on Eld Inlet and secure nearly $2 million in new conservation funding.

This is the start of the Steamboat Conservation Partnership's second year. The Partnership is an agreement between the Griffin Neighborhood Association and Capitol Land Trust to help conserve special natural areas right here in the Steamboat Peninsula region, defined as the watersheds of Eld and Totten Inlets.

If you contributed to the Partnership, during its first year, thank you. Please continue your commitment by:

• Renewing your contribution to the Partnership;
• Spreading the word about the Steamboat Conservation Partnership to friends and neighbors who will join the effort and contribute; and,
• Contacting Capitol Land Trust if you are interested in finding out about conserving your property.

If you have not yet made a contribution, you are invited to take this opportunity to learn more about what John Dodge, writing in the July 12, 2009 issue of "The Olympian" called, "a terrific partnership that should serve as a model to other neighborhood groups interested in the preservation of sensitive lands." Click here to read more about the Steamboat Conservation Partnership.

Under the Partnership agreement, the Griffin Neighborhood Association solicits at least $15,000 of contributions to Capitol Land Trust each year for five years. Contributions are placed into a trust account and may only be expended on a portion of Capitol Land Trust's operating costs within this region. Operating costs include staff time developing relationships with landowners, acquiring land and conservation easements, securing grant funding, and monitoring acquired lands. Capitol Land Trust meets and confers with the Griffin Neighborhood Association about its strategies and the focus of its activities in the region.

This map shows natural areas Capitol Land Trust has acquired or preserved over the years in this region, including six miles of shoreline and more than 600 acres of surrounding uplands within the Eld Inlet watershed and nearly 600 acres within the Totten Inlet watershed. Capitol Land Trust recently completed a major acquisition on lower Eld Inlet south of Highway 101 and shortly expects to acquire Adams Cove on Totten Inlet.

Farms Forever Art Show & Dinner

The event will feature an afternoon public exhibit of fine art related to farming and agriculture, a farm and farmer's market poster contest and photographic exhibits of area farms.

An evening ticketed dinner will feature local farm produce, a live art auction and silent auction. After dinner, we will have a "Hoedown Downtown" with two local bands. Please visit http://www.communityfarmlandtrust.org/ or call (360) 292-9842 for more information or for art entry information.

Illustration above and to right is "View of Barn from Small Hill" by artist Cindy Hadden, Centralia.

Click here for the flyer and ticket order form. Or, click here to register and pay online. Complete and submit the on-line registration form on the Events page. Use the Donate Now button on the website for payment and under "Designation" please write "November Fundraiser."

"The Nordic States and European Unity," a free, public lecture by Prof. Christine Ingebritsen from the University of Washington will take place at the Olympia Center, 222 Columbia St. at 7:30pm on Thursday October 21^st.

Prof. Ingebritesen is the author of a book with the same title as her lecture published by Cornell University Press. Her four books and numerous articles focus on Scandanavia's global role and the unique capacity of smaller states to innovate in economic, environmental and security policies. The event is sponsored by the Olympia World Affairs Council. For more information call 360-867-0919.