Environmental Study Of Lechtenberg Park

[Turtle]

i drove by the park 2 weeks ago & shot some video as i passed :steering: , but just now getting around to taking some stills to post. hey; lechtenberg forest's not going anywhere, right? first to set the scene for this week.

 

weatherbug

More Rain, Snow Plague Storm-Weary NorthwestUPDATED 1:30 PM PST, December 2, 2010UPDATED By WeatherBug Sr. Meteorologist, James West

...

Along the warmer northern California and southern Oregon Coast, the moisture will continue to be squeezed out as heavy rain. Already, more than an inch of rain has fallen, and another 1 to 2 inches of rain will drench the immediate coast into the Interstate 5 corridor. This amount of rain could cause flash flooding problems in poor drainage areas as well as near creeks and streams that experience significant rises.

 

the first attached image is from the road looking NW across the hay-field bounding the park's south side. as you can see, the field is flooded. the line of trees back-right is lechtenberg.

 

the second shot is lacamas creek from the bridge, looking upstream into lechtenberg park; the third is the same but including the flow station.

 

that's all from the beak for this week. . . . . . . .

[Turtle]

hitched a ride by lechtenberg park today & took some new photos. the first is the ditch between the road & the park & the water in it has risen at least a foot. the second shot is the creek & it is staying pretty constant in level as the extra water floods off into the hay field & other low areas behind the park.

 

2+ inches of rain in 2 days and though dry now, there is 1 to 3 inches coming tomorrow in the valleys and 3 to 5 inches forecast in the mountains. it's rather unseasonably warm & the snow level is pretty high, so not only is it not snowing in the mountains, the rain may melt some of the snowpacks. :weather_rain:

 

the development lot isn't flooded yet, but the retention pond on the east end at the road junction is overflowing its banks now. i didn't mark it but you can see it on the edited google map in post #430.

 

:rain: :tree:

[Turtle]

february 9^th is the 1 year anniversary for the sad turn that my study has taken, i.e. freeztar's discovery of a notice declaring that lechtenberg park is no park at all.

I'm with you on the concern.

 

I did some sleuthing to see if I could find anything about the park that we haven't discussed here yet and anything about future develpoment.

 

I found this quote from an anonymous source: "This "park" is in designation only. It is privately owned. The park designation is to keep any future development from happening. Trespassing without permission is not accepted. The golf course to the West (Green Mountain) is part of the same 500 acres of property including the "park"."

Lechtenberg Park - Mill Plain - RecreationParks.net

 

:eek:

 

this enterprise began because i was inspired by tormod's 'science for everyone' motto, cedar's & freeztar's reporting on their own active individual pursuits of ecological field study here @ hypography, and the possibilities of the relatively new tool google earth. i was further inspired to continue the study by the many other positive contributions & comments to this thread as it progressed, as well as my notice of how many views the thread was receiving. i found also a certain personal satisfaction that in retrospect, the time i was spending on the project provided a therapeutic distraction from an otherwise noisy existence. a large & hearty thank you very much to all deserving parties!!

 

45º 38' 50" N

 

122º 27' 37.35" W

 

I found this park a number of months ago using several map programs to explore my area, and I am bound & determined to look into it's ecological condition for myself.

 

I'm within a few miles and hope to work up my stamina so I can walk to it, but I finally drove by yesterday to scope things out. If you put the above coordinates into Google Earth you can follow along as I go. It may yet be weeks before I get there to spend a few hours exploring, so I will entertain your suggestions for topics of investigation or measurements, etcetera.

 

The park is 40 acres and looks from the road to be undisturbed for decades if not scores of years. Running through the park is Burnt Bridge Creek, which then runs on through metropolitan Vancouver. [Running through it is Lacamas Creek.] I suspect the park is a land donation and that it is no coincidence that it's 40 acres, as this is a 1/4 Section of the oft-used Township/Range method of surveying. I have found no historical information yet on the park.

 

On my menu so far is a bird survey, plant survey, water level & streambed condition, animal poop survey, and trails. :hihi

...

 

that said, the turn was made and it is sad. i have in the past year written to officials & the local paper & received either no reply or a brush off to some other department. most recently i wrote to our new 'blue ribbon commission' on parks to express my interest and give the link to this thread, and while i did receive a reply, it basically directed me to go to a meeting & take advantage of the 3 minutes allowed individuals for comment and to write to someone else in the county parks department. my reply was that i'm not much of a social joiner, that 3 minutes hardly accomodates a 4 year study, that i had written to the parks department & received no reply, and to ask a question. (specifically, i enquired about lechtenberg park's near-by neighbor green mountain which is listed on county maps as a 'regional park' and if it really is a park.) i have yet to recieve a reply & i'm not holding my breath, but anything is possible.

 

i drove by lechtenberg yesterday to check water levels & it's all about as it was when i last reported. we had 2" of rain in the last 24 hours, as well as warming temps in the mountains causing snow melt, so i do expect some more flooding in the next couple of days. the proposed development plot is not flooded, but i see there are a number of drainage ditches cut in it and the water levels in them a bare couple of feet below the grade and there is no doubt that the ground is saturated. (i don't know if these channels are new or if i just never took notice of them. :confused:)

 

shouldn't be long now before the indian plums bloom in lechtenberg, regardless of who may not see them. here they are again as i saw them on my last & apparently final exploration of lechtenberg park in the county of clark in the evergreen state of washington in the united states of america.

 

indian plum - Oemleria cerasiformis (aka oso-berry and skunk bush)

february 7, 2010

lechtenberg park

clark county washington - native