What’s up with the dock?
Published on February 18, 2010
Fearing impacts on native trout, Spokane Riverkeeper and Trout Unlimited move to stop developer’s dock construction in Spokane River.
The Spokane Riverkeeper and Trout Unlimited are asking the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to stop the construction of recreational docks just downstream of Plante’s Ferry Park in the Spokane River. The protest on behalf of the two organizations was filed earlier today by the Gonzaga University Environmental Law Clinic which represents the Riverkeeper in enforcement actions.
Today’s letter objects to the issuance of a permit authorizing dock construction by Invest Northwest, the owner of the Coyote Rock development. In part, the protest also sharply criticizes the decision by WDFW to grant a permit that could lead to the construction of thirty docks in an area that is known to be important habitat for the river’s struggling population of native red band trout. Instead of analyzing the effects on fish and fish habitat association with the construction of thirty docks, which the developer plans to building, the WDFW permit only examined the impact associated with a single dock.
The letter also points out that the developer has already violated the permit by constructing a dock without complying the permit terms.
The development where the docks would be located is a stunningly beautiful of cold, deep water that flows beneath high basalt bluffs and the landmark Arbor Crest Winery. The area is also known as important redband trout habitat.
“There are several things going on here that we really don’t like,” says Spokane Riverkeeper Rick Eichstaedt. “First, WDFW’s action avoids a broad environmental impact analysis of what the developer’s plans would entail if, as they’ve advertised, they build 30 some docks in this area of the river. So, in the big picture, given where this is and the need to protect native trout habitat, we don’t think a permit should have been issued without looking at the cumulative impacts of what the developer would like to do. Secondly, the developer violated the permit by jumping the gun on construction and building one of the docks. Then, to add insult to injury, WDFW field inspectors not only found the unauthorized dock, but found evidence of an unauthorized intrusion by a wheeled tractor into the shoreline buffer area which damaged both the terrain and the riparian vegetation.”
The report of the unauthorized construction and shoreline damage was reported earlier this month by a WFDW habitat biologist who’d conducted a site inspection.
“It’s pretty clear,” says GU law clinic attorney Mike Chappell, “that the permit was violated and the shoreline damaged in the process. So we think the developer should be sanctioned and the dock removed. But the larger concern is for the long-term effect on the trout in this portion of the river if, as planned, the developer builds all these docks. It’s distressing that WDFW seems to have done nothing to assess the cumulative effects of the plan on the trout and we question whether that’s consistent with state law.”
–CFJ