On Dec. 7, employees of the City of Sumner discovered that someone had cut 63 trees in the shoreline buffer along the White River. Restoration of the lost habitat is required for the City to regain compliance with U.S. Fish & Wildlife as well as National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Because the cut trees are in a regulated shoreline mitigation area, the habitat must be restored.

As with any significant damage to City property, the police department conducted an investigation of what happened.   The City routinely seeks restitution from individuals who have caused damage to City property, whether that is a homeowner who accidentally breaks a water meter by trying to turn it off incorrectly or that is a driver who hits and damages a street sign.

“It’s about taking responsibility, not blame,” said City Administrator Diane Supler.  “It’s as simple as ‘you break it, you bought it.’”

Given the estimated dollar amount of damage, the City of Sumner was required to forward the investigation to the Pierce County Prosecutor for review to see if they want to file a felony charge.   Sumner has been waiting for a response from the Prosecutor for three months.

“While we just want the trees restored, we can’t remove the Prosecutor’s right to file charges if he wishes,” Supler said. “We were hoping for a decision sooner than this, but unfortunately, we all must continue in a holding pattern until he decides.”

No matter what the Prosecutor’s decision, the City must move forward with restoring the habitat and hopes that the responsible individual(s) will step up and take responsibility for the damages sustained.

“The City just wants the person who cut down the trees to take responsibility and help us fix the problem,” said Mayor Enslow.  “Otherwise, the City will be required to restore the area, and all the other citizens are out a chunk of change, which is not fair to them.”

The loss of the trees is so important because this is not just any piece of city land; rather, it is a shoreline area that the City is bound to protect.  Community volunteers, City employees and others worked several weekends over several years to plant the trees, finishing in May of 2007. The City planted cottonwoods, firs and cedars. (Three photos attached from the May 20, 2006, planting.)  Nut trees were planted in 2008.

Of the trees cut, 40 were cottonwoods, 22 were firs, and one was a cedar. These trees were planted to satisfy a requirement placed on the City by outside agencies through at least two formal written agreements. The first agreement, commonly called the 24th Street BiOp (Biological Opinion), was reached as part of the environmental mitigations set in place to off-set environmental  impacts from the construction of the interchange with 24th Street and Highway 167. The agreement states that whenever trails were constructed along the White River, the shorelines area must be enhanced with additional plantings. A second agreement specified that the particular trees in question be planted as mitigation for the construction of the 24th Street pedestrian bridge that is a key part of the trail system along the White. Cutting of the trees puts the City out of compliance with these agreements.

While the planting of nut trees is compatible with the requirement to enhance this shorelines area, any treatment of those trees as an agricultural crop subject to thinning is in direct violation of contractual agreements that the City has entered into, aimed at having the area perform primarily as a natural buffer between trail users and the river habitat. Also, because the cut trees were planted prior to the nut trees, they cannot be considered to have invaded an agricultural crop.

“Since the trees were removed by something other than natural cause, the city must restore the lost function of the removed trees,” said Ross Widener, an environmental consultant.

On December 13, 2011, as required in maintaining a shoreline buffer zone, the City sent letters (copy attached) reporting the habitat loss to Fish & Wildlife and NMFS as well as the Washington State Dept. of Ecology, Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, Army Corps of Engineers, Washington State Dept. of Transportation, FEMA and the Muckleshoot and Puyallup Tribes.  “One of the tribes thanked me for our honesty and said they weren’t worried that Sumner would come back into compliance quickly,” said Associate Planner Eric Mendenhall. “It was encouraging to hear their confidence in our community to right the wrong when it comes to someone damaging our environment.”

Once the City receives an answer from the Prosecutor’s office, it will continue to work with these agencies to determine an appropriate restoration solution.

Overall, Sumner has been a community dedicated to planting trees for years.  This year will be the City’s 18th consecutive year recognized as a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters.