The Thurston County Board of Commissioners has authorized the $1.4 million purchase of nearly 145 acres in the Tenino area to protect the Yelm pocket gopher.
The land acquisition is part of the county’s Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), a large-scale mitigation strategy enacted in 2023 to offset endangered species habitat lost to permitted development.
The 30-year plan creates a conservation land system to preserve 3,500 acres for several federally-listed endangered species, including the Yelm pocket gopher, as mitigation for up to 9,500 acres of development in unincorporated Thurston County.
“The county made an HCP so that its permit applicants won't have to make their own with the federal U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,” Thurston County states on its HCP webpage, adding that the existence of the HCP makes “permitting faster and easier for the community.”
Not including the upcoming purchase, the county currently has 148 acres enrolled in the HCP.
The Yelm pocket gopher is a subspecies of the Mazama pocket gopher only found in Thurston County.
The species most likely declined with the disappearance of open prairies and grasslands in western Washington, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The 144.1 acres Thurston County is purchasing from Wilridge Farms LLC are protected by a Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife gopher conservation easement, which supports Mazama pocket gopher conservation efforts, according to a county spokesperson.
The property is located at 18430 Northcraft Road Southeast between Tenino and Bucoda. Yelm pocket gopher occupancy has been confirmed on the property, according to the county.
During its regular meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 4, the Thurston County Board of Commissioners authorized the county manager to execute the purchase and sign related closing documents within 90 days of the agreement’s finalization.
The board authorized a $50,000 upfront payment and a total sale price of up to $1.4 million. The closing documents were not finalized as of Tuesday’s meeting.
