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Edwards-Bruton Conservation Easement:
50 Acres in the
Dempsey Creek Watershed.
Protected with Conservation Easement in 1992.
The property contains extensive
wetland and bog area with a preponderance of Oregon Ash,
Sitka Spruce, Western Hemlock, Western Red Cedar and
Skunk Cabbage. The swamp area at the western edge of the
property contain cattails, Lilly pads and Oregon
Ash. Dempsey Creek and the wetlands are used by
juvenile salmonoids as an over wintering and rearing
habitat. Columbia black-tailed deer, pileated woodpecker
and great blue heron all have been observed using the
property. Except for the area along the western
boundary, the entire property is either woodlands or
forested wetlands.
Edwards Easement
by Peggy Bruton-Edwards
(Fall 1994)
Before we moved to Olympia we lived in southern Italy, where we had a
small apartment with a terrazzo, but no land at all. We crammed as
much green as we could onto our little balcony; herbs for the pasta,
small trees, succulents, native plants of all kinds; we laughed about
our contribution to combating the Greenhouse Effect. Global warming,
and especially, the quickening pace of deforestation worldwide, was
much discussed in the Italian press and by ordinary Italians. We
shared their concern, and thought a lot about how we could make a
difference beyond the terrace garden.
We left Italy in 1991 to settle here, in a modest house on a small
lot, near our grandchildren. Like most newcomers, we found the
environmental and economic damage left by the runaway chainsaws of the
1980's seriously disturbing. And every grove of mature forest seemed
vulnerable. We decided to look for some land to preserve or restore,
and to make sure (short of natural catastrophe) it would be there for
our grandchildren's generation.
One hot June day, a helpful real estate agent took us
to a 40-acre wooded wetland in the Delphi Valley, we also met the
owner, a delightful live-wire octogenarian (and then some) named Fred
Thompson. Standing in the cool green shade of a massive Sitka spruce,
we talked with Fred about Ohio (where he was born and raised and where
I went to college) and about this land. He pointed out "bear
sign" in the mud and told us where the bear lived - a big hollow
tree back near the northern boundary. He said he thought preservation
would be the "highest and best use" of his land. We had to
agree.
Although the tract has been designated probable fish rearing habitat
and was thus off limits to clearcut logging, we feared some other
purchaser might simply ignore the rules, pay the fine, and log away.
We began negotiating, and by December of 1992 the deal was done, with
special visitation rights for Fred and his family.
Our plans for the land include carrying out small-scale alternative
energy experiments (on the logged-over, upland portion), and offering
opportunities for ecosystem studies. And the bear, coyote, deer,
woodpeckers, owls, et al that call it home can carry on as usual. It's
a great comfort to know that, with the help of the Capitol Land Trust,
this wetland forest will be here when we are history.
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