Community fights to keep Crescent Valley Creek pristine

Groups sharing knowledge for a healthy watershed

Susan Schell

of the Gateway

The Crescent Valley Alliance was at Crescent Creek Park last weekend to share knowledge, displays and experiences to those who wanted to know more about their surroundings.

The CVA was just named “Organization of the Year” by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Gig Harbor and Crescent Valley residents formed the alliance in fall 2006 in an effort to preserve and protect Crescent Lake, its creek and estuary, which runs from Crescent Lake through the valley and into Gig Harbor.

Lucinda Wingard, a member of the steering committee, said the group encourages landowners to be more knowledgeable of how stream-side banks can be managed in a friendly way.

“Almost all of the Crescent Valley watershed is owned by private landowners,” she said. “We need to keep an eye on the native wildlife population that is here.”

Mary Manning of the alliance added: “We want to bring awareness of what we have here, the native species of plants, birds and wildlife.”

The alliance set up interactive displays in the park where visitors could read about the local non-human residents, and children could learn about mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians by categorizing them on felt poster boards.

Third-grade student Ann Elkins made the connection the alliance was trying to make, saying she liked living in Gig Harbor because it’s surrounded by water.

“It’s really cool to live here,” she said. “It has all this water, but we try not to pollute it so the fish can live there.”

Elkins’ father fishes just outside the harbor during the summer.

Crescent Creek is an active salmon stream, which is an important spawning ground for the fish.

Manning said the alliance, along with other environmental organizations — including the Friends of Pierce County — has worked hard to remove invasive species and put in native plants along the bank.

At one point, 50 elementary school students and their parents got involved in the pulling and planting during a two-weekend project.

“Hopefully this will increase the native wildlife,” Manning said. “People are worried about the lack of frogs. Ten years ago, there were tons of frogs. Now you’re lucky to find one. And there used to be wood ducks nesting in Crescent Lake; now there aren’t any.”

Other booths offered free handouts and tips on how everyone can help keep their neighborhood clean.

Barbara Ann Smolko said the shellfish population in the area has experienced a lot of downgrades because of the water quality.

“We have to look at each problem piecemeal,” she said. “You can’t just look at the whole area in one shot.”

The alliance is working with homeowners along Crescent Creek and the harbor to educate them on how to maintain or improve their septic systems to keep bacteria out of the water.

There has been a big focus on keeping raw pet waste out of the watershed by offering free dog waste pickup bags and strategically placed trash cans.

Items as tiny as sink strainers can keep unwanted waste out of septic systems and “foil the oil” pads, which absorb oil but repel water, can be placed underneath cars that leak oil.

“We just try to keep pollution from making a straight shot to the beach,” Smolko said. “We are getting a lot more coordinated now on how we address these issues.”

Reach reporter Susan Schell at 253-853-9240 or by e-mail at susan.schell@gateline.com.