A Highway between the Bays A Management Plan for the State Route 105 Corridor December 1998 Prepared for the Communities of the SR 105 corridor by the: WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF T RANSPORTATION with Parametrix, Inc. Pacific Rim Resources Jones & Jones Larson Anthropological Archeological Services Ltd. A Highway between the Bays A Management Plan for the State Route 105 Corridor December 1998 Prepared for the Communities of the SR 105 corridor by the: WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF T RANSPORTATION with Parametrix, Inc. Pacific Rim Resources Jones & Jones Larson Anthropological Archeological Services Ltd. For more information regarding the Corridor Management Plan or SR 105 projects, contact: Washington State Department of Transportation Olympic Region Transportation Planning P.O. Box 47440 Tumwater, WA 985047440 Contents Part 1—The Highway and the Region 1 Planning for the Future of the SR 105 Corridor 1 The Waters’ Edge 5 Corridor Vision and Goals 13 From Vision to Action 14 Enhancement Themes [sidebar] 16 Part 2—Strategies & Projects 19 A Place between the Bays– 21 Corridor Enhancement Projects and Strategies Maintaining the Waters’ Edge Way of Life 22 Corridor Enhancements [sidebar] 23 Projects Map 25 Making Visitors Welcome 27 Corridor Enhancements [sidebar] 28 Projects Map 32 Telling the Stories of the Region 35 Interpretive Topics & Themes [sidebar] 38 Corridor Enhancements [sidebar] 39 Projects Map 40 A Safe and Pleasant Journey 43 Projects Map 47 Tourism & Quality of Life in the SR 105 Region 49 Part 3—Implementation 53 Taking the First Steps 55 Marketing the SR 105 Region 57 Project Development and Implementation 61 Implementation Roles & Activities [sidebar] 63 Developing Corridor Enhancement Projects [sidebar] 64 Project Funding 66 Project Development Case Study [sidebar] 67 Conclusion 71 Resources 73 Possible Sources for Project Funding 75 Technical Report Abstracts 81 Photo and Illustration Credits 84 Planning for the Future of the SR 105 Corridor Imagine visiting the State Route 105 will still be more than a decade before George corridor near the turn of the past century. A Brown becomes the first non-native settler in large salmon cannery sits on pilings on the what will become Tokeland. Although it will North River, along with an active lumber mill. be another ten years before either the Grays In Tokeland, several hotels, including one Harbor or Cape Shoalwater lighthouses are built in the shape built, schooners of a beached ship, push into serve tourists Shoalwater Bay to coming to the buy oysters and region for holi- cranberries for days. The cannery the San Francisco at Warrenton market, booming employs dozens from the gold of diggers to rush and new harvest the razor development in clams along Pacific California. beaches. New cranberry picking machines are replacing traditional hand labor. The whaling This document looks at the changes station at Bay City is nearing the end of its operations but still supports an active whaling the SR 105 corridor will face in fleet. Timber from the uplands feeds mills in the future: Raymond and Aberdeen, then the finished The relationship between lumber is sent by ship or rail to markets on the east and west coasts. communities and the highway; What area residents have said Now imagine half a century previously, when they would like to see for the Native American villages still dot the coast and river and stream mouths. The large future of their communities; Native American settlements at Point Chehalis and and Toke Point are major trading centers. It How the highway can support residents’ vision. 1 For centuries, natural resources have been the The outstanding natural resources of this foundation for the region’s economy, whether unique landscape are still the foundation for a for salmon fishing, clamming, whaling, healthy, balanced economy. Today the cranberry harvesting, or, more recently, cranberry industry, shellfish farming, crabbing, tourism. Today, although the ties between stream and watershed restoration, the harvest- tourism and the region’s natural resources are ing of alternative forest products, and heri- still in place, the balance has changed dramati- tage and nature-based tourism are strong or cally and is likely to continue to change in the emerging industries. However, change will future. certainly continue in the corridor, and residents will find new ways to live and make their livelihoods. ABERDEEN 2 What is a Corridor Management Plan? SR 105 is a transportation corridor, main One purpose that the Corridor Management street, and State Scenic and Recreational Plan does not serve is to increase regulation Highway. The Corridor Management Plan along the corridor. The plan is intended to for SR 105 is an opportunity to look at all bring new resources into the region to work of the roles that the highway plays in the with existing jurisdictions and private land- economic health and quality of life of owners on an entirely voluntary basis: corridor communities. The plan is a docu- ment of ideas for enhancement of the · The SR 105 Corridor Management Plan highway and for community development will not change local land use authority or associated with the highway’s different roles. processes. The SR 105 Corridor Management Plan The primary purposes of the SR 105 Plan are will not increase state or federal involve- to: ment in local land use decisions. Document community interest in corridor Any actions or projects shown outside of enhancement and guide enhancement the right-of-way are entirely voluntary. projects; They may be implemented by local Promote partnerships for implementation jurisdictions through their existing of conservation and enhancement processes, or private landowners may activities; choose to implement them, but the plan Bring new resources to the corridor for does not have regulatory authority. project development and programs; Local jurisdictions or private property Support application for National Scenic owners will not be penalized if they Byway or All-American Road designation choose not to implement actions de- if local jurisdictions choose to seek it; and scribed in the plan. Promote coordination between corridor · Any property acquired for enhancements residents, communities, and agencies in (not to be confused with WSDOT making decisions about important Improvement Program projects for safety corridor issues. and mobility needs) will not be acquired by condemnation. All property acquired The Corridor Management to implement this plan will be by pur- chase or donation from a willing land- Plan encourages voluntary owner. partnerships for enhancement projects. It does not increase state or federal involvement in local land use decisions. 3 SR 105 Corridor Management Plan Development Process Technical Process* Public Process 38 Stakeholder Interviews– Identify Community-Based Direction for Plan Development 3 Corridor-wide Public Inventory / Data Collection– Meetings / Newsletter– Identify Resources and Study Viewer Employed Photography Problems Develop Corridor Vision & Review Inventories 13 Stakeholder Interviews– Mid-Process Review of Plan Direction Develop and Field Check 6 Community Workshops / Improvement Concepts and Newsletter– Options Identify Issues and Opportunities for Corridor Improvements Draft Corridor Public Review & Comment– Management Plan Draft Corridor Management Plan Final Corridor Management Plan Plan Endorsement *A series of technical inventories and topic reports were developed as supporting documents for the SR 105 Corridor Management Plan. A summary of the technical documents can be found in the Resources section at the end of the plan. 4 The Waters Edge Celebrating a Unique Place & Unique Heritage One of today’s familiar sights in the great water bodies, the highway running along SR 105 region is the graceful line of the forested hills, bay and harbor shorelines, and a Lady Washington as she sails the waters of narrow coastal strip tracing the edge of the Grays Harbor and the Pacific. The tall ship, sea. The story of the SR 105 region is the a faithful replica of the ship sailed by story of the two great bays that shape it and Captain Gray during the voyage on which he the ocean that connects them. first came to Grays Harbor, recalls an era of exploration and discovery of new peoples The Land & and places. Imagine the anticipation The Water that Captain Gray’s crew felt as they SR 105 follows a sailed the west section of low coast, passing forested hills headlands and river extending to the mouths, each new Pacific. The region is view enlarging their surrounded by the picture of the constant flow of river world. and ocean currents– forming eddies that What Gray and his drop sand and silt, or crew found, in the flow in a slow but area that is now the inexorable process that SR 105 region, was The Willapa River along SR 105 reshapes the landscape a place where land at the waters’ edge. It and water met in estuaries large and small, is a region where river flows are confused and forests rolled down hills to broad tidal mud reversed by tidal changes, Pacific currents are flats, and the Pacific surf ran over wide, flat hidden beneath swells and breaking waves, beaches. Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor, two and rivers and ocean merge in estuarine bays. of the largest estuaries on the Pacific Coast, There is a slow and constant tug-of-war are separated by only 20 miles of coastline. between two of the region’s great rivers, the The SR 105 region is set between these two Willapa and Chehalis, and the currents of the Pacific Ocean. 5 While some areas of the Pacific Coast have region seem an entirely different place well-defined edges between rocky shores and between the tidal extremes. The intertidal the sea, the lines zones of both the between land and Pacific shoreline and water are blurred in the estuaries are some the SR 105 Region. of the Northwest’s Forested watersheds richest life zones, collect the coastal supporting diverse rains, feeding them ecosystems and into streams and contributing resources wetlands.