Olympia, Washington is on the southernmost reach of the Salish Sea, near the old glacial terminus. Farther south are the oak savannahs and outwash prairies and the Chehalis Basin floodplains. To the west past the town of Shelton are the vast forestlands of the Olympic Massif.
Olympia is arranged on a glacial plateau around 200 feet above the Deschutes River estuary. In Northwest Olympia streams have carved ravines from the plateau down to the water. That plateau was once heavy with wetlands and beaver ponds, and has since been drained and paved.
The largest ravine in Northwest Olympia was formed by Schneider Creek. Portions of the ravine are overrun with blackberry, holly, and ivy. Large areas are covered in a towering second growth overstory of douglas-fir, maple and cedar, with an understory of ferns, bleeding heart, saxifrage, waterleaf and lilies, and devil’s club, nettles, and stink currant along the stream.
Schneider Ravine is the last and largest reservoir of native forest biodiversity in NW Olympia. There is no coordinated stewardship. The ravine is chopped into a couple hundred private parcels, protected only by steep slope ordinances. The headwaters were an old swamp, now a shopping area at Harrison and Division. The stream has some nice wood, but incision from urban hydrology is visible. With water from the plateau now funneled to the ravine, the stream is cutting into its substrate.
Forest Restoration
We have started a small native plant nursery at Woodard Lane Cohousing. Once a month we work on the edge in the forest. Contact Paul Cereghino (livestake (at) gmail.com) to join.