On May 1, 1970, the Nisqually Delta Association was founded as a Washington state non-profit organization. The initial board of directors comprised Flo Brodie of Olympia, Albert McBride (b. 1927) of Olympia, and Mary I. Walker (1917-2000) of Seattle. The group’s original goal was to protect the entirety of the river basin, from its glacial source on Mt. Rainier to the estuary at Puget Sound, 10 miles north of Olympia and just south of DuPont. The Nisqually Delta is an ecologically rich salt-water marsh that hosts 220 bird species, 56 mammal species, 19 fish species, and 10 amphibian and reptile species throughout the year and is the only significant resting place for migrating birds between the Skagit River and the Columbia River.
To Protect and Preserve
Members of the Nisqually Delta Association have consisted of conservationists and environmentally minded citizens of the area, and they emphasize community participation and educating citizens to make informed decisions. The 1978 Amendment to Articles of Incorporation stated the Nisqually Delta Association's dedication to an environment with minimal human intervention:
“This corporation is formed for the purpose of protecting and preserving the natural character of the Nisqually River Basin and adjacent environs in perpetuity, and to diminish the intensity, extent and adverse character of human activity thereon” (Amendment, 1978).
From the early twentieth century until the 1960s the delta was dominated by farms. A number of industrial interests at that time galvanized local environmentalists in opposition, led by Margaret McKenny (1885-1969), an early and well-respected conservationist from Olympia. McKenny died a year before the creation of the Nisqually Delta Association, but her actions, particularly mentoring Flo Brodie (1916-1992), directly led to its creation.
Actions and Accomplishments
Nisqually Delta Association members would go on to help lobby for the Shoreline Management Act, passed in 1971, which required local governments to carefully plan and permit their shorelines. Then they helped establish the Nisqually Delta Wildlife Refuge in 1974.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the group led a drawn-out legal battle against the Weyerhaeuser Company over its plan to build a log-export facility on the north side of the delta. The group argued that Weyerhaeuser’s plan to build a 250-acre facility with a 1,320-foot-by-140-foot dock was incompatible with local, state and national laws, including the Shoreline Management Act; that it was too close to the wildlife refuge; and that it would disturb land that was historically significant as a burial ground for local Indian tribes. The association was also concerned about the work that this private port would take away from Washington’s existing public ports.
After a series of negotiations and lawsuits, the Washington State Supreme Court ultimately ruled in 1985 that Weyerhaeuser could build its facility, but restricted its use with strict specifications about lighting, hours, and what exactly could be shipped. For economic reasons Weyerhaeuser abandoned the project shortly thereafter.
Meanwhile, the Nisqually Delta Association was also involved in bringing attention to environmental issues associated with housing developments such as Hawks Prairie in Lacey and Northwest Landing in DuPont. They lobbied for cleaning up pollution left over from explosive manufacturing and received a $25,000 Public Participation grant through the Washington State Deptarment of Ecology's Model Toxics Control Act to involve the community in cleaning up pollution.
In the early 1990s, the group negotiated extensively with gravel company Lone Star Northwest about their proposed mine in DuPont, and a final settlement agreement was signed on Christmas Day, December 25, 1994. The new location of the smaller dock was at Tatsolo Point, 1.5 miles farther from the delta as well as closer to Lone Star’s gravel source, which would reduce transportation needs. The agreement dictated that Lone Star and Weyerhaeuser would pay $1 million to the City of DuPont to offset project impacts, as well as $1.75 million to an environmental trust fund over the next 25 years to be administered by the Department of Ecology and the Nisqually Delta Association to purchase additional land for the refuge. This money is now managed by the Nisqually River Land Trust, in a fund specifically to buy and expand protected delta lands. The City of DuPont was also required to remove from the Master Plan all urban-zoned shoreline areas. All parties accepted the compromises in this agreement, and were pleased with the outcome, making it a milestone agreement.
Work Continuing
The association went into a period of hibernation in the mid-1990s, but this fund allowed the association to jump back into action when the delta was threatened again in 1997.
As of September 2011, the NDA is working to mobilize and re-energize its member base to continue its efforts limit development of the delta. President Tom Skjervold has been instrumental in convincing the City of DuPont to consider creating a historic district at the Nisqually Delta and he has also worked to support the newly designated Nisqually Reach Aquatic Reserve -- a policy milestone that was just adopted on September 9, 2011, bringing a new order of conservation planning to some 30,000 acres of state-managed tidelands adjacent to the mouth of the Nisqually River.
