Steve Bloom/The Olympian
Jean Takekawa, manager of the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge east of Olympia, rolls back several yards of plastic tarp protecting a trail on the McAllister Creek Dike. A 500-foot section of the trail is split with a 5-foot-deep fissure, a token of the magnitude 6.8 earthquake of Feb. 28.

Nisqually refuge: Ground zero

Barns are off limits, dikes damaged at popular wildlife sanctuary

JOHN DODGE, THE OLYMPIAN

"The biggest effect from the earthquake is closure of the barns." -- Jean Takekawa, Nisqually refuge manager

"We're going to be packed like sardines in there." -- Frank Chopp, House co-speaker

THURSTON COUNTY -- Public use of the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge was permanently altered by the Feb. 28 Nisqually earthquake.

The two barns in the Twin Barns Education Center, which hosted environmental education programs for 8,000 school children last year, have shifted on their foundations and are no longer safe to occupy.

"The biggest effect from the earthquake is closure of the barns," refuge manager Jean Takekawa said.

But the nearly 3,000-acre wildlife refuge, which is near ground zero of the 6.8 magnitude earthquake, has other problems as well.

The 100-year-old dike that rings about 1,000 acres of the refuge was cracked and damaged from the quake.

A 500-foot section along McAllister Creek has split in two with a fissure about 5 feet deep. Most of the thousands of visible cracks elsewhere are about a foot deep.

"The perimeter dike is not a strong structure. We already had seepage problems before the earthquake," Takekawa noted. "To maintain the dike now would be a massive repair project."

Dike damage could have been far worse if the dike had been saturated by typical winter rains, geologists have said. The fact the earthquake happened at low tide also reduced the pressure on the dike.

The likely short-term repair will involve filling the cracks with clay soils to keep rainwater from further undermining the dike, Take-kawa said.

It's safe to say the dike, which was built to convert saltwater estuary into farmland a century ago, has an uncertain future at best.

In the aftermath of the earthquake, it may make more sense now to breach the dike that is holding back Puget Sound, allowing freshwater wetlands to revert to saltwater estuary that would be prime habitat for salmon and other marine species.

"It makes sense for the refuge and sense for the fish," said David Troutt, natural resources director for the Nisqually Indian Tribe.

Originally, the dike-breaching option was designed to include a few bridged openings so the dike could continue to function as a walking trail.

The latest earthquake damage could throw a curve at that plan, Takekawa said. More detailed surveys of the dike's condition will be needed before any decision is made.

The public will have a change to weigh in on regarding a new habitat management plan for the refuge later this year. The options include no action, partial restoration of tidelands or full restoration of tidelands.

The refuge, eight miles east of Olympia, is home to 250 species of birds and is visited by some 80,000 people each year.

Seismic forces unleashed by the earthquake are visible in other ways at the refuge. Small sand volcanoes dot the refuge, signs that the ground liquefied during the earthquake.

The sands contain pumice and andesite that originated on the flanks of Mount Rainier, noted Pat Pringle, a state Department of Natural Resources geologist. It's likely evidence that one or more huge Mount Rainier mudflows has reached the Nisqually Delta in the past, he said.

The refuge visitor center, administration office and boardwalk -- all built after the 1996 Nisqually River flood -- sustained minor damage but remain open to the public and employees.

Takekawa said roughly $1 million for a new education center to replace the twin barns might be included in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2003 budget.

John Dodge covers the environment for The Olympian. He can be reached at 754-5444.

Thurston County damage toll

Nearly 4,750 home-owners and businesses had requested earthquake assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency as of Thursday, FEMA officials said. The number of homeowners seeking damage inspections in unincorporated Thurston County grew Thursday by 50 to a total of 179, county building inspector Mike Wood said.

Some 17 homes in the county have been found unsafe to occupy, county spokesman Keith Eisner said.

To report earthquake damage and schedule an inspection, call one of the following numbers:

-Olympia: 753-8314.

-Lacey: 491-5642.

-Tumwater: 754-4170.

-Unincorporated Thurston County: 754-3360.

-FEMA: (800) 462-9029.

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