Homeowners: Gophers are digging into our property value
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NEAR ROCHESTER, Wash. -- You might call them cute. The state calls them endangered.
I'm talking about Mazama pocket gophers.
When Jimmy Howell wanted to put up a home for his son, the county told Jimmy he's in gopher country:
"Well, a guy came out, $1300 to start with, and looked with a GPS and said, 'That's a gopher click. Yeah, that's a gopher click," Howell said.
With his GPS, the gopher expert put together a gopher map that cost Howell $2,700. And Howell got a plan that told him to turn three of his five acres into a gopher sanctuary.
Howell and his wife were less than thrilled.
"They're rodents. They're rats," said Jan Howell. "They are pests."
There are all sorts of mounds on the land. Experts say mole holes go down, gopher holes go sideways. So they are here.
"I have been told they came here from the eastern part of the state," said Tracy Howell. "If they can move to my property, there's a sanctuary at the end of the road. Why can't they move there?"
There are signs everywhere on the prairie, blasting the county. But the county says it has no choice.
"We do try to work with the property owner; we don't want to be heavy-handed. We have to protect the gopher and help the property owners," said Thurston County planner Cindy Wilson.
The county points out if they can protect gophers, the feds may act. And that would undoubtedly be worse for all.
The Freedom Foundation has joined the fight on the side of the homeowners. The group says it doesn't believe the gopher is really endangered, and claims the county's actions are a taking of property rights in an attempt to block development.
I'm talking about Mazama pocket gophers.
When Jimmy Howell wanted to put up a home for his son, the county told Jimmy he's in gopher country:
"Well, a guy came out, $1300 to start with, and looked with a GPS and said, 'That's a gopher click. Yeah, that's a gopher click," Howell said.
With his GPS, the gopher expert put together a gopher map that cost Howell $2,700. And Howell got a plan that told him to turn three of his five acres into a gopher sanctuary.
Howell and his wife were less than thrilled.
"They're rodents. They're rats," said Jan Howell. "They are pests."
There are all sorts of mounds on the land. Experts say mole holes go down, gopher holes go sideways. So they are here.
"I have been told they came here from the eastern part of the state," said Tracy Howell. "If they can move to my property, there's a sanctuary at the end of the road. Why can't they move there?"
There are signs everywhere on the prairie, blasting the county. But the county says it has no choice.
"We do try to work with the property owner; we don't want to be heavy-handed. We have to protect the gopher and help the property owners," said Thurston County planner Cindy Wilson.
The county points out if they can protect gophers, the feds may act. And that would undoubtedly be worse for all.
The Freedom Foundation has joined the fight on the side of the homeowners. The group says it doesn't believe the gopher is really endangered, and claims the county's actions are a taking of property rights in an attempt to block development.
