Land Trust reinforces Seal Slough dike

Some residents along Seal Slough in Rosburg are celebrating.

In 2005, Columbia Land Trust, which had purchased property nearby, installed two culverts on the slough in order to turn farmland into a wetland.

Homeowners along Seal Slough began to notice a problem. The tide was going out faster than it had in the past and it was damaging the dike, thus threatening their homes and land. One neighbor, Poul Toftemark, started holding meetings and writing letters to the editor at The Wahkiakum Eagle.

"I probably wrote 100 letters complaining," Toftemark said.

In September of 2014, the two culverts were removed.

"The culvert removal was our first victory," Poul Toftemark said, "the first step in getting our property rights back."

This summer, Columbia Land Trust has been repairing the dikes, especially at Toftemark's and at his neighbor Ed Blaine's place, where most of the damage was done.

"This is the last phase of restitution, "Toftemark said. "Columbia Land Trust has been trying hard to make things right."

Because of permit issues, there was no way the dike could be fixed the way it was, so workers will be adding dirt to the inside of the dike in order to strengthen it.

The work at Blaine's home is completed, but CLT was waiting for Toftemark's annual picnic to be over before they began work this week.

The best thing? Toftemark now considers his former adversary, Ian Sinks of Columbia Land Trust, a friend.