The Yelm Backyard Birds website has brought forward the issue of the high rate of urbanization in the City of Yelm & the impact of the Yelm Loop Stage II issue’s impact on the environment that support bird habitat.

“Thurston County Rate of Urbanization and Forest Harvest c. 2002 vs. Rate of Urbanization and Prairie Oaks 2010 Yelm,” quoting Yelm Backyard Birds, Yelm, Washington Birding.

This website highlights a good point:
“The mapping provided for Critical Areas that included Oak Prairies in Thurston County is insufficient.
The area identified as YELM obscures the data the map intended to represent and display.
It is a simple map symbol choice error that can be fixed through choosing a map symbol for the area of YELM that is not opaque and would allow for the yellow/green areas of Oak Prairie to be properly identified as the WA DNR map intended…

This does not solve Yelm Loop Stage II issue, however, that will pass through areas of oaks in Yelm’s Urban Growth Area.
One would think, considering that Yelm’s motto “Pride of the Prairie” that they would properly identify Oaks and Prairies within Yelm and its Urban Growth Area.”