Local business owners handed $204K fine for damage to Deschutes shoreline

Chuck Rogers and Austin Rogers got slapped with a $204,000 fine from the Washington Department of Ecology for “unpermitted shoreline development along the Deschutes River near Yelm,” according to a news release from the department dated July 16.

The next day, Chuck Rogers told the Nisqually Valley he intends to appeal the decision.
“We have not been within 500 feet of the river,” Rogers said.

The local business and property owner said his jaw dropped when he read about the decision.

According to the Department of Ecology, the Rogers damaged the river’s shoreline by building “unauthorized structures in protected areas,” as well as illegally placing fill in and around the river.

The Rogers, who operate Deschutes Valley Farms outside of Yelm, own four connected parcels on Lawrence Lake Road Southeast and Cougar Mountain Trail Southeast. According to the Department of Ecology, the Rogers illegally cleared and graded 4.5 acres of land along the shoreline of the Deschutes River. Approximately 1,700 feet of the river runs along the northern edge of the property.

As stated in the release, the Rogers built “dozens of unauthorized structures within 200 feet of the Deschutes River’s ordinary high water mark.” This area is considered a protected and environmentally sensitive area. The release says the structures were built to support, in part, a recreational vehicle park.

Rogers disagrees with the accusation.

“Those are actually grain trailers, so, like semi-trailers that hold grain for our livestock,” Rogers said.

The Rogers also allegedly stored “large volumes of construction debris next to the river” as part of a commercial hauling business. Rogers argues against that claim, too.

“That was actually an old farm house that was on site here that we got the proper permits to demo,” Rogers said. “And after we demoed it, it was in a pile and there was an issue over an asbestos report. And we had got the asbestos report, and so we had to appeal a fine through (Olympic Region Clean Air Agency) because we had the asbestos report, and so the pile just kind of sat there until it was resolved. But the pile is maybe one truckload, and it’s probably six or 700 feet off of the river.”

Rogers added that his hauling business has “nothing to do with this property.”

“I haul general freight over the highways, and everything else here is just farm equipment,” Rogers said.

The Shoreline Management Act, which was adopted in 1972, protects over 28,000 miles of Washington’s river, lake and marine shoreline. According to the Department of Ecology, the Rogers failed to seek or obtain the necessary permits or approvals from either Thurston County or the department.

Instead, the department said, the Rogers continued to develop the site — despite the department and county’s efforts to inform them of state law and the steps they needed to take in order to comply.

Specifically, the Department of Ecology states the actions taken by Chuck Rogers and Austin Rogers are unlawful according to the Shoreline Master Program, which Thurston County adopted in 1990.

In its program, Thurston County designated a stretch of river that includes the section the Rogers developed to be part of a “conservancy environment,” which is intended to protect that environment and preserve historic and cultural areas. Permanent structures and occupancy are not allowed under this program.

Rogers disputes the claims from the Department of Ecology.

“We have obtained all permits necessary for the work we have done on the farm. We have not altered, removed, placed anything in the river or within its buffer zone,” Rogers wrote to the Nisqually Valley News in a followup email on July 17.

On top of that, Rogers says both representatives from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) have been on the property to inspect the area.

Rogers said a DNR forester, Chris Baus, was on the property the morning of July 17, and verified that the Rogers were within their permit standards.

“He inspected the river and there is no trees, no grading, nothing going on next to the river.”
Rogers also said the WDFW found no violations pertaining to the rivers and ponds on the property.

“This goes all the way back to, I want to say, last January is when I started the process with the Department of Natural Resources on the project we wanted to do on the farm here,” Rogers said.

Rogers said the DNR visits were part of a process to obtain a logging permit for the purposes of returning a five-acre area on the property back into a functioning Christmas tree farm.

The Nisqually Valley News obtained a copy of the Forest Practices Application/Notification from Rogers, which granted him approval from the DNR to harvest the area, effective May 30, 2025.

The notification also states that “the approval of this FPA does not override requirements of orders and/or enforcement of other local, state, or federal agencies.”

Rogers highlighted the fact that the DNR, in one of its other reports, wrote there were no wetland characteristics observed in the proposed harvesting area, which apparently ran contrary to certain maps. It’s unclear to the Nisqually Valley News whether this contradicts any of the claims made by the Department of Ecology as it pertains to the Shoreline Master Program or Shoreline Management Act.

Rogers said he’s not exactly sure what is going on between the various agencies, but that he’s found himself in the middle of it.

“And now there’s a news story about me,” Rogers said.

In the release from the Department of Ecology, Bobbak Talebi, director of the department’s Southwest Region, said the Department of Ecology and Thurston County “have taken every step to make sure the Rogers understood why their actions are not allowed and what options they have to address the issues.”

“However, they demonstrated they are unwilling to follow through with local and state regulators to restore the damage they have caused,” Talebi said. “Instead, they chose to expand their unpermitted development activities, knowing full well they are threatening human health and the environment.”

“Not even close,” Rogers responded, when asked about the department’s statement. He explained further. “Department of Ecology does not honor that this is a farm out here. And farms are not held to the regulatory standards as a residential piece of property, because it’s a farm.”

Talebi also noted that the Rogers “debilitated” the Deschutes shoreline environment around their property. Rogers questioned why he would damage the area around the river.

“I’m raising my family here, I’m not going to pollute or hurt my ground on the farm,” Rogers said. “My kids are here, you know?”

He added later, “They say I have a 4,000-square-foot manure pile next to the river, and it’s actually a woodchip pile for composting into the farm ground.”

According to the release, the Rogers were given 30 days to appeal the $204,000 penalty. Such an appeal would be decided by the Shorelines Hearings Board.

Rogers confirmed the appeal will happen within the next 30 days.

“We just got the letter yesterday, (on July 16), so we’re actually meeting with the lawyer today,” Rogers said on July 17.

In the meantime, Rogers offered to invite anyone out to take pictures and see the area for themselves, especially along the river.

“General public, I don’t care who it is, if somebody wants to come out and put their eyes on it for themselves … We did a pumpkin patch last year, I mean, we did all kinds of stuff where the public was out here, and I’m just worried that if I don’t get my side of the story out there, everybody’s gonna think that we’re habitual polluters that are trying to kill the environment, which we’re not,” Rogers said. “I mean, I don’t use pesticides on my farm, I don’t use any chemical fertilizers, everything is organic on our farm. I don’t even spray weeds, I go pull them by hand.”