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by Brian Peck, US Fish and Wildlife Service
Picture this: A 120 year old Douglas Fir tree, 180 feet tall and 3 feet wide towards the base. Nice tree. It was a seedling when Aberdeen's first sawmill and salmon cannery were built around 1884. This tree has value intrinsic, aesthetic, monetary, and environmental value. Depending on who you are, your upbringing, how you earn a living, and what types of things you consume, you probably view the value of this tree differently. A person may even view this tree differently throughout their lifetime.
First, let's consider the monetary value, and assume a forester cruises the stand of timber that this tree is in. She measures the height and diameter of the trees, checks the quality, and calculates the volume of wood that this stand contains. Later, a logger files his chainsaw blade sharp, and fells, limbs, and bucks the tree. The yarding crew, loaders, truck drivers, and mill workers transport and transform the tree into lumber. The scraps of this process are pulped and made into paper such as for this newsletter. The lumber is then loaded onto a truck and transported to a retail store where employees unload and stock their shelves. A weekend do-it-your-selfer comes in and buys some of this lumber for her latest home improvement project. Maybe a contractor buys some to frame a new house, or a cabinet maker for some trimming work.
After the slash piles at the clearcut have been burned or chipped, silviculture crews will replant the area with seedling trees raised at a local nursery. All of the people throughout this process, dozens in all, earn money to support themselves and their families, and spend money that trickles throughout the local community.
Now let's consider the environmental value, and assume that the tree is growing 130 feet from a creek that is tributary to the Chehalis River. As it grows it provides resting and nesting places for eagles, herons, and other birds. Elk and numerous other animals may depend on its cones, young needles, or the mushrooms that grow symbiotically with its roots, as a food source. Its shadow reaches across the creek during the hot afternoon summer sun, cooling the water, thereby providing ideal temperatures for juvenile coho salmon and steelhead trout. Its roots hold the soil in place, maintaining soil fertility and preventing sedimentation of the creek which can choke gravel beds. When the tree dies and the wood begins to rot, different animals will use the tree as both a feeding and nesting place. Pileated woodpeckers will chip holes to get at burrowing insects, or wood ducks may take up residence in a newly created cavity.
When a strong gust of wind finally pushes the tree over, and if it falls into the creek, the tree will once again start providing new habitat benefits. Where the creek flows against the dead wood, the water will be pushed aside, or underneath, and scour a deep pool where adult salmon can rest during their arduous spawning migration upstream. Gravel will settle towards the end of this pool, providing an ideal spawning and rearing bed for salmon. A sport fisherman may come down to the pool and try to catch a cutthroat trout, or a commercial fisherman trolling in the ocean may catch an adult salmon that was produced from this area.
Obviously, this is a simplified look at these issues, as both the environment and the economy are interrelated, and our actions, today's decisions, have far reaching consequences now and in the future. Both of the above situations have values that most of us want, use, and understand. Our society, our standard of living, needs wood. Wood for houses, desks, paper, pencils. Our society, our well being, needs trees. Trees for fish habitat, wildlife habitat, flood and drought reduction, good drinking water.
So, the complicated part comes in trying to balance these two interrelated needs. Together, as a society, we need to consider the value of this tree -- is it worth more cut down or left in place? How many trees do we need to cut down to meet our needs? How can we manage, conserve, reuse, and recycle wood products in order to reduce the amount of trees we need to cut down, thereby benefitting other values our society considers important? We need to consider the value of this tree, not for the profit or agendas of a few, but in order to leave a sustainable and healthy economic and environmental resource for our children and future generations.
Brian Peck is the coordinator of the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Chehalis Fisheries Restoration Program, 360-753-8084 or brian_peck@fws.gov.
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Coming to a Town Near YOU!
By Chris Page, Triangle Associates
What is this water resources planning (also known as watershed planning) you ask? It is an attempt to figure out how much fresh water exists in the Chehalis Basin, how much of that we are currently using, and how much water the fish need to live happily. Importantly, we want to determine how much water will be available for humans to use for our communities. This process presents an exciting opportunity for local citizens to have a voice in how their water resources are managed. The River Basin stretches from Grays Harbor up past Oakville and Grand Mound to include land beyond Bucoda, Centralia, Napavine, Pe Ell, and Onalaska.
The Chehalis Basin Partnership ("the Partnership" - made up of people just like you) is the group in charge of this planning effort. The Partnership's regular meetings are on the last Friday of every month to talk about watershed planning and other issues related to the health of the natural resources and economies of the Chehalis Basin.
The Partnership has decided to reach out in early 2002 to citizens throughout the Chehalis Basin by sponsoring a series of local open houses. There will be free pizza, child care available, displays to explain the different elements of watershed planning (water quantity, water quality, habitat, and instream flows), a presentation on the planning process, and "listening posts" where you can tell us what you think are important water-related issues in your area.
The first of these gatherings will be on Tuesday February 26 at Ocean Shores Convention Center. The schedule is as follows: 5:00-6:00pm open house, 6:00-6:30pm presentation and group discussion, 6:30-8:00pm continued open house with a cakewalk. Note: there will be activities for children at each of these gatherings.
The next open house will be on March 19, 2002 at Montesano City Hall. This meeting will include half an hour of Partnership business from 6:30-7pm, with the schedule otherwise the same as above.
The November issue of Drops of Water contained an overview of how the watershed planning process began and what each local Plan must include. The goal is to meet the needs of the Chehalis Basin by balancing the needs of humans and the needs of the environment, including fish. It will be a hard job to balance all the needs of water users throughout the large area of the Basin, and citizen involvement is necessary to ensure that the Plan reflects the needs of all affected communities.
So come out to a meeting in your area and let us know what you think!! In fact, the Chehalis Basin Partnership welcomes interested citizens to attend all of its meetings. Contact Rob Schanz, chair of the Partnership's Citizen Advisory Committee, at 360-291-3725 or Lee Napier, at 360-249-4222 for more information.
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by Kathy Jacobson, CBEC Coordinator
On December 17th, Kathy Jacobson, Chehalis Basin Education Consortium Coordinator, Amy Sailer, and Liz Bennett, Americorps volunteers, traveled to Wishkah Valley School to conduct several watershed activities with Mr. Ashler's sixth grade class.
After the use of a ground water model was demonstrated, the students played an activity called "The Incredible Journey." The students became water molecules and, through the roll of a giant die, the students simulated the movement of water within the water cycle. Depending on their "roll," visits could be made to different stations - places that water can move into. (E.g., ground water, river, ocean, cloud, soil, plants, rivers, animals.)
By placing different colored beads on a "water cycle bracelet," the students recorded the various places that they traveled to as water molecules. After the activity, the bracelets were used as a "travel record," and students wrote short stories about their adventures as "drops of water."
Matthew, Mr.Ashler's 6th grade, Wishkah Valley.
I started my water molecule journey inside a dog. It was a very hot day and the dog had its mouth wide open. The dog's smelly saliva fell to the ground with me in it. I hit the ground with a thud, and barely avoided getting stepped on by the dog, by quickly seeping into the ground.
In the ground, I was chased by a large ferocious ant. The large horrible ant chased me right up to the surface. But the ant would not stop the chase. I got up onto the road right as a car came by. The ant stopped so that the treads of the car's tires would not crush it. By the time that the car was gone, I had already evaporated into a cloud, which I thought was heaven!!
The cloud got so heavy from all of the fat water molecules that it blew a seam. All of us fell onto a tiny glacier. But by the time all of us fat water molecules had fallen, we froze and became part of the glacier.
Danica, Mr. Ashler 6th grade, Wishkah Valley.
I started out as a drop of water and landed on a glacier. I froze, then I melted and went into the ground and became part of ground water. Then I moved through the ground and went into a lake. Then I drifted into the ocean, evaporated to the clouds. The clouds got so heavy that I dropped into the ocean again. That was my water cycle.
Jeffry, Mr. Ashler's 6th grade, Wishkah Valley.
My journey as a water molecule all began in Lake Quinault, Washington. One day a thirsty female deer drank me and many other water molecules into her body. Finally after about 31 hours, I came back out as vapor from her mouth and joined a massive rain cloud.
Many miles later, I rained into Lake Aberdeen, also in Washington. About two years later, I was accidentally swallowed by a little girl named Connie Mulernich. That was about the worst part of my trip, because the girl also took a gulp of Pepsi, and it was kind of strong. It was very relieving when later that day, the girl was playing soccer, and I came out as sweat.
Finally my journey (as a water molecule) was over, and I was a human again
Shaugnessy Nylander, Mr. Ashler's 6th grade, Wishkah Valley.
First I started out as ground water. I went from ground water and flowed down James Creek into Lake Sylvia. After I arrived at Lake Sylvia, a baby black-tailed deer drank me. After he drank me, he sneezed. I then landed on his nose, and I evaporated into a cloud. The cloud was very heavy when I got there, so it rained and I ended up in the Pacific Ocean. After I landed there, I soon evaporated into a cloud. When I got there, I stayed for awhile. When the cloud finally got heavy, it rained again. I then ended up back in the Pacific Ocean.
Sandy Judd, Mr. Ashler 6th grade, Wishkah Valley.
When I was traveling as a drop of water, I started out in a tree. I evaporated into the clouds and fell into the Pacific Ocean. I then traveled to a river called the Columbia and was evaporated into the clouds once more.
When it snowed, this time I fell on Mount Rainier. I melted and went into its soil. I traveled once more into the Pacific Ocean and retired.
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By David Rutherford, OHS VO AG Instructor
In November, the Onalaska FFA had their grand opening of their new aquaculture center. This center is the continuation of over five years work towards creating a working laboratory on the school property. The center is fed by an artesian spring and contains three 16' diameter tanks that are used for raising trout for stocking area ponds and for salmon rearing. The tanks are now under cover for safety and allowing students to work with the fish out of the weather.
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| Cody Weiler, left, and David Myrup inspect the fish tank. |
The building also includes a 16x24 room that houses a hatchery, freezer space, storage for equipment and provides a work area for labs and processing of fish. The center also has under construction a model stream adjacent to the building.
This center was provided by a grant from the Washington State Dept of Fish and Wildlife. During the ceremony two officials from F&W attended, Adam Cuuto and Dave Gadwa, to help us show off the building. Both gentlemen are coordinators for cooperating projects and volunteering projects for the Department.
The ceremony consisted of speeches by the Onalaska FFA Chapter President, Jordan Hopman, Dr. Robert Kraig, Onalaska School Superintendent, Senator Dan Swecker, and Kasey Schiewe from Congressman Baird's Office.
This center is part of the FFA Chapter's community service program of raising fish for education, fishery enhancement, nutrient enhancement, and tourism for our community. The Chapter currently raises 100,.000 Coho salmon each year, 5,000 trout, and starting this year adding chum and steelhead.
The program could not exist without the hard work of many individuals that help make this a success such as Ronn Schuttie Jr. who works tirelessly to provide support and coordinate a large group of volunteers.
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"Hello, my name is Amy Sailer, and I began working with the Chehalis Basin Education Consortium in November. I am an Americorps volunteer placed through the Washington Conservation Corps. I obtained my university degree in Anthropology in 2000.
"From October 2000 through October of this year, I spent working on a wetland mitigation crew based in King County.
"I am excited about the work that the CBEC is doing. Currently, I am developing Chehalis Watershed presentations for grades 4-10. I am also organizing a library of new materials for loan by participating CBEC teachers."
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by Nancy Ness, Grays Harbor Noxious Weed Control
This winter's flooding has had an effect on weeds we'll be seeing next spring and summer. Many weed seeds float and move great distances in flood waters. Existing ground cover, whether it is lawn, pasture grass or native perennials, damaged by flooding will be less able to compete with weed invasions.
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| Flooded pastureland souoth of Elma, 12/13/2001, by Nancy Ness. |
Pastures and lawns that have been submerged for less than 7 to 10 days and are covered with less than 3 inches of silt have a good chance of complete recovery. Lower temperatures and the stage of growth during winter are also good indicators of a speedy recovery. Perennial ryegrass and tall fescue are both excellent grass species for flood survival. To speed the process of recovery: break up any silt crust as soon as possible with a rake, harrow, or mechanical aerator; test the soil for nutrients (like lime, phosphorus and potassium), apply nitrogen fertilizer or manure (after danger of further flooding has passed) and overseed thin areas with a desirable permanent seed mixture.
Pastures after a flood need some special TLC. First and foremost remove any debris, especially along fencelines and in corners. Livestock could be injured by barbed wire or sharp metal, glass and garbage.
Remove any fallen wild cherry, laurel, plum or peach limbs from pastures to prevent poisoning. Also do not feed livestock any silage that has been flooded; horses, sheep, poultry, swine and cattle are affected most severely (in that order) from damaged feed. Lack of adequate forage could force livestock to eat poisonous plants that they would otherwise avoid.
Pesticide storage in flood prone areas is a major concern. If you suspect pesticide contamination due to flooded outbuildings, even garden sheds, let caution guide your every move. Before entering an area suspected of a spill, wear protective gear, especially safety boots. Any pesticide spills should be reported to the Department of Ecology, Southwest Regional office: 360-407-6311 in Olympia for advice on what to do to prevent groundwater contamination, including your well. Pesticides should be stored in a safe location, not likely to flood and far from well heads and play areas. Don't store large quantities of pesticides, purchase only enough for a single season to avoid disaster.
During the next growing season, new weed species may appear where flood waters deposited seeds. Extra monitoring for weed invasions during the growing season will literally nip those unwanted plants in the bud. If in doubt as to the identity of new plants appearing on your flood damaged property, contact your county noxious weed control office. In Grays Harbor, call 360-482-2265, in Lewis, call 360-740-1215, and in Thurston, call 360-786-5576 for weed identification and control information.
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From Brady Engvall
Dear Editor,
Razor clams need their sand. Clams, a natural public resource that fills our beaches to overflowing with happy people, provides a link back to our childhood and creates wholesome family experiences. Besides the intrinsic value, clams provide to coastal communities $4,500,000 of economic spin-off per season. There is no match for a cold winters evening watching thousands of twinkling gas lanterns off into the distance or the thrill of a low tide at daybreak on a spring morning. It stirs the primal senses in a wild coastal setting. Are these precious life's experiences to disappear over time?
Over the last few years there have been many interesting articles written attempting to explain the phenomenon of ongoing erosion on the SW Washington coast. They deal with sand supply interruption by dams, channel maintenance dredging, jetty construction, sand budgets and many other reasons too numerous to mention here. One concern does not get much attention and that is the ever-pressing desire to develop close to our natural beaches where erosion and accretion are occurring in a natural rhythm that matches the ocean's desire to be untamed.
There is great economic and political pressure to develop as close to the ocean as possible. There is very little of this type of land available, and in a robust economy there will always be folks with the where-with-all to bid up the price of desirable land. From this unhappy occurrence it naturally follows that precious property has high taxing value which means it becomes a revenue source for local jurisdictions and needs to be protected and exploited for its highest and best use. If the previous theory holds then clams and mother nature are at odds with it and on a collision course.
As we develop businesses, homes and intense housing projects in the historic erosion zone bad things happen. Soon, when land in front of Joe Public's high priced property begins to leave, for whatever reason, he calls on his local elected official to get economic relief. He, in turn, calls on his elected state representative, who in turn, calls his congressional representative to help Joe out of his predicament. Joe and all his elected officials put their collective heads together and call the preferred coastal engineer to develop a solution that meets Joe''s needs. Since Joe and all the elected officials want the erosion fixed right for the long term, rock becomes the tool of necessity. Joe may be happy but this solution may not be a happy ending for Joe's beach front neighbors.
As history has taught us, when hard rock is applied to face the ocean environment two things happen. The beach steepens and shortens as the sand is carried off into deep water, and the original erosion event picks up and moves down the beach to visit Joe's neighbor who then calls his local elected representative and the whole process starts all over again and it never ends until the whole coast looks like Mount Rainier.
Back to the clams. With this scenario there will be no clams and all the great experiences your family had long ago and have today will be gone forever into a relic of history to be only remembered or told as a rural legend and not a legacy that our costal communities so richly deserve.
Brady Engvall, 3714 Oyster Pl. E., Aberdeen, WA 98520, (360) 268 5518. For information on coastal erosion, check out the coastal erosion page on the Chehalis River Council website: http://crcwater.org/erosion.html
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By Shelley Kirk Rudeen, Wetland Ventures Editor
You'd need wings to find your way around most of the North Bay Wetlands Preserve. That's exactly what Grays Harbor Audubon has in mind for their thousand-acre success story a mostly wet and nearly impenetrable habitat that is truly for the birds. And for fish, mink, and bears, too. Audubon recently acquired the Preserve, located near the Washington Coast in the North Bay area of Grays Harbor, with help from a North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant.
I visited the North Bay in mid-spring, guided by Preserve Steward Karen Knutsen. Grateful that good habitat and great beauty go hand in hand, we watched squalls race inland from the Pacific, leapfrogging with sun breaks. Heat waves shimmered across tideflats, mimicking immense flocks of migrating shorebirds. A pair of otters hunted salmon smolts in a little tidal slough, while raptors wheeled above a nearby meadow. In the dimness of forested wetlands, Wilson's warblers and a pair of wood ducks flashed their brilliant hues.
The preserve encompasses an impressive range of saltwater and freshwater wetland types. These estuaries and salt marshes, forested and scrub/shrub wetlands, as well as bogs, once locally common, are precious remnants that escaped conversion to agriculture, timber production, and residential/urban development. Associated meadows and forested uplands provide a buffer for the wetlands. This wide variety of habitats offers important feeding, breeding, and resting opportunities for a corresponding variety of wetland dependent migratory birds, including waterfowl, shorebirds, and neotropic migrants. In all, more than 138 species of birds have been observed in the Preserve. Estuaries offer rearing and resting areas for genetically unique runs of chinook, coho, steelhead, and chum salmon that spawn in nearby Humptulips River. Mammals large and small range the landscape.
Pulling it all together: serendipity plus partnerships
The North Bay Preserve was cobbled together through the purchase of 8 separate parcels. A "For Sale" sign on one parcel next to a tidal slough sparked the project. "The Grays Harbor Audubon Chapter had no money to acquire the property," noted board member Diane Schwickerath, "but an anonymous private foundation with a very foresighted desire to preserve the best of what's left stepped in to help us." Success breeds success, and soon the Chapter was able to offer willing sellers of other parcels significant tax benefits for selling below market value and donating the difference for conservation purposes. "We had purchased several parcels using private donations when a 400-acre ranch came on the market," said Schwickerath. "That's when we started looking for grants."
The long road: creating a successful grant application
Matches for the NAWCA grant were provided by two anonymous foundations, The Nature Conservancy, Seattle Audubon Society, and private individual donations. "It took us a year to put together all the partners," said Schwickerath, emphasizing the time required to garner the support necessary for a really good grant proposal.
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| Pigeon Point in the North Bay Wetlands Preserve, photo by Dean Schwickerath. |
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Natural Resources, and U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service provided wildlife and habitat data to support the grant application. "We really worked to line up the technical resources, making sure we contacted the right people at each agency so that our backup documentation was complete."
A key piece was a good grant writer, which they found in board member Karen Knutsen. "Although Karen was not a professional grant writer," says Schwickerath, "she had a background as a research scientist. Her work is meticulous and detailed, and those skills translate to good grant writing." They also relied on Chapter member Kim Taylor, who offered her expertise in wetlands evaluation and GIS mapping for the proposal.
Dividends for the future
The importance of this project for preserving habitat in Grays Harbor was very clear to regional resource managers, including Jean Takekawa, Manager of U. S. Fish and Wildlife's Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. "Estuaries are particularly crucial for fish, wintering waterfowl, and shorebirds," said Takekawa. "We were very excited that Grays Harbor Audubon showed such initiative for increasing the level of protection for these estuaries." Takekawa noted that preserving the beauty and natural qualities is important for both local residents and those drawn to visit there. In addition, protecting salmon rearing habitat is critical for this resource dependent community. "Having the wisdom to set aside this area now will bring dividends for the future."
Other values for Grays Harbor were noted by Les Bolton, Executive Director of the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport. "There are two things that can make or break our community: flooding and regulatory constraints," said Bolton. "The Preserve addresses both issues. Wetland areas like this absorb and retain rain and floodwater, slowing their release. And when regulatory agencies see projects like this one, they know the community is taking action to protect natural resources."
Grays Harbor Audubon created the North Bay Wetlands Preserve in order to ensure high quality habitat for both wildlife and people. Although a good portion of the property is too fragile or inaccessible to allow public visitation, the Chapter is looking for appropriate interpretive and educational opportunities on suitable parcels.
(Reprinted with permission from Wetland Ventures, the Washington newsletter of the Pacific Coast and Intermountain West Joint Ventures, Fall 2001.)
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The Thurston Conservation District will host their annual Cash & Carry Plant Sale Saturday, March 2, 2002 from 9 am - 1 pm at the District office, located at 2400 Bristol Court SW in Olympia. A wide variety of native trees, plants, and groundcovers will be offered. The District offers conservation grade plants at affordable prices to the public. Plants range from $.50 to $1.25 each. Cash or checks are accepted. No credit cards.
There will be booths and demonstrations available on planting, composting, soil testing, conservation ideas, and many other items of interest!
Please visit www.thurstoncd.com or call Kathleen Whalen at the District, (360)754-3588, ext 114, for more information.
If you live outside Thurston County, please check with your local Conservation District to see if they offer this service.
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