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By Brian Peck, Coordinator, Chehalis Fisheries Restoration Program
Through the Chehalis Fisheries Restoration Program, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) funds salmon restoration projects throughout the Grays Harbor and Chehalis River Basins. Each year, a request for project proposals is sent out to potential project sponsors. Typical projects include: culvert replacements, riparian tree planting, riparian fencing, large wood placement in streams, habitat and fish passage barrier assessments, and education efforts in local schools. If you are interested in obtaining more information about a potential project on your property or in your area, please contact me at the number below.
Thirteen projects have been funded in 2003, for a total of $191,000 Service dollars. Project sponsors are contributing a total of $380,995 in cost share. There are two outreach/education, one assessment, and ten on-the-ground projects, some of which are described here:
This newspaper insert is a bi-monthly newsletter compiled by the Chehalis River Council and distributed throughout the Chehalis River Basin. Articles are relevant to current land use and environmental issues (land stewardship, watershed planning) within the Basin.
Proposed by the City of Centralia, a trail will be constructed through a 200 foot wide, mile long, riparian planting project near the new wastewater treatment facility site. The trail will meander along the Chehalis River, and will have interpretive signs and brochures to describe important aspects of the riparian planting project, spawning Chinook salmon, and nesting bald eagles.
Building upon a previous culvert inventory, the Lewis County Conservation District will complete habitat assessments upstream of 50 culverts that currently block fish passage. This additional data will be used to prioritize these culverts for future replacement.
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Proposed by the Mason Conservation District, these projects will open over seven miles of high quality stream and wetland habitat on several tributaries to the Chehalis River, including Gibson and Cloquallum Creeks. The existing culverts are barriers to the upstream migration of fish. By replacing these undersized culverts with adequately sized culverts, the upstream habitat will be made accessible to coho salmon and cutthroat and steelhead trout.
These two projects, proposed by the Lewis County Conservation District, are located on a tributary to Coal Creek. These culverts have been identified as fish barriers and will be replaced with a correctly sized bridge and a culvert, primarily benefiting coho salmon, cutthroat and steelhead trout.
Located south of Montesano, the Washington Department of Natural Resources will eradicate a half acre of Japanese knotweed and Himalayan blackberry at the Preachers Slough Natural Area. Both of these plants are non-native invasive species which crowd out and overtake native vegetation, thereby reducing beneficial habitat to wildlife. The controlled area will be replanted with native trees and shrubs.
Brian Peck is the coordinator of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Chehalis Fisheries
Restoration Program, 360-753-9560 or brian_peck@fws.gov
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By Chris Page, Triangle Associates
The Chehalis Basin Partnership has reviewed several sections of the draft Chehalis Basin Watershed Management Plan, and will have the entire draft Plan by late September. This article explains the process for review, revision and adoption of the Plan and also describes some of the major findings and draft recommendations of the Plan that have been revealed so far.
After the draft Plan is handed out at the Partnership meeting on September 26 (in the Bingo/Events Hall at the Lucky Eagle in Oakville), there will be a month for review and revision of the draft. The Partnership then will consider whether or not to approve the Plan at its meeting on October 24, 2003. The process for approval uses consensus of all Partnership members OR consensus of Partnership members that are representatives of units of government and a majority vote of the non-governmental members. If the Partnership decides that changes are needed, these revisions will be made and the Partnership will meet again on October 31, 2003 to consider approval of the revised Plan.
If approval of the entire watershed plan cannot be achieved in the manner described above, the Partnership has two options:
If the Plan is approved, the Partnership will host a series of public meetings to gain citizen input and ensure the Plan recommendations are acceptable to residents of the Chehalis River basin (these meetings will be announced in Drops of Water, in local papers and by word of mouth). Following the public meetings, the Plan may undergo some further revision to reflect the needs/desires of citizens.
The four counties that comprise the majority of the Chehalis basin (Grays Harbor, Thurston, Mason and Lewis) then would hold separate public hearings. The Plan and its recommendations would become official if a majority of each county's commissioners vote to approve the plan at a joint hearing sometime in the spring of 2004.
NOTE: the draft Plan will be posted on Grays Harbor County web site at http://www.co.grays-harbor.wa.us/info/pub_svcs/ChehalisBasin/Index.html when it is complete in late September.
Findings
In recent months the Partnership has heard technical reports on water quality, water quantity, and the possibility of using water storage to alleviate winter flooding and summer droughts. The water quality report found that the surface waters of the Chehalis basin are in pretty good shape overall, though warm temperatures make it hard for fish in certain areas. The water storage study recommended low impact efforts such as preserving/restoring wetlands and beaver dams before undertaking anything major (like building or modifying a dam, or injecting water into aquifers).
The water quantity study brought the biggest news: if all the water rights on paper were used it would consume more water than is in the Chehalis River in some months -- but the amount of water used is far less than the amount represented by those water rights, so there is not a significant problem with the amount being used. The problem is, cities and other water rights applicants need water that the Department of Ecology is unwilling to give them due to the large amount of water already allocated on paper.
This brings up the issue of adjudication or deciding in a legal process if every single one of the 8,500 water rights claims is valid and, if so, for how much water. It is important to note that adjudication cannot take away valid water rights, but if water is being used regularly without a valid water right then that user would not be able to continue use of the water. Because water rights are unavailable yet the water itself seems to be available, the Partnership is leaning towards recommending adjudication for the Chehalis River basin.
This and other recommendations can be viewed at the above website when the draft Plan is posted. Another way to find out about the issues and recommendations contained in the Chehalis Basin Watershed Plan is to attend Partnership meetings on the fourth Friday of each month at the Lucky Eagle casino. You can also contact Lee Napier at 360-249-4222 or at lnapier@co.grays-harbor.wa.us.
The Partnership would also like to say THANK YOU to the folks that have volunteered to help read stream flow gauges. Your important efforts will help us understand more about how our rivers and streams are doing and how we can help them stay healthy.
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By Margaret Rader, Chehalis River Council
Recently the City of Chehalis agreed to save about 16 historic Garry oaks on the Hamilton Meadows property. The City deserves credit for recognizing the historical and aesthetic value of these trees as they plant their poplar plantation to use treated wastewater that cannot be discharged into the Chehalis river during summer months. This article is an attempt to describe what makes the Garry Oak so special.
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I wanted to write an article about the value of the Garry oak. Going online, I found many articles about this oak, the only oak native to the State of Washington. Frequently the words "majestic," "stately," and "noble" were used. But what do these terms really mean? I decided to go outside and take a long look at the oaks on our property at Holm Farm.
Living on the edge of the glacial outwash prairies, we are blessed with many oaks. Some folks would not consider this a blessing, since Thurston county requires protection of oak groves under a critical areas ordinance. Because I don't need to clear land for houses or pastures, I am free to consider the oaks a blessing. I know how fortunate I am.
We have all sizes of oaks. Perhaps the young oaks (25 years old or so) are not as beautiful as a young Douglas fir. They can look a bit scraggily. But the older oaks are impressive. There's another one of those words – impressive – what do I mean by it?
Right now I'm looking at three oaks near my house. One has four sturdy trunks growing from a single area, perhaps a long-ago squirrel cache? The middle oak is a young guy trying to make a place for itself beside a Granddaddy. It seems to be doing OK so far.
The Granddaddy has a thick trunk (9 feet circumference at chest level ) that goes up maybe 15 or 20 feet before suddenly deciding to branch out in all directions. The branches are not numerous and thin like the near-by maple. On the oak, six stout branches jut out and then climb upward again. As the eye goes up the thick central trunk, it becomes hard to tell what is central and which are side branches. The branches are thick and gnarled, which to me means they are not straight but bend in unexpected directions. Smaller branches reach and leaf out. At some point, a branch may decide to droop down toward the ground again. I can go and look closely at the dark green leathery leaves.
The leaves are oak-leaf shaped – surprise! The leaves are deeply round-lobed, with six lobes and a notched tip. In spring the leaves are a vibrant light green, in summer dark green and shiny, and in fall a rich orange tinged brown.
In a wind storm, large branches can be torn from the oak. This can be exciting for the homeowner living nearby, but it leaves a cavity that can be used by many kinds of wildlife. For many years, honey bees colonized a cavity in another large oak on our property until they succumbed to the mite infestation or just decided to move on.
The Granddaddy appears to be in competition with the maple near it. Judging by the limbs that extent into the maple's canopy, the maple is winning (these oak limbs are dead). For now the oak is taller, but the maple may very well win out. In many places, oaks are also getting shaded out by encroaching Douglas fir.
Moss and lichens cling to the branches and trunk, making it difficult to see how very gray the trunk is. On some branches, round fruit-like objects can be seen. These are oak apples. They aren't a fruit of the oak at all but are caused by a small insect. Each round gall contains the larvae of a small cynipid wasp. These oak apples can be quite beautiful. Sometimes they are cream-colored with a pink tinge and others are interestingly mottled.
The leaves of the oak are the last to emerge in the spring and the last to drop in the fall. The oak in winter is as striking as the oak in summer. In winter, the structure of the trunk and limbs can be fully appreciated, and an oak with snow on its branches is a wonder to behold.
The oaks on our farm are too scattered and few to be part of an oak woodland (several acres with many oaks) but perhaps are a remnant of an oak woodland before the European settlement. As such, they reach out to the past as well as promise to endure into the future. In fact, Garry oaks are considered relics of post-ice age vegetation (in the warming period 6,000 years ago). The survival of many oak woodlands may be due to the Indians' management of the prairies by fire. Thick-barked Garry oaks can survive fire while young conifers often cannot.
Nothing is forever, and oaks can quite suddenly fall if damaged by construction or undermined by erosion along a river bank. But I like to think that these oaks have made it for maybe more than a hundred years and they'll make it for my grandchildren's children to enjoy.
From my online research, I learned the following: "Historically Garry oak communities range from southeastern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, down through the San Juan islands and along the east side of the Olympic Peninsula and southern Puget Lowlands in Washington, and into the Willamette, Umpqua, and Rogue Valleys of Oregon. . . . .It's estimated that 90% of the historical range of oak woodlands has been lost due to urbanization, agricultural and forestry conversion, fire suppression, and invasion of exotic species." (Bird Conservation, Issue 14, 2000.) So it's not at all certain that our grandchildren's grandchildren will enjoy Garry oaks. On the other hand, some people think that, with global warming, the Garry oak may be a strong survivor because of its adaptability to warm and dry conditions.
I've barely mentioned how valuable the oaks are for wildlife. They are – but the point of this essay is that the oaks are valuable for their own sake. They are beautiful. They are worthy of protection, and a long, loving look.
Of the many online resources, I'll mention only two:
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By Nancy Ness, Grays Harbor Noxious Weed Control
Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is an invasive plant that has been spreading in the lower Chehalis River and adjacent sloughs. Its purple flower spikes can be seen on the banks of the river from late July through September. A collaborative effort has been underway to reduce the aggressive invasion of this Class B noxious weed. The Grays Harbor County Noxious Weed Control Board, Department of Natural Resources, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife ,with funds from the Washington Department of Ecology, have been mapping and controlling purple loosestrife.
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The mouth of the Wynoochee River as it feeds into the Chehalis has been absolutely choked with this plant, and the influence of the tide assists in spreading it up and down the banks of the Chehalis. It is reported that the seeds are so small that bumble bees can carry seeds far from the original site.
An integrated approach to control has been used, and hand-pulling, chemical control and insect predation have all been employed. Beetles have been released at several large infestations and are beginning to build populations large enough to show damage at some of the sites. The beetles (Galerucella sp) have been tested extensively to be sure they will only eat purple loosestrife and, once the food source is exhausted, they will die.
Property owners are asked to remove any purple loosestrife plants from their property and some assistance may be provided if the property is on the lower Chehalis River. Please contact the Grays Harbor Noxious Weed Control Office at 360-482-2265 for more information.
Nancy Ness
Grays Harbor Noxious Weed Control
P.O. Box R
Elma, WA 98541
(360) 482-2265
http://graysharbor.wsu.edu
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Environmental Protection Agency's WaterTalk, May 2003.
If you care about salmon (and even if you don't!), it's time to Just Say No! to lawn and garden chemicals, particularly the ones that are designed to kill. Recent studies by the Northwest Fisheries Science Center and other researchers have found that toxic stormwater runoff – full of oil, grease, anti-freeze, pesticides and other pollutants – is killing the salmon return to spawn before they are able to do so (see Seattle Post-Intelligencer story, 2/6/03).
This "pre-spawn mortality" occurs in spite of restored habitat conditions and is apparently caused mainly by pesticides that landowners apply to urban and suburban lawns. "Pesticides are designed to kill, and they do it very efficiently," said a fisheries biologist commenting on the study results, which found for Longfellow Creek in West Seattle an 88% pre-spawn fish kill.
"Perfect" weed and insect free lawns and gardens that are achieved through chemicals may not be fish, wildlife, or even people friendly – particularly for young children. Why not kick the habit and help save the salmon?
For more information on Beneficial Landscaping, visit the website at www.epa.gov/r10earth/bl.htm.
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At its August Annual Meeting, the Chehalis River Council named Chanele Holbrook-Shaw as their Watershed Citizen of the Year. Each year the council gives this award to a person in the Chehalis Basin who has been outstanding in his or her efforts on behalf of the Basin's natural resources.
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The Council chose Chanele based on the broad range of her activities. She is a Thurston County member of the Citizens Advisory Committee of the Chehalis Basin Partnership (CBP) and has lately become chair of that group. She is an active participant in several of the committees of the Partnership. In addition, she was instrumental in forming the Scatter Creek Watershed Council, formerly the Scatter Creek Habitat Conservation Plan group. As the director of a small, family-owned foundation, the Heernet Foundation, she won several U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service grants for restoration activities on the Heernet property near the headwaters of Scatter Creek. "Whenever there is a meeting about an issue important to the Black River, Scatter Creek, or the entire Chehalis Basin, Chanele will be there," said CRC chair Margaret Rader. "We are glad to recognize her energy and initiative."
The CRC also recognized Patti and Bill Barmettler as CRC Volunteers of the Year for their work with the volunteer monitoring program and Bill's role in making possible the CRC's computer upgrade.
Eric Johnson, Lewis County Commissioner, first district, joined the group to discuss some of the challenges facing our natural resources in the Chehalis Basin. As Lewis County Commissioner, Johnson serves on the State Forest Practices Board and is involved with the Small Family Timber Farm Habitat Conservation Plan that is being piloted in Lewis County. He also discussed the county's efforts to comply with the Growth Management Act and outlined environmental issues in the county's Strategic Plan.
In other business, the Council re-elected Margaret Rader and Janet Strong to three year terms on the board of trustees.
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Department of Ecology news release.
OLYMPIA, August 11, 2003. The state's Environmental Excellence Award has been given to the Lewis County Solid Waste Utility for organizing a "re-use fair" that kept hundreds of items in productive use and out of the landfill.
The Department of Ecology (Ecology) presented the state's top environmental award this morning during a meeting of the county commissioners. The swap-meet-style event encouraged county residents to turn in items they no longer used so others could use them. It was held in April at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds.
"We were amazed at what came in," said Pat Campbell, who manages the county's solid-waste division. There were Styrofoam bike helmets, a kitchen mat decorated with snowmen, rolls of contact paper, ice trays, table lamps, Christmas tree stands, paperback books, lawn mowers, furniture and lots of toys. "You name it, it came in," said Campbell.
When more than one person wanted an item, such as a pair of skis or an exerciser, county employees staged an impromptu tie-breaker by picking a number between one and 10. No money changed hands. The goods were all free.
Although trash in Lewis County is sent to a huge landfill in Klickitat County, the re-use fair helps people do their part to keep products in use and out of the landfill.
The vast percentage of ecological damage is done before a product reaches the consumer, not afterwards, according to Laurie Davies, a manager with Ecology's solid waste program. "That's why it is important to use products completely or pass them along to somebody else to use - this is called sustainable use of resources," said Davies. "Re-using products came naturally to many of our grandparents who lived through the Depression, but fewer people are doing it in today's use-and-toss society."
She said Lewis County's re-use fair provides a creative way to re-introduce people to the value of re-using products. "The re-use fair supports the state's efforts to help people learn about sustainability, both for their own benefit and to help protect the environment," Davies said.
Ecology gives the Environmental Excellence Award to individuals, groups or organizations that go to extraordinary effort to protect, improve or clean up the environment.
Lewis County Solid Waste Utility says it plans to hold its second re-use fair on Oct. 11 at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds. The schedule for the October 11 Re-Use Fair includes a drop-off period from 8 to 10 AM for people to bring items they wish to contribute. The Fair opens to all at 11AM for "shopping." At 11:30 an "auction" will be held for especially desirable items. This will be like a drawing. No money is required – all items at the Re-Use Fair are free. The event ends at 1 PM.
People can call 360-740-1452 for more information.
Contacts: Sandy Howard, Department of Ecology, 360-407-6239
Pat Campbell, Lewis County Solid Waste Utility, 360-740-1452
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The clock is ticking away, and your thoughts count!
Believe it or not, four years have whizzed by, and the Chehalis Basin Partnership is about out of time for finalizing the Watershed Management Plan. The required contractual time limit for submittal of the final plan is October 31, 2003.
The Partnership wants to get a final draft copy out for review to members of the Partnership and local citizens by September. This would allow approximately 30 days for review before presenting the document with all its corrections and comments by October 31st.
The Chehalis Basin Citizens Committee decided in late July 2003 that there should be one last attempt to include citizen comments, thoughts, ideas, and issues before the final draft review in September. To try and accomplish this, we will place this article in as many publications as possible during the last week of August 2003.
To submit any comments, thoughts, ideas, or issues, please send them to your local area citizen representative before September 17, 2003.
Citizens Advisory Committee Contacts: Committee Chair Chanele Holbrook-Shaw 360-264-4310 Lewis county Lyle Hojem 360-748-7683 Thurston J. Roach 360-357-9662 Mason Peter Hiebert 360-482-5249 Grays Harbor Terry Willis 360-249-5386
Again, your input is vital to the overall Watershed Management Plan. After all, this plan is for every citizen in this basin, and our future livelihood. Give your two cents; you might be surprised what a difference it could make.
Thank you for wanting to make a difference!
Sincerely,
Chanele Holbrook-Shaw, Chair, Citizens Advisory Committee
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There's a lot more to water than meets the eye. Here are a few interesting, and often amazing, facts about water. You might be surprised by what you learn!
(These statistics are offered as an illustration of the importance of water. Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, but errors may have occurred.)
Bodies of Water
Global Coverage
In America
Source: http://www.opb.org/programs/oregonstory/water/resources/page_2.html. ##
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