June 2009
Every six months it’s a good idea to look back and assess where you've been.
To sum up the larger achievements since January of 2009, we are finalizing our ten year Land and Forest Management Plans after thoughtful negotiation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The documents are easily updated as we acquire more parcels. Since I just attended a forest habitat restoration conference, I can say that these plans are up to date with best available restoration science and are still very sensitive to our mission to protect existing threatened and endangered species habitat.
We are very involved in the local WRIA (Water Resource Inventory Area) salmon recovery process. As a member of the Technical Committee I'm in a position to help members of the community set up their projects so they have a good chance at funding. In partnership with the Pacific Coastal Salmon Coalition (PCSC), the Hoh Tribe, the U.S. Forest Service and the Wild Salmon Center, we will be replacing a chronic road block and fish passage barrier at Pole Creek with a 55 foot concrete bridge. Project management will be by HRT and PCSC.
Our upper Pole Cr. basin is next in line to have all fish barriers (culverts) removed and its unneeded road decommissioned. We have two grants in progress to fund this project. We are also replacing less dramatic but still locally important fish passage barriers in two other areas this summer. We employ local small businesses to do the work. Bids are out with selection in late June.
Forest restoration is actively underway. In partnership with the Hoh Tribe, we have been planting Sitka Spruce under the young Alder stands that cover the Hoh floodplain. Those that survive the rivers meandering will become large relatively soon, beginning restoration of the old heavily forested riparian zone spoken of by the pioneer families. Now in its fourth year, we have success in some areas and need to replant in others.
In the Dismal Cr. tip-weevil affected area, we are entering our second year of pre-commercial thinning. This will improve forest health and ecological diversity in the old single-species spruce plantation, and speed development of old growth like forest conditions. Thinning is the first step. We'll next plant Western Red Cedar and other species among the freshly released 23 year old trees. To increase species richness, we are also cutting small openings into the stand for elk and deer forage plots.
We were just recently award a $35k grant from the Ingalls Foundation to eradicate invasive plants throughout our Schmidt Bar property, the crown jewel of our holdings. The work will begin after the murrelet nesting season, and when completed will contribute significantly to the long term health of this important cultural and ecological treasure.
On the larger scale, all of this stream and forest restoration work will allow salmonids to re-enter parts of the watershed they have been blocked out of, and will begin to break up the big old clearcut polygons by introducing a more natural and spatially diverse forest structure, also improving habitat for marbled murrelet and spotted owl. As time passes, these projects will develop into a high quality connecting corridor the length of the Hoh River.