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HomeMy WebLinkAboutY5MR 983700007 Witte Mitigation Monitoring Report Year Five September 26, 2024 Prepared for: Lisa Witte 2313 NW Blue Ridge Drive Seattle, WA 98177-5429 Regarding: Jefferson County Case #: MLA10-00225 Csp10-00001 Witte Mitigation - Year Five Monitoring Report i | M S A TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. PROJECT OVERVIEW ................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Project Location..................................................................................................................................... 1 2. MONITORING ............................................................................................................... 2 3 FINDINGS ....................................................................................................................... 5 TABLES Table 1. Monitoring and Maintenance Schedule ................................................................ 2 Table 2. Quantitative List of Species - Area A ................................................................... 2 Table 3. Quantitative List of Species - Area B ................................................................... 3 Table 4. Quantitative List of Species - Area C ................................................................... 3 FIGURES Figure 1. Vicinity Map .......................................................................................................................................... 1 Figure 2. Monitoring Plan Area Maps ........................................................................................................ 4 Figure 3. Planting Area A .................................................................................................................................... 7 Figure 4. Planting Area B ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Figure 5. Planting Area C ................................................................................................................................... 9 Witte Mitigation - Year Five Monitoring Report 1 | M S A 1. PROJECT OVERVIEW 1.1 Introduction Olympic Wetland Resources LLC prepared a Critical Area Stewardship Plan (CASP) as mitigation for a residential garage and driveway project, and subsequently an As-Built report once the mitigation was executed. The As-Built report was accepted, and Jefferson County Department of Community Development (JCDCD) issued the final permit on December 18, 2019. The project area, including construction and mitigation, consists of two Jefferson County parcels (#983700007 and 983700008). Native plants that were recommended and installed for this plan included a total of 55 trees and shrubs, distributed throughout three planting areas. The planting areas can be seen in the monitoring plan site map (Figure 2), and in the monitoring photos (Figures 3- 5). A quantitative list of species per area can be found in Tables 2-4. On July 10th, 2024, a site visit was completed by Marine Surveys & Assessments (MSA) Ecologist Meg Amos to determine if the plants are meeting the plan’s performance standards. This report represents the fifth and final year of monitoring. 1.2 Project Location SW ¼ of Section 29, Township 25N, Range 02W Site Address: 195 Paradise Cove Road, Brinnon, WA Parcels: 983700007 and 983700008 in Jefferson County, WA Figure 1. Vicinity Map Witte Mitigation - Year Five Monitoring Report 2 2. MONITORING Three planting areas were identified and photographed during the As-Built site visit in 2019, all of which show plant locations and site conditions (Figure 2). Photos were taken from the same locations during each monitoring visit to compare and measure the required performance standards. The monitoring schedule and list of planted species can be found in the tables below. Table 1. Monitoring and Maintenance Schedule As- Built Year 2019 Monitoring Year 2020 Monitoring Year 2021 Monitoring Year 2022 Monitoring Year 2023 Monitoring Year 2024 Planting ✓ Weeding ✓ * ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Irrigation ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Replacement Plants *10 total ✓ ** *** Photo Areas ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ As-Built Report ✓ * 2020 - Areas A and B required replacement plants and Area A required weeding of invasives. ** Additional native plants added by landscaper. *** Additional native plants were added to area C by landscaper. Table 2. Quantitative List of Species - Area A 2019 As- Built Quantity Botanical Name Common Name 2020 Tally 2021 Tally 2022 Tally 2023 Tally 2024 Tally 1 Acer circinatum Vine maple 1 1 1 2* *2 1 Oemleria cerasiformis Oso berry 1 1 1 3* *3 4 Pseudotsuga menzesii Douglas fir 3 3 3 2 2 3 Ribes sanguineum Red-flowering currant 3 3 3 2 2 5 Thuja plicata Western red cedar 5 6 6 8* *8 14 Total 13 14 14 17 17 Note: Area A rotated on the ground by 180° in comparison with the planting map. *Some well established volunteer species were included in the tally. Witte Mitigation - Year Five Monitoring Report 3 Table 3. Quantitative List of Species - Area B 2019 As- Built Quantity Botanical Name Common Name 2020 Tally 2021 Tally 2022 Tally 2023 Tally 2024 Tally 2 Acer circinatum Vine maple 2 2 2 2 2 6 Oemleria cerasiformis Oso berry 2 6 6 6 6 1 Pinus contorta Shore pine 1 1 2 2 2 4 Pseudotsuga menzesii Douglas fir 3 3 3 3 3 5 Ribes sanguineum Red-flowering currant 3 8 8 8 8 4 Thuja plicata Western red cedar 2 2 2 2 *1 22 Total 13 22 23 23 22 *One dead cedar. Table 4. Quantitative List of Species - Area C 2019 As- Built Quantity Botanical Name Common Name 2020 Tally 2021 Tally 2022 Tally 2023 Tally 2024 Tally 2 Acer circinatum Vine maple 2 2 2 4** 3 5 Oemleria cerasiformis Oso berry 5 5 5 4 5 2 Pinus contorta Shore pine 2 2 2 2 2 3 *Rhododendron macrophyllum Pacific rhododendron 3 3 * 4 2*** 0 7 Ribes sanguineum Red-flowering currant 7 7 7 9** 10 19 Total 19 19 20 21 20 * Plan calls for Rhododendron macrophyllum, but Rhododendron occidentale (Western Azalea) was planted instead. These plants were not in good condition and were replaced in 2021. ** Ribes Sanguineum and Acer circinatum are doing well in the area and plants were added to compensate for the Rhododendron occidentale. ***The two Rhododendron occidentale remaining were not healthy. Witte Mitigation - Year Five Monitoring Report 4 Figure 2. Monitoring Plan Area Maps Area A rotated on ground by 180°. Witte Mitigation - Year Five Monitoring Report 5 3. FINDINGS The end goal of the CASP mitigation plan is to provide protective measures to minimize impacts to the shoreline critical habitat area buffer. The following performance standards are used to measure the success of the mitigation area. Performance standard #1 - Survival Rate: Year 1: Achieve 100% survival success at the end of the growing season. Years 2 - 5: Achieve 80% survival success at end of the growing season. The Critical Area Stewardship Plan is considered successful if 80% or greater of desirable cover is achieved and the plants are healthy and vigorous during the fifth year of monitoring. Desirable species also include volunteer native trees and shrubs. Performance Standard #2 - Invasive Species: No more than 10% invasive species should be present at any time during the monitoring process. Non-desirable species include Scots’ broom (Cytisus scoparius), English ivy (Hedera hlix) and Himalayan blackberry (Rubus armeniacus). Area A is meeting both performance standards in the fifth and final year of monitoring. The survival rate is ≥ 100% including volunteer native plants that are creeping in from the sides (Table 2 & Figure 3). Volunteer species include oso berry (Oemleria cerasiformis), salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis), peafruit rose (Rosa pisocarpa), evergreen huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum), big leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), western red cedar (Thuja plicata), cascara (Rhamnus purshiana), and trailing snowberry (Symphoricarpos mollis). Area B is also in exceedance of the performance standards for year 5 with 100% survival of planted species and no invasive species present within the planting area (Table 3 & Figure 4). Volunteer native species in and around the area include evergreen huckleberry (V. ovatum), salal (Gaultheria shallon), trailing blackberry (Rubus ursinus), trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera ciliosa.), big leaf maple (A. macrophyllum), pacific madrone (A. menziesii), Douglas fir (P. menziesii), western red cedar (Thuja plicata), and oso berry (Oemleria cerasiformis). Area C is exceeding the performance standards with greater than 100% survival of planted species and no invasive species (Table 4 & Figure 5). Native plants naturalizing around the periphery of Area C included: evergreen huckleberry (V. ovatum), serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia), salal (G. shallon), trumpet honeysuckle (L. ciliosa.), pacific madrone (A. menziesii), and Douglas fir (P. menziesii). Witte Mitigation - Year Five Monitoring Report 6 During the site visit conducted on July 10, 2024, all planting areas were found to be meeting or exceeding the expectations of the performance standards (80% survival by the end of year 5 and ≤ 10% cover by invasive species). No further monitoring is required. Sincerely, Meg Amos Senior Ecologist Witte Mitigation - Year Five Monitoring Report 7 Figure 3. Planting Area A Looking east/southeast – Year 5 (7/10/2024) Looking east/southeast – Year 1 (2020) Figure 4. Planting Area B Witte Mitigation - Year Five Monitoring Report 8 Looking south – Year 5 (7/10/2024) Looking northwest – Year 5 (7/10/2024) Looking west – Year 1 (2020) Witte Mitigation - Year Five Monitoring Report 9 Figure 5. Planting Area C Looking northwest – Year 5 (7/10/2024). The fence is new this year. Witte Mitigation - Year Five Monitoring Report 10 Looking northeast – Year 5 (7/10/2024) Looking southwest – Year 1 (2020)