HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013 West End Natural Resources News (JUNE)Issue No. 6 June 2013
A publication of the North Pacific Coast Marine Resources Committee
(NPC MRC) and NPC Lead Entity for Salmon Recovery.
Continues on page 3
When David Hudson, Hoh Tribe council
member and fisheries/natural resources tribal
representative, was a boy, he would ride with
his dad in their Model A south along the coast
from the mouth of the Hoh River to fish for
smelt. “We got 100 pounds in one scoop of
a dip net back then. Nowadays, our younger
generation have gillnet seines and they can
barely fill a cooler with smelt,” he remarked.
Smelt, like the other abundant resources of
the ocean, forest and rivers, were included in
meals at family gatherings, naming parties
and memorials. Kathy Dickson, a lifetime
Hoh Valley resident and daughter of promi-
nent pioneer, Elizabeth Fletcher Barlow, also
remembers smelting from her childhood as “a
really wet and fun family activity. We cleaned
and flattened out the fish, floured and fried
them. They were delicious.”
In addition to their cultural and dietary
significance to humans, smelt and other
‘forage species’ are a critical prey item for
seabirds, salmon and countless other animals.
Their abundance is vital to the health and
diversity of the ocean. Although high num-
bers of individual forage fish exist worldwide,
many of these species are vulnerable to over-
fishing, as well as changes to ocean conditions
and degradation of spawning habitat. Eula-
chon – a type of smelt that spawns in fresh
water – was listed as Threatened in 2010 un-
der the Endangered Species Act. Its designated
critical habitat includes the lower Columbia
and Quinault Rivers.
Each forage fish species has particular
requirements for spawning, and these require-
ments are as diverse as the fish themselves. For
example, surf smelt lay their eggs in shallow
water along sand and gravel beaches. The eggs
adhere to grains of sediment in the upper
third of the beach and hatch out two to four
weeks later, depending on temperature, with
Mudminnows!
Where the Smelt Eggs Are:
Coastal Forage Fish Spawning Survey Underway
By Tami PokornyInside: Salmon Recovery ...........2
Lake Ozette Steering ... 6
Marine Spatial
Planning .......................7
Olympic Mudminnow ....8
Resources Fair... ..........10
Coast Cleanup........... 11
Trees in a Cliff .............. 11
Across the North Pacific Coast, tribal staff members are participating with the WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
(WDFW) in the Coastal Forage Fish Spawning Survey by collecting and processing beach samples in search of smelt
eggs. These individuals include, from left to right: Russell Markishtum and Zacarias Espinoza, forage fish project
technicians for the Makah Tribe; Greg Urata, fisheries technician for the Quileute Tribe; Jennifer Hagen, marine
biologist for the Quileute Tribe; Graywolf Nattinger, biological technician for the Hoh Tribe; and Scott Mazzone,
shellfish and marine biologist for the Quinault Indian Nation.
2 — NPC MRC
2013 Salmon Recovery
Project Proposals
This year, Pacific Coast Salmon Coalition (PCSC) and
10,000 Years Institute are proposing a combined total of four
salmon recovery projects to the North Pacific Coast Lead
Entity (NPCLE). Across Washington State, lead entities
are community-based groups,
including tribal, local and state
agencies, citizens and stake-
holders, tasked with develop-
ing strategies to restore salmon
habitat. On an annual cycle,
they review project applications
for potential funding by the
Washington State Recreation
and Conservation Office.
To learn more about
salmon recovery projects, visit
the Habitat Work Schedule
website http://hws.ekosystem.us
or attend a NPCLE meeting.
Meetings are typically held on
third Tuesdays from 1:00- 3:30
PM at the UW Olympic Natu-
ral Resource Center (ONRC).
Dickey Camp Pond #13-1283:
This project will restore crucial
overwintering habitat for fish in
the Dickey River watershed in
Clallam County. The pond flows into Skunk Creek, which
is a tributary to the Dickey River. The pond’s outflow has
been altered in the recent past and drained the pond to about
30% of its original capacity. PCSC will create a new outlet
channel, raise the pond to its original height, and allow for
unrestricted fish passage. The project will enhance overwin-
tering and rearing habitat to many fish species including
coho salmon and cutthroat and steelhead trout.
New knotweed plant on root wad near Dismal Creek. Photo courtesy of
10,000 Years Institute
Goodman Creek. Photo courtesy of PCSC
Dickey Camp Pond. Photo courtesy of PCSC
NPC MRC — 3
Goodman Creek Assessment #13-1285: PCSC is propos-
ing to assess fish habitat conditions in Goodman Creek. The
creek is an independent salmon- and steelhead-producing
coastal stream located to the north of the Hoh River and
south of the Quillayute River basin in Jefferson County.
Three assessment components (reference point surveys, habi-
tat surveys, and large woody debris surveys) will be used to
develop a prioritized list of future instream, riparian and fish
passage restoration opportunities.
Hoh River Restoration Project #13-1147: 10,000 Years In-
stitute will address invasive species over 30 miles of the Hoh
River floodplain in Jefferson County, from the Olympic Na-
tional Park boundary downstream to the river’s mouth at the
Pacific Ocean. Invasive species control is a critical compo-
nent of riparian restoration on the Hoh River. This project’s
objective is to prevent and control invasive knotweed, Scotch
broom and reed canary grass. These invasive species interfere
with the natural riparian environment and the food web that
supports Hoh River wild Chinook and coho salmon, steel-
head, and bull trout. This project will provide information
on the effectiveness of control strategies and the impact of
invasive plants on aquatic and riparian habitats.
Sullivan Ponds #13-1284: PCSC is proposing to enhance
and expand overwintering ponds on the North Fork Cala-
wah River in Clallam County in order to provide refuge for
juvenile salmon during the dry season. Ponds will be created
where the historic channel has been destroyed by illegal ORV
access. This project will enhance habitat benefitting coho
salmon and cutthroat and steelhead trout. There will also
be an outreach and education component to address illegal
ORV access.
the next high tide. Pacific sardine, by contrast, spawn in the
open ocean in the upper portion of the water column and
their oval eggs float for only about three days before hatch-
ing.
In Puget Sound and the Strait, where risks to shoreline
habitat from development have been particularly intense,
over 30,000 intertidal forage fish egg surveys were conducted
by WDFW and its partners during the past thirty years.
Hundreds of additional surveys have targeted herring spawn
attached to subtidal vegetation. Documented intertidal
spawning sites are protected under “no net loss” regulations
by Washington Administrative Code (WAC 220-110). Over
the same 30-yr pe-
riod, about 100 Pa-
cific Coast surveys
found smelt eggs
on 11 sites. Sev-
eral of these finds,
at Rialto, Ruby
and Kalaloch-area
beaches, confirmed
what the tribes had
long observed.
“Vast addition-
al areas of the outer
coast also seem to support the fine gravel/coarse sand … used
by spawning surf smelt,” remarked Dan Penttila in a May,
2012 email. “I’m certain that additional surf smelt spawning
beaches would be found if such surveys were undertaken.”
SMELT Continued from page 1
Sullivan Ponds project site. Photo courtesy of PCSC
“Late-eyed” surf smelt egg attached to a bit of gravel by its pedicle.
Late-eyed means that the egg is in a late stage of development where
the eye of the embryo is clearly visible and the body is starting to look
like a proper fish. This occurs just a few days prior to hatching. Photo:
Mariko Langness
This tiny smelt egg was tucked into a Kalaloch
beach by the surf until it was scooped up by
a Hoh Tribe technician in March. Photo:
Mariko Langness
4 — NPC MRC
Dan collected most of the existing data on smelt and sand
lance spawning in Washington before retiring from a long
career with WDFW to start Salish Sea Biological in Ana-
cortes. “Unfortunately our forage fish funding more or less
tied us to the Puget Sound basin, and very little of our time
could be spent in habitat surveys in western Jefferson and
Clallam Counties. Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties were
similarly short-changed except for occasional herring spawn-
ing habitat surveys in Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay, even
though populations of surf smelt and sand lance are known
to exist there.”
Thanks to WA Department of Natural Resources fund-
ing linked to Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning and
matching contributions from tribes, the first comprehensive
survey of Washington’s outer coast for forage fish eggs began
last October. The Coastal Forage Fish Spawning Survey is a
truly collaborative State/Tribal effort. The study was designed
by WDFW senior research scientists Drs. Dayv Lowry and
Kirk Krueger and is directed by Lorna Wargo and co-man-
aged by project biologist Mariko Langness and coastal treaty
tribe biologists Joe Gilbertson (Hoh Tribe), Jennifer Hagen
(Quileute Tribe), Scott Mazzone (Quinault Nation) and Joe
Peterson (Makah Tribe). Mariko is compiling the data col-
lected across the coast and entering it into the state’s forage
fish database for processing.
“When we began this project we knew that smelt
spawned on the outer coast during the late summer and fall.
We had little data outside of this window, though, and cre-
ated a comprehensive sampling design to capture potential
spawning during other times of year. We were pleasantly sur-
prised to also find spawning in the spring this year and two
previously undocumented spawning sites. We fully expect,
due to our sample design, to discover additional “new” sum-
mer and fall spawning locations in coming months,” com-
mented Dr. Lowry.
Biologists and technicians collect samples of beach sands
and gravels on a monthly basis from pre-selected beaches.
Graywolf Nattinger, biological technician for the Hoh Tribe,
remarks, “The most challenging part of the project has been
accessing the sample sites. For a few of the sites we must walk
several miles, often with no trail, to get into remote beach
locations. The most interesting part has been sifting through
the samples with a microscope.”
After filtering the samples through a series of sieves and
collecting a subsample, biologists and technicians look for
the 1mm smelt eggs among similarly sized grains of sand and
beach detritus. Identifying tiny eggs among tiny grains of
sand is, needless to say, a painstaking process. The informa-
tion being gathered now is designed to facilitate predictions
about future spawning events. “We are developing an ‘oc-
cupancy’ model to evaluate the question: How ubiquitous in
space and time is surf smelt (Hypomesis sp.) and night smelt
(Thalyicthys starski) spawning across sandy beach habitat
on Washington’s outer coast?” says Joe Gilbertson, research
biologist for the Hoh Tribe.
None of the more than 700 samples collected between
October 16, 2012 and January 22, 2013 contained forage
fish eggs, but a February sample taken near the mouth of the
Hoh River held two of them. One egg appeared viable under
the microscope; the oth-
er had been perforated at
some point but was still
easily recognizable as an
egg. Two eggs are enough
to indicate a “presence”
of spawning at a beach
station (1,000- foot seg-
ment) according to the
long-standing state stan-
dard. The eggs are being
retained for genetic test-
ing to determine which
species of smelt they are
(surf, night or eulachon).
Since that first discovery,
seven additional smelt
spawning stations have
Erin Dilworth, WDFW technician, and project biologist Mariko
Langness prepare to sample Long Beach for forage fish eggs. Photo:
Mariko Langness
The locations of forage fish
egg surveys as of 2011.
NPC MRC — 5
Smelt fishermen and children at Ruby Beach, Jefferson ca. 1935. Photographer unknown. Photo
courtesy of the family of Elizabeth Fletcher Barlow
been documented from the surveys
conducted through April 2013. Three
spawning sites were identified in March
in the Kalaloch region and four other
sites were located south of the Queets
River. The stations near the mouth
of the Hoh River and south of the
Queets River are new to science. May
and June are peak times for spawning
and samples from this period are being
analyzed now.
Michele Culver, regional direc-
tor for WDFW, is excited about the
forage fish spawning survey. “Over
time, monitoring changes in forage
fish could help inform us about the
ecological health of Washington’s coast
and the broader California Current
Ecosystem,” she says. The Coastal
Forage Fish Spawning Survey has
been funded through October 2013
and plans are underway to continue
sampling, with the help of volunteers,
for an additional two years. Watch this
newsletter for future citizen volunteer
training opportunities.
The author wishes to thank Dr.
Lowry and Mariko Langness for their
assistance with this article.
Smelting has a long tradition at First Beach and La Push and elsewhere along the North Coast. Photo courtesy of the Quileute Tribe
6 — NPC MRC
found at Umbrella Creek,” claimed Peggy Foreman of NOAA
Fisheries, Northwest Regional Office, who helped coordi-
nate the support for these field trips. Each of the schools
took different approaches to engage their students in this
experience. For example, the Quileute Tribal School brought
two of their canoes, elders, and biologists from their Natural
Resources Department to spend the afternoon with their
middle and high school students filming, interviewing, and
paddling across the lake. Forks High School involved a Pacif-
ic Northwest History class, Marine Biology class, and one of
their technology classes. Clallam Bay was able to dissect fish
donated by Makah Fisheries. These students all had the op-
portunity to learn directly from salmon recovery experts who
are actively working to restore this sockeye population. The
schools have created videos about the importance of salmon
to their communities and to shed light on this experience.
We would like to thank everyone involved with the field
trips and especially Joe Hinton, with Makah Fisheries, for
allowing students to tag fish, introducing them to age and
growth studies with otoliths (ear bones), and connecting
with these students personally. We would also like to high-
light Dean Butterworth, with Olympic National Park, for
creating two lessons, “Pacific Salmon: Anadromous Life-
styles” and “What is a Watershed”, as well as Jacilee Wray
who helped gather names that students could reach out to
interview or learn more about Lake Ozette sockeye. A huge
thanks to Jacqueline Laverdure, with the Olympic Coast
National Marine Sanctuary and Casey Ralston, from NOAA
Fisheries Northwest Fisheries Science Center, for their com-
mitment to supporting pre-visit lessons with the technol-
Lake Ozette Sockeye Steering
Committee (LOSC):
Ongoing Partnership Strides Ahead
LOSC membership includes tribal governments,
local, state and federal agencies, landowners,
scientists, salmon recovery organizations, and
interested citizens.
By Roy Morris
Many hands make a load lighter! Years of conversations
and collaborations in the context of the Lake Ozette Sockeye
Steering Committee (LOSC) are evolving into a growing
list of accomplishments. One of the LOSC subcommittees
is looking closely at issues associated with predation of adult
and juvenile Lake Ozette sockeye, a “Risk Factor” identified
for this stock in its Recovery Plan. The group is working to
develop projects that will fill data gaps in our understanding
of the role predation plays in sockeye recovery, as well as to
identify specific actions that can be taken now to limit the
number of sockeye that are eaten by other animals. More
news on this as it develops.
A second subcommittee focuses on public outreach and
education. This year LOSC partners hosted more than fifty
students from Quileute Tribal School, Forks High School,
and Clallam Bay High School for field trips to the lake to
observe returning sockeye. “It was a true joy to see students
filming the sockeye salmon and deducing which dentition
from 6 or 7 skulls could have preyed on a salmon that was
Introduction to Lake Ozette with Forks High School. Photo courtesy of:
Casey Ralston
Joe Hinton, Makah Fisheries hatchery manager, demonstrating otolith
or “ear bone” sampling techniques, and how they are used to distinguish
hatchery progeny from naturally spawned progeny. Photo courtesy of
Peggy Foreman
NPC MRC — 7
Quileute Tribal School students learn stories from an elder at a Lake
Ozette beach. Photo: Jacqueline Laverdure
ogy, field trip preparation and enthusiasm on all three field
trips. Lastly, we want to thank Roy Morris, Nancy Messmer,
Cathy Lear, and Nicole Rasmussen for reaching out to stu-
dents in their quest to learn more.
For more information on sockeye salmon in Olympic
National Park and Lake Ozette Sockeye Recovery, visit www.
nps.gov/olym/naturescience/sockeye-salmon.htm. A new
brochure is available to download and share at www.nwr.
noaa.gov/protected_species/salmon_steelhead/recovery_plan-
ning_and_implementation/lake_ozette/lake_ozette_recov-
ery_plan.html. Look for LOSC displays and meeting materi-
als in local libraries. Plans are also underway for signs, field
trips, tours, and interpretive programs.
Marine Spatial Planning
– Council is a Voice for
Washington’s Pacific Coast
Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is underway for the coast
of Washington as a result of the marine spatial planning law
passed in 2010 (Chapter 43.372 RCW). Public participation
is at the heart of this effort to determine the future of our
marine waters and coast. The four coast MRCs have worked
together over the past few years to create and participate in
a coast-wide body to advise state agencies on ocean policy,
including MSP. This group also included stakeholders from a
variety of businesses, as well as technical experts, and NGOs.
On May 21, Governor Inslee signed a bill (ESB 5603)
to re-establish this group, the Washington Coast Marine
Advisory Council, under the Governor’s Office. The council
will, among other duties, serve as a forum for discussion on
coastal waters issues and provide recommendations to the
governor, legislature, and state and local agencies. It now has
seven state departments on the council in new positions.
Members of the WCMAC also recently participated with
tribal, local, state, and federal personnel, as well as business
and NGO representatives, in a series of workshops to identify
draft goals and objectives for state marine spatial planning on
the Pacific Coast. The statements are intended to guide the
development of a comprehensive marine management plan
that is respectful of existing uses and tribal treaty rights while
providing economic opportunities and avoiding significant
harm to the environment.
Learn about opportunities to comment on these state-
ments and stay informed
about the MSP process gen-
erally by subscribing to the
mailing list at http://www.
msp.wa.gov/about/#respond.
A new website: www.msp.
wa.gov provides access to a
wealth of information about
coast resources, existing re-
source use, and places where
new uses – such as renewable
ocean energy – could emerge
over time. Increasingly, the
website is making interactive
viewers and tools available in
order to map and consider
existing patterns and poten-
tial future scenarios.
8 — NPC MRC
carnivore darts out from its refuge and captures its prey in
a mouth that is surprisingly large in relation to its body. In
some areas, the diet of Olympic mudminnows includes the
larval forms of biting midges (no-see-ums) and mosquitos.
Where mudminnows are locally abundant, they may exact a
meaningful toll on these pests.
As spawning time approaches, usually in early spring,
male Olympic mudminnows become brilliantly striped and
increasingly fierce. Once he sets up his territory (of about
17 inches by 44 inches), the mudminnow patrols it tirelessly
and defends it against other male mudminnows, salmon fry,
sticklebacks and all other comers – except one. When a fe-
male mudminnow enters the territory the male launches into
a display that has come to be known, in close-knit piscato-
rial circles, at the “wigwag dance”. When and if the female is
suitably impressed, the pair retreats to nearby vegetation in
order to spawn. Only one or two eggs are released at a time
although spawning may occur repeatedly over the course of
The Olympic Mudminnow:
A Friendly Look at a Western
Washington Original
By Tami Pokorny
Washington State waters play host to dozens of species of
freshwater fishes. But just one of them is found here and no
other place. The Olympic Mudminnow (Novumbra hubbsi) is
Washington’s only endemic fish. Although it’s small (usu-
ally less than 3 inches) and not technically a minnow, lives
in dark places and has some anger management issues, the
Olympic mudminnow also possesses unique and impressive
qualities. Its presence in a nearby wetland may have impor-
tant benefits for people, too
Olympic mudminnows live in bogs, wetlands, ponds,
slow-moving creeks and along lakeshores at low elevations
through much of western Washington, especially southern
Puget Sound, in the Chehalis Basin and on the Pacific Coast
as far north as Lake Ozette. They occupy habitats which
managed to escape the onslaught of glaciers during the Pleis-
tocene Epoch about 15,000 years ago.
Although mudminnows are restricted to a relatively small
area of the world, they are nevertheless prolific and resilient
where they do exist. Thriving in places other fish find suffo-
cating, mudminnows keep company with frogs in the warm,
oxygen-deficient waters common to marshes and other
muddy, wet places with abundant water-loving plants.
Through genetics research, scientists have learned that
the Olympic mudminnow is more closely related to pikes
than other mudminnows. And like pikes, they are patient,
stealthy predators who camouflage themselves among the
leaves and roots of aquatic plants. When an aquatic inver-
tebrate has the misfortune to appear, this opportunistic
James Pond. Photo: Roger Tabor USFWS
Setting a (mud) minnow trap in James Pond. The trap is baited with
frozen bloodworms to lure the fish in and then left overnight. Photo:
Roger Tabor USFWS
A single minnow-trap haul of Olympic mudminnows from James
Pond. Photo: Roger Tabor USFWS
NPC MRC — 9
an hour or more. When the eggs hatch nine days later, the
light brown fry have the good sense to extrude sticky mucus
from two pores on the side of their heads, which they then
use to attach themselves to vegetation until they grow large
enough to actively avoid being eaten.
Olympic mudminnows recognize good habitat when
they see it but humans, even trained biologists, can some-
times mistake a mudminnow lair as an ordinary roadside
ditch or isolated, fishless wetland. So despite the fact that
mudminnows are tough little beasts, their favorite addresses
are not. It’s estimated that historical wetland loss in western
Washington was as high as 39 percent, as lands were altered
for agriculture, industry and ports. Although government
regulations have become increasingly protective of wetlands,
and some private land owners go above and beyond what’s
required in support of fish-friendly surroundings, wetland
habitats are still at risk. Pollution from roads and lawn care
chemicals, and invasions of exotic plants and animals, may
impact mudminnows and other wildlife adversely. The pres-
ence of introduced fish like largemouth bass, in particular,
spell big trouble for mudminnows. Due to the limited range
of the Olympic mudminnow and the vulnerability of its
habitat, WDFW considers it a State Sensitive Species and an
increasing priority for conservation.
In western Jefferson County, mudminnows live in
Steamboat Creek bog and some of the Hoh River drainages.
In western Clallam County, mudminnows swim in a beaver
pond adjacent to Lake Ozette, in the lake itself and in James
Pond near the Mora ranger station in Olympic National
Park. “According to recent genetics work, the north coast
population is considered unique and distinct from mudmin-
nows in the Chehalis watershed and Puget Sound,” said
Roger Tabor, fish biologist, at USFWS, in a recent phone
Trapped mudminnows are held in a bucket for genetic sampling (a
small fin clip is taken from each fish and they are returned to the pond).
Photo: Roger Tabor USFWS
Mudminnow paradise near Lake Ozette. Photo: Roger Tabor USFWS
interview. “Mudminnows present a good opportunity for
citizen scientists to help fill in our understanding of where
these fish live and how best to protect them. We need to start
paying closer attention to these fish.”
Studies are getting underway this summer in the Che-
halis River basin to determine the vegetation preferences
of Olympic mudminnows and the effects of invasive weed
removal on their habitat. Plans are also being developed for
the fish to star in an educational film!
State Sensitive Species:
A native species that is
vulnerable or declining
and is likely to become
endangered or threat-
ened in a significant
portion of its range
within the state without
cooperative manage-
ment or removal of
threats.
Map excerpt from the
distribution of Olympic
mudminnow, Novumbra
hubbsi, Washington State
Distribution produced in
2009. Source: WDFW
Wildlife Survey Data
Management
10 — NPC MRC
Cathy Lear, Nicole Rasmussen, Garrett Rasmussen, and several others
prepare small gifts for student presenters at this year’s event. Photo:
Katie Krueger
Nancy Messmer greets friends near the CoastSavers display at the
entrance to the ONRC. Photo: Katie Krueger
“Bootlegger Hill” entertains during the potluck.
Photo: Katie Krueger
Steve Allison, grill master extraordinaire, puts the finishing touches on a
round of salmon fillets. Photo: Katie Krueger
2013 Resources Fair: Showcase for West
End Programs and Accomplishments
The NPC MRC held its 5th annual outreach event
this year at the UW ONRC in Forks. Attendance broke all
previous records (more than 60 people). Participants learned
about a wide range of programs and projects related to the
coast and its resources. The band “Bootlegger Hill” played
folk and blues during a dinner which included fabulous
grilled salmon and many wonderful potluck dishes. “Good
weather prevailed and everyone seemed to have a great time.
They also enjoyed watching the movie Ocean Frontiers,”
remarked event organizer and NPC MRC Coordinator Rich
Osborne. NPC MRC members wish to thank Rich and the
UW ONRC as well as all of the volunteers, students, orga-
nizations, and participants who made this year’s event such a
success.
NPC MRC — 11
WA Coast Cleanup 2013
– It’s all connected.
Once again, volunteers have stepped up to the chal-
lenge of removing marine debris. On April 20, nearly 30,000
pounds of ocean trash were collected from beaches spanning
Washington’s Pacific Coast and outer Strait by more than a
thousand people. Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary
Superintendent Carol Bernthal said after the cleanup, “We
depend on the work and dedication of volunteers to help re-
move the smaller items that are showing up on our coast that
would otherwise have devastating impacts on marine life.”
Last year, University of British Columbia analyses of
Northern Fulmars beached in the Pacific Northwest found
an average of 37 plastic pieces in the stomachs of each bird –
equivalent in weight to 10 quarters for a human. According
to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, “Plague of Plastic
A Coast Mystery:
Trees in a Cliff
Trees in a cliff? That’s right. Wood of unknown ori-
gin has been rediscovered recently in an undisclosed (and
hazardous) location along the North Coast by NPC MRC
member Chiggers Stokes. Even more interesting is the fact
that the trees are entrained in sediment at the bottom of the
rather tall cliff. Still more interesting is the fact that the wood
is wood and not rock. In other words the wood isn’t petri-
fied and could be on the order of thousands, maybe even
hundreds of thousands of years old! One thing is for certain,
scientists who have seen only pictures and not visited the site
are not ready to speculate how old the wood might be. Plans
are underway for a more thorough investigation. No matter
its age though, this “legacy wood” will likely have something
to tell us about the climate at the time the surrounding for-
est lived, and that is bound to be more interesting still. Stay
tuned!
Chokes the Seas,” cigarette lighters, bucket handles, tooth-
brushes, syringes, fishing line, Styrofoam, and bottle caps all
wind up in the stomachs of seabird chicks – even hundreds
of miles from the nearest shore.
Although it’s commonly thought ships are to blame,
most marine pollution starts out on land. “About four-fifths
of marine trash comes from land, swept by wind or washed
by rain off highways and city streets, down streams and
rivers, and out to sea. The rest comes from ships,” reported
Times staff writer Kenneth R. Weiss.
At Second Beach in Olympic National Park, 8-year old Norah Schmidt
alerts her mom to marine debris that, though portable, isn’t likely to fit
inside her trash bag. Photo: Jenny Schmidt
Inset: Northern Fulmars, Fulmarus glacialis. Photo: Dick Daniels
(http://carolinabirds.org)
Photo: Chiggers Stokes
12 — NPC MRC
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NPC MRC
Richard W. Osborne, Ph.D.,
Resource Forum Facilitator
University of Washington,
College of the Environment, School of
Environmental & Forest Sciences,
Olympic Natural Resources Center,
1455 S. Forks Ave., P.O. Box 1628,
Forks, WA 98331
Phone: 360-374-4560
Email: osborner@uw.edu
Editor: Tami Pokorny
tpokorny@co.jefferson.wa.us
Steve Allison (Hoh Tribe)
Katie Krueger (Quileute Tribe)
Dana Sarff (Makah Tribe)
Jennifer Hagen (Quileute Tribe)
Rod Fleck (City of Forks)
Tami Pokorny (Jefferson County)
Cathy Lear (Clallam County)
Roy Morris (Citizen 1, Clallam)
Christopher Clark (Citizen 2, Clallam)
John Hunter (Citizen 3, Clallam)
John Richmond (Citizen 1, Jefferson)
Chiggers Stokes (Citizen 2, Jefferson)
Jill Silver (Citizen 3, Jefferson)
A couple of Olympic mudminnows size up the photographer from beneath a tangle of roots, decaying leaves and algal growth.
Photo: Roger Tabor USFWS