2015 Annual Report - The Salmon Center

Hood Canal Salmon
Enhancement Group
2015 ANNUAL REPORT
cover
2015
Celebrating 25 Years
Inside:
Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group
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Conversation with Executive Director Mendy Harlow
Financial Report
Impact & Accomplishments
Summer Chum
Hood Canal Steelhead
Big Beef Creek Restoration
Septic Research
Education and Outreach
Wild Salmon Hall of Fame: Billy Frank Jr.
Sustainability and Riparian Enhancement
Big Quilcene Master Plan and Looking to the Future
SAVE THE DATE!
• Volunteer Appreciation Celebration
May 7, 2016 3-6 PM The Salmon Center
Join us as we celebrate the contributions of our many
volunteers who make our projects and programs possible.
This year’s annual report is a bit different than years past. Rather
than ask HCSEG staff to write up stories on his or her project,
staff were interviewed. We’d love to get your feedback on this
new format. Thank you for your support of HCSEG!
HCSEG Staff
Mendy Harlow
Executive Director
Tamara Cowles
Stewardship Coordinator
Clayton David
Salmon & Steelhead Biologist
Seth Elsen
Project Development Lead
Kim Gower
Project Administrator
Sarah Heerhartz
Habitat Program Manager
Ashley Nelson
Farm and Field Technician
Robin Jensen
Financial Manager
Kevan Moore
Community Organizer
Michelle Myers
Education and Habitat Project
Coordinator
Julian Sammons
Project Manager
Joanne Tejeda
Design & Marketing Associate
AmeriCorps
Sustainablitiy Coordinators
Kelly Johnson
Zoë Moskwa
Washington Conservation Corps
Brennan Moores, Supervisor
Kameron Meholick
Seline Convy
Chelsey Kimball
Nick Drinkall
Tanner Hamilton
Salmon In The Classroom
Three third grade classes from each of the two elementary
schools in Belfair receive presentations and hands-on learning
opportunities to care for salmon as they hatch in an aquarium and
grow until big enough for release into Sweetwater Creek.
The theme this year for the painting of the Soul Salmon is
“Coming Home to Hood Canal”. One submission from each school
will be chosen on Earth Day.
Conversation with the Director, Mendy Harlow
Education, restoration and research
projects kept HCSEG staff busy in 2015,
a year that also marked HCSEG’s 25th
anniversary. Executive Director Mendy
Harlow reflected on all of the year’s
accomplishments at HCSEG’s annual board
meeting, but since that time another
exciting milestone was reached at the
start of 2016 when a new Salmon Center
Special Use Permit was approved by
Mason County.
The new permit will allow HCSEG to
occasionally host group events from 100 to
400 participants, expand the educational
center’s hours after 5 p.m. and on
weekends for classes up to 30 students,
and develop a recreational park connected
to the existing Theler trail system east of
Roessel Road with public access. “This
permit will allow us to share this special
place with more community members,
students from around the region and new
visitors,” Harlow said.
When it came to education efforts in
2015, Harlow singled out the Enviro Camp
and Green STREAM summer programs as
well as the annual Green STEM Summit,
a day where students from several
school districts come and participate in
a day of learning at the Salmon Center.
“We actually had four school districts
involved this past year with about 200
kids,” she said. During the morning, the
students interact with folks who have
natural resource backgrounds or are
natural resource professionals. Then, in
the afternoon, they have what are called
Sharing Circles, a time for them to present
data they have collected through the
school year.
“One of the important tools to learn while
growing up and becoming an adult is being
comfortable speaking in front of groups
and being comfortable presenting to other
folks the information you’ve collected or
something that you’ve learned,” Harlow
said. “That’s one of the great aspects of
this program.”
A lot of progress was also made on the
restoration front in 2015. Harlow spoke
about the Big Quilcene Design Project,
which aims to restore more than a mile
of the Big Quilcene River. “We wanted
to make sure that we brought everyone
to the table so that we wouldn’t end
up impacting folks in the area with our
restoration work without making sure
everyone was on board,” Harlow said.
“The river has a very extensive flood
plain and unfortunately that flood plain
is highly developed. We’re working with
several landowners trying to figure out
which parcels we’ll be able to acquire
so that we can complete our restoration
work.” Project Manager Michelle Myers
has narrowed six design alternatives down
to three and hopes to have a final design
completed by the end of 2016 before
moving forward with restoration work.
HCSEG is also working to remove a
200-foot by 48-foot creosote barge out
of the Dosewallips Estuary. Permitting
and property acquisition moved forward
in 2015 and the barge is ready to be
removed. “If you go out there on a hot
summer day, it just reeks of creosote. It
has been leaching a lot of those harmful
chemicals into the estuary,” Harlow said.
HCSEG is partnering with DNR through
their creosote removal program to remove
the barge.
Two projects along the Kitsap Peninsula
also were underway in 2015. Phase I of the
Big Beef Creek Project in 2015 included
work in the first mile of the creek, just
above a WDFW fish-counting weir. “We
added ten large woody debris log jams
in the creek and worked to take down
some buildings that were built on fill
material placed in a wetland back in the
1950s. 2015’s activities paved the way
for next summer where we will remove
all of the fill material that was placed in
the wetland. We will also be removing
a roadway that goes up the river about
1,200 feet,” Harlow said.
On Little Anderson Creek, HCSEG placed
small woody debris in a 300-foot section
of the creek. “This is a creek that has had
a lot of trees harvested in the last several
decades,” Harlow said. “There aren’t a lot
of large coniferous trees, so the reason
we were placing small woody debris in the
creek was to create a habitat complexity
that’s really important to salmon and
other aquatic species.”
Lastly, HCSEG’s knotweed control efforts
continued through 2015. The project,
which aims to control the invasive plant
along eight different rivers throughout
Hood Canal, made great gains. “One
of the ways we measure our success is
in how many of the landowners are on
board with our projects and our ideas,”
Harlow said. “We have 382 landowners
who are working with us to either control
knotweed or plant native trees and
shrubs.”
On the fish front, one of HCSEG’s most
visible projects, the Summer Chum
Supplementation Project marked its
fifteenth season last year. This past year,
there were between 1,200 to 1,500 fish
returning to the Tahuya River, which only
had between two and eight fish per year
for two decades.
Efforts also continued on the 16-year
Hood Canal Steelhead Project, in which
HCSEG has partnered with NOAA, WDFW,
the Skokomish Tribe, Long Live the Kings
and the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe. “Our
responsibility in this overall program,
which is happening on nine rivers
throughout Hood Canal, is the Dewatto,
Tahuya and the Little Quilcene rivers,”
Harlow said.
Looking forward to 2016, Harlow and
HCSEG hope to build on last year’s
successes, as well as the last 25 years of
progress. “There are nine major estuaries
throughout Hood Canal that still need to
be restored. I plan to lead HCSEG toward
their restoration in the coming years.”
In 2015, HCSEG
projects and
programs
contributed nearly
$1.3 million to the
local economy,
supporting residents,
students and
businesses.
Beyond a
project, HCSEG’s
contribution will
provide long-term
financial support
to the recreation
and commercial
industries that
rely on our natural
resources.
Collectively, HCSEG
and the other 13
Regional Fishery
Enhancement
Groups in
Washington have
leveraged funds at
a 6:1 ratio over the
last 25 years.
The Regional Fishery
Enhancement
Group program has
created a unique,
collaborative
stewardship model
by providing funding
to local nonprofits
who work closely
with partners
and community
members.
FINANCIALS
PAGE 3
HCSEG is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization
(Tax Identification Number 91-1518294.) Your
donation to our organization is tax deductible.
HCSEG
BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
Al Adams
Director Emeritus
Tom Brown
Chair
John Poppe
Vice-Chair
Mike Henderson
Treasurer
Michelle Licari
Secretary
Rich Chwaszczewski
Board member
Bob Hager
Board member
Dan O-Neal
Board member
Michael Siptroth
Board member
Our Mission: To bring the world of people
and salmon together for all generations
PAGE 4
IMPACT
Summer Chum Nearing Recovery Goals
Runs
Continue
to Build
on Union,
Tahuya
Rivers
In 2015, HCSEG staff, interns
and volunteers counted
some 1,232 summer chum
at the Union River adult
trap, nearly double the
amount of 2014. This annual
effort is part of the Union/
Tahuya River Summer Chum
Program, a partnership with
WDFW to rebuild summer
chum populations. From
mid-August to mid-October
every year since 2000, an
adult fish trap at the mouth
of the Union River has been
operated 24 hours per day
by research interns and
volunteers to collect data
on adult summer chum
abundance and, through
2014, obtain adult chum for
artificial spawning and stock
supplementation. In 2003,
SUMMER CHUM
PAGE 5
the Union River summer
chum r u n w a s h ealthy
enough that it became a
donor stock to reintroduce
summer chum to the nearby
Tahuya River, where summer
chum had been classified as
“recently extinct.”
Over 130 volunteers helped
on the project in 2015,
representing nearly 1500
hours of monitoring. While
volunteers spend most of
their time counting and
moving salmon on the
Union River, they also assist
on carcass surveys. “Carcass
surveys are important for us
to gain age structure data
regarding natural origin and
supplemented returning
adult summer chum. We
can analyze the otolith from
those fish and compare to
that brood year’s otolith
sample to get percentage
of natural vs supplemented
fish,” says David. “It’s a way of
monitoring the proportions
of natural origin fish versus
the supplemented program
fish at the same time.”
On the Tahuya River, where
there is no trap, carcass
surveys are the only way to
track success. More than
150 adult carcasses were
sampled on the Tahuya River.
But, David says, “From visual
observation, it appeared we
likely had several hundred
returning spawners.” Actual
numbers will be available
later this year.
S i n c e t h e p r o g ra m ’s
inception, it has been highly
su ccessf u l . R i ve rs t hat
had been seeing 15 or less
returning adults annually
are now closer, and in some
cases quite a bit higher,
than 1,000. The program
and projects undertaken by
HCSEG and partners in the
area have both contributed
to success. In late 2014,
th e G o v e r n o r ’s S a l m on
Recovery Office released its
biennial State of the Salmon
in the Watersheds report,
w h ich id e nt i f i e d H o o d
Canal summer chum as one
of only two populations
nearing recovery goals.
HCSEG hopes to continue
building on these successes
as monitoring continues
indefinitely, though the final
return of adult program fish
released into the Tahuya will
be in 2019.
Hood Canal Steelhead Project Marks Ninth Year
2015 marked the ninth year of the
Hood Canal Steelhead Project, a
collaborative, 16-year study examining
the supplementation of wild winter
steelhead populations in Hood Canal.
Joining state and federal agencies, local
tribes and nonprofits, HCSEG continued
its out-migrating juvenile steelhead
sampling. 2014 was the last year of redd
pumping, so the focus of the project has
now shifted to studying the response of
steelhead populations.
Like many HCSEG projects, this one relies
heavily on volunteer support. Volunteers
check the traps daily and gather any
steelhead. The fish are then anesthetized
so that they can be measured and
weighed. Finally, scale and DNA samples
are collected before releasing them back
upstream. If a fish caught in the trap has
already been clipped, it’s called a recap,
or recaptured fish. The number of recaps
is used to extrapolate and calculate the
total number of fish that pass through
the trap on a daily or seasonal basis, since
it is impossible to trap every steelhead.
2015 saw mixed results. Despite
snowpack and low flows, 252 steelhead
smolt were counted at the Dewatto River
trap, an increase from 2014. The number
of steelhead in the Tahuya and Little
Quilcene, though, were down from 2015.
“Tahuya wasn’t as great this year due
to 2015 being a really low water year so
we had difficulty finding trapping spots
that would work,” said HCSEG Biologist
Clayton David. “We actually ended up
moving the trap on the Tahuya once
during the season.” That move came
about two weeks into the season after
the trap failed to turn up many juvenile
steelhead.
The Little Quilcene River trap was also
problematic because, at times, the
amount of water in the stream was
almost negligible. That meant that the
screw trap either bottomed out on the
One of three smolt traps that HCSEG monitors.
streambed, failing to turn, or water flow was
so low that the trap would spin too slowly
to actually gather fish. “We still caught fish
and got 324 total steelhead smolt and an
8.33 percent trapping efficiency which is still
pretty high,” David said.
Adult sampling was added to the data
collection for this project in 2015. “Other
people call that fishing, but our scientific
collection permit allows us to catch adults,
collect tissue samples and release them to
go about their business. The idea is that
we can collect additional information from
adult fish. We have a strong set of data from
juveniles, in addition to all of the DNA from
the smolt release groups and adult release
groups.” As part of the adult sampling effort,
a total of six fish were caught this year. DNA
analysis showed that two of them had one
wild parent and one parent from the Adult
Release Group (ARG), fish that were taken
from redd pumping efforts and raised at
hatcheries in Quilcene and Lilliwaup. Two of
the other fish came from parents that were
both ARG fish.
“The sampling results are a pretty good
indication that we actually had fish that
came from parents that were raised in the
hatchery,” David said. Those hatchery-raised
fish are spawning with the wild fish.
One of the most unique aspects of the
steelhead project is the fact that, in an
effort to increase wild fish populations,
the fish are picking their own mates,
making a redd and spawning naturally.
So, even though the fish are spending
time in hatcheries, their genetic
diversity is being maintained. That’s
important because only about 4
percent of those fish are lost, while
scientists estimate that 88 percent of
wild born steelhead will perish before
leaving the freshwater environment.
“The strongest survive, so you assume
the ones making redds are the
strongest of the group. We’re allowing
them to keep their genetic profile
intact in each river because we’ve
discovered each river has different
factors that make the genes diverse,
even though they are all steelhead.”
David says once the fish are released,
either as smolts or adults, they
behave almost exactly like wild fish.
“So far, genetic testing has shown no
negative impacts on the project’s wild
steelhead populations. The ultimate
hope of this project is to create a new
model for steelhead recovery that can
be used throughout Puget Sound to
retain genetics and boost suffering
populations.
Learning More about Intensively Monitored Watersheds
HCSEG Habitat Program Sarah Heerhartz’
work is, well, pretty intense. That’s
because she’s working on the Hood Canal
Intensively Monitored Watershed (IMW)
Program. Started in 2003, the program is
spearheaded by the Department of Fish
and Wildlife (WDFW), Department of
Ecology (DOE) and the National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS).
The IMW program focuses on restoration
and monitoring projects in Big Beef Creek,
Little Anderson Creek and Seabeck Creek.
Stavis Creek serves as the control stream,
so there is no restoration work being done
there. “WDFW has been monitoring coho
populations in Big Beef Creek since the
1970s. That’s part of why this complex was
chosen, as there is a long history of data
for Big Beef Creek,” Heerhartz said. “They
basically added on three other watersheds
that are pretty similar in underlying
geology, historical fish populations and
land use.”
Since the streams are all in the same
geographic area, they’re subject to the
same environmental conditions. “The idea
is that this is a natural experiment and
you’re using restoration actions as your
experimental treatment while controlling
somewhat for environmental variables
by choosing streams that are similar
in size and will be experiencing similar
environmental conditions at the same
time,” Heerhartz added.
The goal is to be able to tie restoration
actions to changes in habitat and changes
in fish populations. “Specifically, what
biologists are looking for is a response in
coho fish populations,” Heerhartz said.
“They’re measuring egg-to-fry-to-smolt
production. So, they go out and count
all of the redds and then capture all the
out-migrating juvenile coho to calculate
how many eggs survive to become smolts
and go out into the ocean. They basically
get smolt-to-adult survival by capturing all
the returning adults and finding out what
percentage of out-migrating smolt came
back as adults.”
The IMW Program was designed to provide
guidance for future restoration projects.
“If you can pinpoint adding woody
HABITAT
PAGE 7
material results in X, Y and Z for salmon
populations, then you can plan your
restoration projects according to what
the outcomes will be,” Heerhartz said.
“And having the kind of long-term data
collection that this program has resulted
in is, I think, really good for other areas of
planning. For example, as we think about
how our watersheds are going to respond
to changes in climate and land-use. These
small watersheds have a lot of land-use
issues and a lot of opportunities for habitat
restoration.”
Coho are present in all four watersheds
in varying numbers. Historically, these
watersheds probably all had the exact
same species of fish in them, but now
the only one with summer chum is Big
Beef Creek and that population was
reintroduced. There are also steelhead in
each of the watersheds, but in pretty low
numbers, with the exception of Big Beef
Creek. The streams also all have small
numbers of cutthroat and fall chum.
Heerhartz stresses, though, that the
ongoing restoration projects are not just
about salmon. “We’re thinking about
processes that influence water quality
and we’re thinking about whether there
is habitat for beavers,” she said. “Are
there places for other wildlife in the
area to migrate up and down the stream
corridors? We’re trying to take a bigpicture approach to the planning which
is why we have a large focus on trying to
reconnect watersheds.”
Each of the streams has a mix of
restoration actions that have happened
or the partners are seeking funding for.
The main focus in each case is opening up
fish passage, better controlling sediment
movement and flooding while increasing
habitat complexity. Heerhartz’ job is to
help coordinate all the restoration projects.
“I do go out and help some with the
biological monitoring, but then my main
job is to take the information I get from the
fish biologists and say, ‘Okay, what are the
habitat restoration needs in this watershed
and what do we expect are restoration
actions we can take that will improve fish
survival and productivity in the streams,’ ”
she said.
Heerhartz says all four of the watersheds
have a similar sort of land-use history
where the land was logged heavily, road
crossings were installed, large woody
debris was removed from the channels
and other riparian vegetation took over as
residential development occurred.
“The combination of all those led to
stream channels that are overly simplified,”
she said. “They scour and incise in their
channels so there’s a lot of sediment that
gets eroded in the upper watershed that
gets carried downstream. A lot of times
the sediment will accumulate whenever
there’s a blockage like a road crossing.”
Historically, when streams like these
got a lot of water, they would overflow
their banks and spread out across the
land a little bit. “A lot of times now, the
streambed itself is deeper than it would
have been under pre-development
conditions, so there’s no spilling out of the
banks, it’s just kind of like a tube basically
that funnels all of the water. Sometimes
we refer to that as a stream being flashy.
Whenever there’s heavy rainfall, all the
water just flows immediately into the
creek, makes a lot of water in a narrow
channel moving through really fast and
then as soon as the rain event is over, the
flooding basically subsides.” There is little
to no storage of water in the watershed.
Historically, these streams would have
been in a landscape that’s forested with
conifers in the uplands. In that kind of
landscape, the tree canopy actually
absorbs quite a bit of the water before it
even reaches the ground and water that
gets to the ground gets absorbed by tree
roots and percolate through before slowly
reaching the stream over time. Due to
current conditions, any time it rains the
streams have flashy high-flow events and
are not able to store ample water for the
summer dry season.
“We’re trying to take a
big-picture approach to
the planning which is why
we’ve got a large focus
on trying to reconnect
watersheds.”
Learning More about Intensively Monitored Watersheds
BIG BEEF CREEK
In 2015, as part of Phase I, there were ten log jams of large woody debris (LWD)
placed into Big Beef Creek. In addition, a set of old buildings were taken out that sat
on top of historic fill in a spot that used to be wetlands. This coming year, that fill
material will be removed. HCSEG’s Washington Conservation Corps Crew is currently
working on taking out invasive blackberry bushes and ivy.
Funding for Phase II has also been secured, which will add 13 more log jams and
remove a roadway that divides the river from its floodplain. “That will be really cool
to see how this system responds and I think that is going to be a big boost for coho
fry-to-smolt survival because that will open up a lot of rearing habitat for juvenile
coho,” Heerhartz said. “It should also really improve spawning habitat for summer
chum as well as fall chum and pink salmon that will benefit from improved sediment
dynamics.”
Heerhartz said that currently a lot of sediment moves to the lower section of the river
during flooding, burying salmon redds. “The combination of adding LWD in several
places and opening up the floodplain so that the stream has more room to flood over
its banks and distribute sediment over a wider area will help prevent the redds from
getting overwhelmed with sediment in the winter time,” she said.
Phase II aims to improve spawing habitat
for summer chum as well as fall chum and
pink salmon on Big Beef Creek, located near
Seabeck in Kitsap County.
LITTLE ANDERSON
This past year, following up on LWD projects in 2006 and 2009, a LWD project focused
on the main channel of the creek and a small tributary. There are also conceptual
designs for a culvert replacement. “It’d be great if we can do that because the upper
watershed of Little Anderson is permanently protected within Newberry Heritage
Park in Silverdale and that park has a great stewardship group we’ve been working
with,” she said. “If we can actually re-connect the creek to the headwater wetlands by
improving and widening this culvert under Newberry Hill Road, that’s another action
we think would be really good for coho because that would give them access to these
great wetlands and rearing habitat in the upper watershed.”
Rearing habitat is especially important right now because there is essentially no
accessible rearing habitat in Little Anderson Creek. In 2002, a year before the IMW
program started, the culvert near the mouth of Little Anderson Creek, near Anderson
Hill Road, was replaced with a bridge that opened up fish passage. “So far, in Little
Anderson that’s been the one restoration action that was tied to a large increase in
salmon populations, which makes sense because prior to that salmon couldn’t get
above the road crossing and afterward they could and they did,” Heerhartz said.
Another project in the creek this year was the addition of small woody debris. Smaller
wood was used because the stream is in a steep gully and larger logs tend to span the
channel, rather than stop sediment and create complexity. “That’s good because it
provides shade and helps keep the water cool and provides insect habitat the fish can
eat, but we really need to get something into the creek bed to help hold sediment in
place,” Heerhartz said. “So, we added small pieces of wood that could be moved by
hand.” So far, she says it’s working and providing some valuable lessons. “The purpose
of this component of the project is to restore the creek, however it’s also a learning
experience for us to see if we can do these projects that are actually going to achieve
some sort of difference toward a habitat goal on a small budget with our hands and
not needing excavators and helicopters or that type of equipment,” Heerhartz said.
Improving and widening the culvert under
Newberry Hill Road will reconnect Little
Anderson Creek to the headwater wetlands
and make accessible critical rearing habitat for
coho. The addition of small woody debris in
steep areas of the creek can be moved by hand
and does not require large equipment.
PAGE 8
RESTORATION
Septic Research Might Aid in Saving Hood Canal
Like any good scientist, Julian
Sammons is reluctant to jump to any
conclusions before all of the data has
been collected. Sammons oversees
the Hood Canal Onsite Septic
System Nitrogen Reduction Project,
operating and monitoring two cutting
edge on-site septic systems, one at
the Salmon Center in Belfair and
another at a home in Union. Each
of the systems utilize a Recirculating
Gravel Filter and a Vegetated
Denitrifying Woodchip Bed.
Sammons’ project work piggybacks
on a University of Washington and
Washington State Department of
Health study. The difference is that
study, conducted at a wastewater
treatment plant, had very controlled
dosage and flows. It also utilized
a gravity-fed system. Sammons’
work, which covers a much broader
timespan, also includes flat sites near
the water in systems with widely
varying usage on a day-to-day basis.
“I get asked a lot about whether
I have preliminary data and I’m
always pretty reluctant to give out
much of the data yet because we’ve
been tweaking the systems,” he
said. “That’s one of the goals of
this project is to figure out what
sort of maintenance and operating
requirements there are for these
systems. So, until we have got it
really balanced out, we don’t know
what the potential of these systems
really is.”
Sammons says that, in a nutshell,
there have been inconsistent results,
due to different factors such as
weather, pump settings and system
usage. “We’ve had months where
we’ve had excellent results and we’ve
RESEARCH
PAGE 9
had months where we’ve had very
subpar results,” he said. “I think it’s a
complex answer when someone asks,
‘So, do they work well?’ because they
can, but we’re still figuring out if it’s
realistic that people are going to be
able to operate these in a way that
they will be working well.”
The fecal coliform numbers across
the board, every month, are quite
favorable. It’s doing a great job of
filtering out fecal coliform. There
were just a lot of months, primarily
due to the settings not matching the
real-world usage that caused poor
nitrification and de-nitrification.”
Sammons runs the systems and takes
monthly samples. He conducts some
testing at the Salmon Center and
some samples are sent to Centric
Analytical Labs in Port Orchard for
further testing. “Nitrogen is the
primary thing we’re keeping our eye
on,” Sammons said. “It’s the main
pollutant people are concerned with.
We’re also looking at fecal coliform
and biochemical oxygen demand.
Nitrogen is bad because it creates
algal blooms that then decay. That’s
kind of the story of Hood Canal’s
problems is the big algae blooms that
die, go down to the bottom, rot and
consume oxygen.”
These types of systems are not
cheap, but if they can work
effectively, they may become more
common along the shores of Hood
Canal. “The idea is if the technology
is proven and people start installing
them and local jurisdictions
incentivize them, more installers
will be familiar with the system and
prices will go down, competition will
drive prices down once installers all
start to get on board and it’s a more
a widely used technology,” Sammons
said. “That’s part of the purpose
of this study is to advise local
jurisdictions as to whether or not this
is something they should incentivize.”
Sammons says he’s making progress
on getting the systems to work more
consistently and figuring out what
some of the obstacles are. One such
obstacle popped up this year at the
site in Union. “There was an issue
with water leaking in from pooling up
around the system that was able to
drip in and that skewed things,” he
said. “So, it’s definitely had a lot of
obstacles and continues to, but I’m
confident that as time goes on, we’re
dialing it in as much as it can be.”
In the long-term, that hopefully
means the systems will be effective
at reducing nitrogen loads in Hood
Canal, but Sammons isn’t jumping to
conclusions. “You can just say, ‘It’s
complicated,’” he said. “There are
a lot of good results and good data.
The bottom line is the systems will
have to be effective and require little
to no maintenance or oversight. “The
ideal is you don’t want a homeowner
to ever have to tinker with their
septic system. Ever,” Sammons said.
“Nitrogen is the primary
thing we’re keeping our
eye on. It’s the main
pollutant people are
concerned with. We’re
also looking at fecal
coliform and biochemical
oxygen demand.”
Education & Outreach
Celebrating 25 Years in the Community
As HCSEG marked 25 years in the
community, 2015 was yet another
rewarding and busy year on the
education and outreach front.
From field trips and classroom
programs to community events and
outreach programs, HCSEG worked
with area students and community
members of all ages on a multitude
of projects and programs.
Throughout the year, HCSEG worked
with local students both in and out
of the classroom. The Salmon in the
Classroom program, which has been
running for more than a decade,
is a partnership between HCSEG
and WDFW. Students from both of
North Mason’s elementary schools
raised thousands of fall chum and
released them into Sweetwater
Creek. Students monitor water
quality while learning about salmon
as the fish grow from alevin to fry.
For many students, it is their first
exposure to salmon.
In addition to this in-class program,
students from around the region
took part in field-based learning
at The Salmon Center. Students
had opportunities to learn about
estuaries, water quality and
wildlife with the Union River
Estuary adjacent to the Center. In
June of 2014, HCSEG again hosted its
annual GreenSTEM Summit, welcoming
over 200 students from the region
to the Salmon Center. At the event,
community partners engaged students
in environmental activities and learning
while students presented field-based
projects to their peers. The annual
event is part of a large program, West
Sound Green-STEM, which provides
resources and trainings to local teachers
who implement field-based learning in
the classroom. HCSEG’s summer camps
continued with EnviroCamp and the
addition of the GreenSTREAM program.
GreenSTREAM connected students
with local watersheds through science,
technology, research, engineering, art
and math.
Citizen Action Training School:
Training Our Future Stewards
Between 2014 and 2015, HCSEG
was part of the collaborative
Citizen Action Training School
program. This program took
place throughout the Puget
Sound region and trained
participants in local biology,
ecology, environmental law and
communications. In March, eight
participants graduated from
the HCSEG-sponsored class in
Bremerton.
As a requirement to graduate,
students developed and
implemented service projects
related to the Puget Sound
Partnership’s priorities in the
areas of habitat restoration,
shellfish, stormwater and
education and outreach.
Participants logged over 50 hours
each for their projects and many
went above and beyond the
requirements, taking their new
knowledge in local issues and
getting involved in the decisionmaking process for Puget Sound
and Hood Canal.
Aside from the many programs and
In December, HCSEG and its
classroom visits, HCSEG staff were out
program partners submitted a
and about at festivals such as Allyn
near-term action proposal to
the Puget Sound Partnership.
Days, Tahuya Day and the Taste of
If the proposal is accepted, the
Hood Canal, among many others. These
Citizen Action Training School will
events provide great opportunities
be a focus as the Puget Sound
for HCSEG to share its programs and
Partnership and Environmental
projects and build community support.
Protection Agency allocate
As 2015 comes to a close, HCSEG looks
funding for Puget Sound recovery.
forward to continuing and expanding
our education and outreach programs.
Thank you to the many volunteers and
donors who make this work possible.
PAGE 10
EDUCATION
HCSEG Honors Billy Frank Jr.
Billy
Frank
Jr.’s son,
Willy
Frank,
accepts
the Wild
Salmon
Hall of
Fame
Award
on his
behalf.
HCSEG wrapped up its celebration of
25 years in the community with its
biennial Wild Salmon Hall of Fame,
an event that honors individuals who
have made significant contributions to
saving salmon populations throughout
the Northwest. The gala celebrated the
posthumous induction of Billy Frank Jr.
who fought his entire life to preserve
salmon. From his activism that helped
lead to the 1974’s Boldt Decision to
his work as chairman of the Northwest
Indian Fisheries Commission, Billy fought
for healthy streams, restoring estuaries,
removing fish passage barriers and most
importantly, protecting and sustaining
the Northwest culture and way of life.
Over
200
people
representing
businesses, environmentalists, tribes
and government agencies came together
to honor Frank. His son, Willie, accepted
the award on his father’s behalf. HCSEG’s
Executive Director, Mendy Harlow, spoke
to Frank’s legacy, saying, “Billy Frank Jr.
not only dedicated his professional life,
but dedicated his entire existence to the
restoration of salmon. We can’t forget
that the continuing destruction of the
environment impacts us all. Our job as
stewards of this planet is to educate our
youth to Stay the Course.” Congressman
Derek Kilmer, who represents the
“We’re the advocates for the
salmon, the animals, the birds,
the water. We’re the advocates
for the food chain. We’re an
advocate for all of society. So
what you do is, you do what you
can in your lifetime. Then that’ll
go on another lifetime. Then
another lifetime. Then another.”
—Billy Frank Jr.
EVENTS
PAGE 11
Olympic Peninsula, said, “In everything
Billy did, he spoke about ‘we’. Now we
need to think like Billy, think about what
we can do to advance the causes of
salmon, habitat and education.”
Gala attendees helped raise funds for
HCSEG’s education and research programs
that embody Billy Frank Jr.’s lifelong
mission, to strengthen connections
between salmon, community and the
environment. In addition to the countless
individuals who made the gala possible,
HCSEG would like to acknowledge those
who sponsored the event: Bob and Peggy
Hager; Rich and Beth Chwaszczewski;
Mendy Harlow and Brandon Palmer; Dan
and Diane O’Neal; Michelle and Michael
Licari; Dena and Jeff Baker of Local
Wrench; John Poppe and Rhonda Brown;
Angie and Dan Freeman of Les Schwab;
Patti Case of Green Diamond Resources;
the Squaxin Island Tribe; the Jamestown
S’Klallam Tribe; and the Nisqually Tribe.
Sustainability Coordinators Shine
Being an AmeriCorps sustainability
coordinator at The Salmon Center
requires a person who can wear a lot of
hats and work hard. Kelly Johnson, who
grew up in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and
Zoë Moskwa, who hails from Goffstown,
New Hampshire, are spearheading a
weekly after-school nutrition program at
Pioneer Elementary School in Shelton,
working to get certified as Master
Gardeners, helping to run the Salmon
Center’s U-Pick and P-Patch gardens and
a whole lot more.
“A typical day is hard to describe,”
Johnson said. “It depends very much on
which projects we’re working on and
that depends very much on what season
it is.” Johnson and Moskwa started at
The Salmon Center in October and their
internships will run through August 15th.
One of their biggest responsibilities
is overseeing the U-Pick and P-Patch
gardens, which provide organic produce
to the community as well as a shared
space for community members to grow
their own produce. These responsibilities
all fit with the Salmon Center’s mission
of demonstrating connections between
salmon and agriculture and increasing
access to locally-grown, organic produce.
When they aren’t working in The Salmon
Center’s gardens, Johnson and Moskwa
are devising lesson plans for a class they
teach every Thursday after school at
Pioneer Elementary School in Shelton.
The “Fun with Food” class they oversee,
which has students ranging from first to
eighth grade, is based on a curriculum
called “Growing Healthy Habits.”
“We have to create the lesson plan,
games and surveys of their knowledge,
which is always their least favorite
thing to do, but we have to do that
through AmeriCorps,” Moskwa said.
“Their knowledge and learning is
something we’re required to track.”
In the spring, they’ll take the students
out into the school’s own raised beds
and greenhouse to get some hands-on
learning about soil and vegetables.
Johnson and Moskwa are also enrolled
with the Master Gardeners of Mason
County, taking an online college course,
which also includes monthly meet-ups,
through the WSU Extension Office in
Shelton. They’ll soon get certified into
the nationwide program. “Through
our affiliation with them, we’re hoping
to develop a program where Master
Gardeners will come to The Salmon
Center and be able to talk to the people
who are leasing P-Patches to give them
basic information and tips how to grow
food on their own plots,” Moskwa said.
As if all of that didn’t keep them busy
enough, Johnson and Moskwa help
HCSEG staff with the Salmon in the
Classroom program at Belfair and
Sand Hill Elementary Schools. They are
involved in monitoring water quality in
tanks with salmon eggs at both schools
and give presentations to the students.
They will also help out with releasing the
fish into Belfair’s Sweetwater Creek later
this year.
Johnson and Moskwa emphasize that
all of the work they do isn’t easy and
adds up quickly, but is ultimately very
rewarding. “It’s not easy at all,” Johnson
said. “You’re in a full-time volunteer
position and getting paid a stipend
that amounts to about $6 an hour. If
you’re willing to try your best to make
a difference and spend your time
volunteering, which I think there are
a lot of people willing to do that, it’s a
great program. I would recommend it to
a lot of people I know. But, you have to
be dedicated.”
Moskwa concurs. “Jumping into a fulltime volunteer position with a lot more
work than what you’re paid for, you
sort of have to keep in mind why you’re
doing it because it’s not for the money,”
she said. “But I would also recommend
it to anyone looking for experience with
jobs or networking and gaining a lot of
skills for your resume.”
When their internships end this August,
Johnson plans to enroll at The Evergreen
State College in Olympia and Moskwa
wants to use her environmental science
degree from Salve Regina University in
Rhode Island and time at the Salmon
Center to pursue a natural resources
career at another non-profit, or at a
state or federal agency.
PAGE 12
HCSEG Continues Work
with Landowners to Fight
Knotweed and Restore
Riparian Habitat
Tamara Cowles, HCSEG’s stewardship
coordinator, says 2015 was another effective
year for knotweed treatment on public
and private lands along the Union, Tahuya,
Dewatto, Doesewallips, the Big and Little
Quilcene Rivers and Big Anderson Creek.
Knotweed plants are non-native, aggressive
and invasive, but they can be adequately
controlled to improve salmon habitat.
One of the biggest signs of success for the
long-running Knotweed Control and Riparian
Enhancement Project, is the increasing
number of participating landowners. “The
majority of landowners have provided
permissions for knotweed treatments
and are very accommodating towards the
treatment schedule and crews,” Cowles said.
“Many of them want to see knotweed gone
just as much as we do.”
Knotweed treatments took place earlier
than usual last year due to an early growing
season, Cowles noted. She said riparian
plantings of native species occurred along
the rivers from January to March and
November to December. Since 2012, native
plantings have covered 32 acres of land.
HCSEG treated some 26.93 stream miles in
2015 over the course of 23 days. In all, 142
parcels, totaling 7,881 parcel acres, were
part of the treatment program last year.
As the Stewardship Coordinator, Cowles
oversees HCSEG’s Washington Conservation
Corps (WCC) crew. Cowles emphasized that
the WCC crew does the hard work of treating
knotweed along local streams and rivers,
followed up with native planting parties
alongside other volunteers. Looking
ahead to 2016, Cowles said she is confident
that the Knotweed Control and Riparian
Enhancement Project will line up even
more landowners to help join the fight to
control the invasive weed and improve
salmon habitat throughout the Hood Canal
Watershed.
SUSTAINABILITY
Restoring a River, Improving a Community
Big Quilcene Master Plan Progressing
When Michelle Myers’ dog Blaze gets to
the Big Quilcene River and salt marsh, it’s
like somebody flips a switch. He clearly
loves exploring every nook and cranny of
the place and, fortunately for him, Myers
spends a lot of time there as part of the Big
Quilcene Design Project.
More often than not, though, Myers is
meeting with dozens of different local
stakeholders who all have different
perspectives about what should be done
to restore the river. She also works with
engineers, scientists, public officials,
partners and others who all play a role in
moving the project forward. It’s a ton of
work and it takes a lot of time to do things
right and make sure everyone is kept in the
loop. “In all of our projects, we’re really
trying to put the ball in the community’s
hands. In this case it’s in the hands of the
community the stakeholders, and we’re
really trying to incorporate their comments
and feedback. This project won’t get
off the ground unless we get support, I
mean there’s just no other way.” Myers
emphasizes that restoring the river is not
only about saving salmon. Factors such
as recreation, economic development,
education, flood risk reduction, potential
impacts on shellfish and more are all being
carefully considered.
“We’re not just restoring salmon habitat,
we’re restoring the ecosystem,” she said.
“It’s an ecosystem restoration project and
hopefully in the long term it will benefit
salmon, but it will also benefit shellfish and
other wildlife and the community.”
The project got underway in 2013 with
hopes of having a 30-percent preliminary
designs within two years. Myers and
others, though, quickly realized that the
massive project was far too complicated,
with too many moving parts and people
involved, to rush things
“We had to go back to the Salmon
Recovery Funding Board and say, ‘We’re
going to have to scale back the goals
of this project because in talking to our
stakeholders, and doing the due diligence
we needed to do to really meet the needs
of the community and stakeholders,
we found that we just couldn’t reach a
30-percent design in just two years.”
Instead, the project has gotten to the point
now where six alternatives have been
narrowed down to just three that have
been presented to the stakeholders. The
alternatives range from a small amount of
restoration to a large restoration.
In the coming year, the three alternatives
will be run through state-of-the-art
modeling software that will show what
would likely happen during different flood
regimes and even how climate change
might play a role. The software will also,
to some extent, show where sediment will
likely go in the lower river and estuary.
“Based on the results, we’ll take the
information back to the stakeholders and
ask for feedback.” Myers said. “I’m not
quite sure what the grading criteria will
be yet, but at some point we will narrow
the three alternatives down to a preferred
alternative. That preferred alternative
may be one of the three or it may some
combination of the three.”
It’s likely that whatever alternative is
chosen will require some tweaking
and another run through the modeling
software. Myers says the work can seem
daunting at times, but she finds it highly
rewarding. “I have some sleepless nights,
but I’m really thankful to be on HCSEG’s
project team. HCSEG is the project lead,
and we’re partnering with the Nature
Conservancy and Jefferson County to see
the project through,” she said. “I’ve never
worked on this type of project before and it
is very fulfilling, but there’s still a lot more
work to do. There’s never a dull moment
and I’m learning a lot.”
Special Use Permit Approved
Sweetwater Creek Initial Design Completed
Over the last few years, HCSEG has been
working with Mason County to secure a
special use permit for the Salmon Center
property. On February 3rd of 2016, the
County approved the permit that will
allow for more educational and outreach
opportunities as well as special events. The
permit is the first step in a long process
to revise the Center’s master plan, which
includes facility renovations, trail expansion
and other improvements aimed at connecting
the community with its environment.
In the late part of 2015, The Salmon Center released plans
for a new community park along Sweetwater Creek in
Belfair. Originally proposed in 2008, the park would include
the restoration of Sweetwater Creek, which is home to
fall chum that return annually as part of the Salmon in the
Classroom program. The park plans also include restoration
of the historic water wheel, a new ADA accessible trail and
multiple interpretive areas.
“The new permit allows us to share
this very special place with more of
the community and students from
around the region.” Mendy Harlow,
executive director.
By partnering with community members, HCSEG raised
more than $15,000 to complete conceptual designs for the
project and secured the necessary land for the restoration
work. HCSEG will now work throughout the spring to
leverage that support in order to secure further funding.
The end result is a win-win; expanded ADA trail access and
removal of a major fish passage barrier.
PAGE 14
LOOKING AHEAD
The Salmon Center
P.O. Box 2169 (mailing address)
600 NE Roessel Rd (physical address)
Belfair, WA 98528
(360) 275-3575
Check out www.pnwsalmoncenter.org
and follow the Facebook link.
See updates and photos of
current activities. Thanks
for your support!
pnwsalmoncenter.org
facebook.com/farmwatersedge
twitter.com/thesalmoncenter