North Olympic Salmon Coalition

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1 North Olympic Salmon Coalition "There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in October." - Nathaniel Hawthorne Matriotti Bridge: Ready for Fish Also ready for cars upcoming events Coho Stream Surveys WDFW offices; Pt. Hudson, Port Townsend Volunteers are needed to count spawning salmon on Chimacum Creek through December. Training held Friday, October 30th 9:30am-12:30pm RSVP to Emily: outreach@nosc.org or Hoko River Restoration with Students Volunteers needed to help! Nov. 10, 9am-3pm Hoko River State Park Sekiu RSVP to Reed: raubin@nosc.org or Before and after shots downstream of the Matriotti Bridge The Salmon Coalition has recently completed construction of a 60-foot steel bridge over Matriotti Creek. The construction took place this fall and replaced an undersized and failing culvert with a bridge. The project opened fish access to 11,818 square feet of potential spawning habitat and 103,850 square feet of potential rearing habitat for Dungeness River coho, steelhead and cutthroat trout. We would like to thank the Family Forest Fish Passage Program for funding, Chinook Engineering, Primo Construction Inc., Clallam County PUD, and the landowners along Mariposa Lane for being such a wonderful community to work with. Salmon Creek Lives Up to its Name Biggest returns of summer chum since and this time they're all wild! Peabody Creek Work Party! Volunteers are needed at Peabody Creek (Port Angeles). Saturday, October 14 10am-2pm RSVP to Emily: outreach@nosc.org or

2 Landowners! Do you have creekside property? Do you have salmon in your creek? If so, the North Olympic Salmon Coalition wants to help you remove invasive weeds and plant fresh native trees on your property for free! Please call Sarah to find out if you are eligible for the Olympic Peninsula Riparian Recovery Program Bike Donation As of last week, the numbers are showing record-breaking returns in this year's summer chum salmon run at Salmon Creek. Graph by Cheri Scalf You probably expect any creek with "salmon" in the name to have a high potential for sightings of our favorite fish, but that wasn't always the case. The chum population in Salmon Creek in Discovery Bay amounts for years and we're happy to help spread the word that it looks like summer chum are taking advantage of their restored habitat. Technicians from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) work with volunteers and use fish traps to count chum making their way upstream to spawn. The previous high count was in 2005, with a total of 6,142 which included some hatchery fish from a recovery program. The most recent count from this 2015 run is nearly 6700 summer chum, and they're ALL wild! Snow Creek, the other major drainage in Discovery Bay, is also showing a "record run," according to WA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife Scientific Technician Cheri Scalf. The Salmon Coalition is asking for a bike to be donated and housed at our new native plant nursery for maintenance and transportation around the Brown Dairy Farm. Fish Tales Rebecca's fish are settling in (see previous newsletters), and enjoying their new home at These ESA-listed fish are recovering thanks to the hard work of countless volunteers, agency personnel, and landowners throughout the northeast peninsula. We are proud to be doing our part. Other large returns of Hood Canal Summer Chum in the area include a whopping over 6500 fish at Jimmycomelately Creek, and a strong run at Chimacum Creek. Annual Meeting Thank you to our members

3 NOSC! Whiskers and Lou Henry Hoover are feeling sophisticated with their new furniture statement piece. Authentic Pacific Northwest allnatural wood with a rich depth of raw umber color makes this river tooth from Snow Creek an elegant addition to the tank's modern aesthetic. Lou Henry Hoover remarked, "Its nooks and crannies provide added three dimensional aspect and a practical functionality that was previously underrepresented in this particular space." We are happy that this offering was so well received, though when asked about the reported 2 hours that it took TLC to extract catfish food from the log, his response was,"no comment." Members grab a bite from the buffet at the 25th Anniversary Dinner. A huge thank you to the nearly one hundred Salmon Coalition supporters who came out to the beautiful Jamestown S'Klallam Tribal Center in Blyn to celebrate our 25th Anniversary! The celebration started with a tour of our Snow Creek Estuary restoration project led by Senior Project Manager, Kevin Long. The weather was absolutely picturesque and some lucky guests were even able to see chum jumping in Sequim Bay before the delicious dinner of local salmon, bread donated by Pane D'Amour, salad greens donated by our Food Co-op and tasty and homemade sides and cobblers made by our Board of Directors. It was an informative evening as well. Presentations were given by our honoree and local farmer, John Gunning, Alison Studley, Executive Director of sister organization Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group, as well as longtime Salmon Coalition supporters Katherine Baril, Doug Morrill, and Andy McGregor, and High School/Peninsula College student Emily Larson. WADER LOVE! this just in... THE WADER ROOM IS Andy McGregor, Board President, summed up the feel of the evening best in his closing remarks, "after 25 years of growth and success for the Salmon Coalition, I'm REALLY optimistic about the next 25 years. We have an outstanding executive director in Rebecca Benjamin, a great staff, talented and dedicated volunteers and there is LOTS of important work left to do." Thank you to everyone who made the event possible!

4 OPEN FOR BUSINESS Interested in being invited to our next staff-led tour or fun event? Renew or become a member today. YOUR support makes our good work possible and keeps our beloved organization going strong. Welcome to our New WCC Members! Thanks to the hard work of volunteers and our can-do-anything WCC crew. STAY TUNED for RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY Contributions still welcomed. Like the rest of us, waders need warmth and love to stay dry and toasty all winter. Emily Bishop, Education and Outreach Assistant L to R: Sammy Black, Stephen Richardson (Asst. Supervisor), Anna Jackson, Owen French (Supervisor), Gabby Andrews, Angel Arreola You like fish, no? A cheerful welcome to the Salmon Coalition's new WCC crew and IP, who started at the beginning of this month. The crew does the heavy lifting on restoration projects, and the IP helps coordinate surveys and the nursery through the Education and Outreach Office. We are pleased and grateful to report that we got yet ANOTHER amazing group this year. Find out more about the WCC crew, Emily, and the rest of our staff here. Hearty Thanks to Departing AmeriCorps Staff Wishing Best of Luck on Next Adventures

5 WA Conservation Corps Crew superstars Sam Langley, Sophie Brunner, Asst. Supervisor Emily Barry, Kirsten Woodsmith, and Stephen Richardson brought their A-game to the habitat this year. Considering the sheer volume of work they completed this year, one can hardly be surprised that fish are showing up in record numbers to the watersheds where they do their work. The Salmon Coalition thanks the crew on behalf of our partners, our community, and the Fish that Inspire. May the skills they gained this year continue to serve both them and the ecosystems where they live and work. AND HEY! Stephen is returning as assistant supervisor and is looking for a 1-bedroom, dog-friendly place to live in eastern Jeff. County. Contact the office with leads: ! Help these folks out!

6 Kendra Krantz completed her term as a Washington Conservation Corps Invidual Placement AmeriCorps Member, with passion and skill. She shepherded the creation of the Salmon Coalition's Middle School Restoration Engineering Program, coordinated our largest cadre ever of stream surveyors, organized plantings, and formed an essential part of the dynamic team. Off to travel and develop her many talents, we wish Kendra the very best. THANK YOU to these young people who embody the spirit of community service that is the aim of the AmeriCorps Program. Education Program Highlights

7 7th graders from Blue Heron Middle School in Port Townsend visited Snow Creek Estuary to take measurements and soil samples. They will return to plant trees and shrubs as part of the Middle School Restoration Engineers Program. - Photo by Charles Espey Students were forced to do math at the Salmon Coalition's booth at the Dungeness River Festival. They had fun anyway, with record numbers of pinks in the river at the festival site. We brought FIN to hang out with Smoky the Bear, too.

8 Volunteer Spotlight Dennis Kuklok Volunteer Dennis Kuklok at Snow Creek Estuary. Photo by Charles Espey Dennis Kuklok is a new volunteer at the Salmon Coalition who spent his first day with us at Snow Creek Estuary helping 7th graders from Blue Heron Middle School conduct their restoration engineering projects. He moved to the Olympic Peninsula about 20 years ago, from Oregon, in search of a wild place without too much development. What he eventually

9 found was an area by Rocky Brook Falls, on the Dosewallips River. He says, "Once I observed that the local elk herd frequently bedded down in a part of it, and after I watched the fall salmon runs up both Rocky Brook Creek and the Dosewallips River, I knew this was it. I purchased three adjoining parcels totaling 40 acres in 1999 and have called it home ever since." Dennis is also the engineer of a salmon-based website- a great way to explore salmon trivia, news, games, and more. NOSC: What is your background in riparian work? DK: While I was looking for a place to put down my own roots, I was also looking for a place to steward, to care for and leave in a better condition than it was when I found it. From a developer's perspective, my 40 acres would be a poor choice. It is mostly floodplain with the remainder very steep, rocky uplands. Conventional building sites are limited. It also had a long history of human disturbance; homesteading, successive logging every 40 or so years, and, around 1990, a small hydroelectric plant was constructed below the falls. The land had not been logged for about 30 years so it was naturally healing, with a diverse upland forest emerging. My training and 40 year career as a landscape architect and natural resource planner has been pretty diverse, and has included some site restoration work. So, it was natural that I would apply what I had learned to my own property. The first few years I focused on getting to understand the place. This is important, as first impressions usually only tell a part of the story. I eventually saw that it was the floodplain riparian areas that needed the most attention. There, intense elk grazing, some timber cutting, uncontrolled recreational use and river flooding all seemed to maintain the alder dominated woodland with remnant stands of larger firs, cedars and cottonwoods. My restoration strategies include some tree planting (mostly cedars and Douglas fir), preserving and expanding the core larger tree stands and allowing nature to continue her work. I try new ideas as I learn. Last year's two major flood events and this year's record pink run have been significant "learning events" for me; I am still thinking through what they mean with respect to continued restoration efforts and habitat enhancement for salmon. NOSC: What are the skills you value most in landscape restoration? DK: Understand and respect nature and her processes. This would be my first rule. Successful site planning and landscape restoration work requires a deep understanding of the place. This takes time and a good deal of skill. One makes multiple site visits, studies old photographs, and talks with long time residents. Every place has its own "story" and people

10 who work on site design and restoration "read the landscape" to learn its particular story. Too often, because of a funding window, or political considerations or an emergency situation we are in a hurry. For me, revegetation/reforestation work is not an engineering or ecological problem (though both engineering and ecology are important tools), but more of an ongoing dance of science, technology, ecology and creativity, played out in one place over an extended period of time. When nature sees bare ground, she may be thinking about a forest, but that doesn't mean that she starts out by planting trees. Quite often she will start with grasses or annuals which we would consider "weeds". It may take her years and a whole succession of plants before a healthy, self sustaining forest emerges. With respect to Snow Creek replanting, I think we have much to learn from examining the successes (and failures) of restoration efforts on the Elwha (as well as sites that NOSC has worked on). It would be great for the Blue Heron middle schoolers to take a guided field trip to see riparian restoration in progress as part of their year long project. NOSC: What inspired you to set up a salmon website? DK: The website, allsalmonconsidered.com, represents the convergence of three threads in my life. The first is my professional training and skillset. I have a pretty good understanding of landscape and ecology, and have honed my writing, drawing and communication skills on a diversity of projects in Alaska and a number of other countries. The second comes from where I have lived for over 15 years, a place where salmon are a constant presence. The third is may love of art and beauty and a curiosity in what I call "all things salmon"; not just the ecology, science, life history or polities, but also salmon in art, literature and culture. The website is my way of exploring this and sharing it with like-minded people, young and old. Since I do cartoons, I even add a bit of humor. NOSC: Has the website begun to generate interest? DK: It's still too early to tell. The site has only been up since July. It is all new to me, I feel more comfortable with more traditional print media. Twenty years ago, I would have probably developed a magazine or newsletter. Today, it has to be a website/blog (with formats for smart phones and tablets, which I have yet to develop). One purpose of the site is to promote educational materials I have been developing. I am hopeful, I have received lots of encouragement, but the reality is we live in a near saturated world of good information, the competition for screen time is

11 intense. NOSC: With all this salmon interest, the obvious question is: which one is your favorite species? DK: I can't really say, they are all such fascinating and beautiful creatures. However, on the "Food" page of my website, allsalmonconsidered I do try to answer the question, What is the best tasting salmon? Check it out to see if you agree. Thank you to Dennis, and to all of our volunteers! To check out All Salmon Considered, click here. North Olympic Salmon Coalition Community Partnerships, Collaborative Restoration