Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge Estuary Restoration: The Continuing Evolution of the Nisqually Estuary

When:     7:00 pm, Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Where:    Room 110, Harned Hall, Saint Martin’s University, 5300 Pacific Avenue SE, Lacey, Washington

Estuary habitats within Puget Sound have been heavily impacted by anthropogenic development over the last century. On lands currently managed by the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, approximately 1000 acres of salt marsh and tidal channel habitat were diked for agriculture in the early 1900’s, farmed for many decades, and managed as freshwater habitat by the Refuge since the mid-1970’s. The Refuge, working with key partners, Ducks Unlimited and the Nisqually Indian Tribe, restored the connection to Puget Sound on 762 acres of the Nisqually Estuary in the fall of 2009 by completely removing 4.5 miles of the 100 year old Brown Farm Dike and an additional 2 miles of interior levees and roads. Twenty-five acres of tidally influenced forested and scrub-shrub wetland habitat are also being restored within the estuary restoration area. Seven historic tidal slough systems that represented over 21 miles of historic channels pre-dike construction are re-establishing.

The project was identified as the top priority to recover Chinook salmon in the Nisqually watershed, and is the largest estuary restoration project to date in the Pacific Northwest. The restoration is intended to fully restore ecosystem processes that will create and maintain high quality habitat. This project adds to 140 acres of tidal habitat restoration and 50-acres of reforestation completed in the last 15 years by the Tribe on the east side of the River.

Extensive monitoring of ecosystem response to the restoration is being conducted in partnership with UG Geological Survey (USGS) and the Nisqually Tribe. The Tribe has been conducting extensive sampling of juvenile salmonid presence and diet throughout the delta, restoration areas, and adjacent nearshore. Various USGS groups are working in partnership with the Refuge and Tribe monitoring geomorphic change, sediment accretion, channel development, nearshore response, invertebrate communities, vegetation colonization, avian use, taking panoramic photo points, and repeat aerial photography. Ongoing monitoring will continue to inform the Refuge about how natural processes are reshaping the site, and the fish and wildlife response to the restoration.

Jesse Barham, Restoration Biologist at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, will be presenting.