Volunteers set out native plants on new beach

Volunteers set out native plants on new beach

PORT ANGELES — The last segment of a fish-blocking dam came down four years ago, but Elwha River restoration work continues.

Whale Scout volunteers and Northwest Indian College students — most from the Port Gamble S’Klallam and Suquamish tribes — planted 800 native plants on the east side of the mouth of the Elwha River on Jan. 27.

The planting was hosted by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe on newly created beach formed when decades of sediment were released after the removal of two Elwha River dams in a $324 million project.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

The fish-blocking dams were removed between 2011 and 2014. The silt that has flowed down the river has created some 80 to 100 acres of new beach at the mouth of the Elwha River west of Port Angeles.

Most of the beach is on the east side of the mouth, according to Laurel Moulton, a horticulturist hired by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe who has worked for the last 3½ years as the assistant manager of Olympic National Park’s Matt Albright Native Plant Center.

Tribal lands on the east side of the mouth are not open to the public. The only present public access to the new beach at the mouth of the river is on the west bank, which is across private property and where parking and public services are very limited.

Catherine Youngman, who grew up on Lower Elwha Reservation, remembered the degraded beach prior to dam removal.

“Before the dams were removed, I remember my cousins and I would always walk down to the beach and just walk along the rocks to hang out and get out of the house,” said the Northwest Indian College student, who expects to graduate this spring with a bachelor’s degree in native environmental science.

“We would have a throwing contest of who can throw the furthest because there was an enormous amount of rocks,” she said. “The beach wasn’t very big either so we couldn’t walk very far.

“Now it’s huge!” she exclaimed.

She described her experience with the Whale Scouts as “amazing.”

“I met new people and being able to give back to the tribe’s newly created beach with native plants is special.”

About 35 people participated in the planting, said Whitney Neugebauer of Whale Scout, a volunteer group based in Bothell that does conservation and restoration work throughout Puget Sound and on the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

The five species of newly planted beach plants — sea thrift, gumweed, dune grass, strawberry and beach pea — will help stabilize the sediment protecting the nearby estuary which is home to salmon during their early life stages, organizers said.

The salmon include chinook, a vital food resource for endangered Southern Resident orcas.

“This event provided an important cultural event for students in addition to a field laboratory for understanding life sciences,” said Yvonne Shevalier, a faculty member in native environmental science at Northwest Indian College in Bellingham.

The Elwha River mouth project was the group’s first on the North Olympic Peninsula, she said.

In addition to planting native beach plants, volunteers and students removed invasive plants such as ivy.

“Weeds are quick to move in,” Moulton said. “Weeding is important because the new beach area is vulnerable to invasive species, and we would like to give native plants a chance to get established first”

Tribal biologist Mike McHenry said it is still too early to understand the full scope of the benefits of dam removal for orcas and salmon, but that there are good signs.

Adult salmon are recolonizing the upper river, smolt production numbers are up, and new life histories are emerging, he pointed out.

The riverbank planting at the Elwha was one of the eight events hosted by Whale Scout each year aimed at restoring the habitat of chinook salmon, the primary prey of endangered Southern Resident orcas which now number just 76, the lowest in 30 years.

As state officials are considering possible management actions to accelerate the recovery of listed chinook salmon and orcas, the Elwha River restoration project serves as a positive example of what can be done, organizers said.

“Helping restore the Elwha River estuary is such an inspiring experience. It’s a true example of how people have come together to make the right decision for salmon, orcas, and people,” said Laurie Gogic, a Whale Scout volunteer who helped coordinate the event.

Volunteers set out native plants on new beach
Volunteers set out native plants on new beach

More in News

Duke Sawtel of Olympia trims tree branches that interfere with power lines along Washington Street in Port Townsend. The Asplundh Tree Trimming company was hired by the Jefferson County PUD for the job. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Tree trimming

Duke Sawtel of Olympia trims tree branches that interfere with power lines… Continue reading

Clallam Transit grant for purchase of new buses could be on hold

General manager says he’s retiring, with final day set for Aug. 1

Port Angeles to purchase hybrid, electric vehicles

Goal is to align with climate resiliency plan

Karyn Stillwell cold plunging in Alaska. (Karyn Stillwell)
Advocate to present benefits of cold water plunging

Stillwater cites ‘good stressor,’ adrenaline spikes

Trees to be removed prior to fish passage projects

Contractors are removing trees along U.S. Highway 101 south of… Continue reading

Levi Oravetz, 9, and his father Adam Oravetz put pre-measured rice and lentils into a funnel to be packaged for families in Ecuador. More than 100 volunteers from Independent Bible Church of Port Angeles packed 65,000 meals on Saturday. Almost $23,000 was raised by the church to buy the supplies. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
Meals for Ecuador

Levi Oravetz, 9, and his father Adam Oravetz put pre-measured rice and… Continue reading

Comment now open on whale hunt

Makah Tribe seeking permit for 2025, ’27

Clallam awards $10,800 in historical grants

Genealogical society, history center to receive funds

Port Townsend council approves funding to repave city’s Tyler Street

Contractors expect project to be done in 30 to 40 days

A Quillayute Valley Scholarship Auction one-day record was set on Saturday with $75,000 and an all-time record with auction items and cash donations totaled $218,002. The funds raised will go to Forks High School graduates for college and trade school scholarships. Forks High School class of 2025 seniors, in the yellow shirts, mill about the crowd, showing off auction items. Guest auctioneer Elliott Mann takes bids from the audience. Almost 900 items were auctioned during the two-day event. (Christi Baron/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
New records set

A Quillayute Valley Scholarship Auction one-day record was set on Saturday with… Continue reading

Mary Ann Dangman of Sequim reads a plant description at a vendor booth for One Earth Botanical of Camas at the 26th annual Soroptimist Gala Garden Show at the Sequim Boys & Girls Club. The event on Saturday featured numerous display and vendor booths devoted to plants, gardening and outdoor activities, as well as a slate of guest speakers and workshops. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Garden show

Mary Ann Dangman of Sequim reads a plant description at a vendor… Continue reading