Restoring Dabob Bay & Tarboo Creek: Can it Serve as a Model for Saving Puget Sound? Martha Baskin 9/15/11
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Lede: Can an out-of-the-way section ofDabobBay with only one mega-home in sight serve as a model for restoringPuget Sound? Those engaged in the effort to restore the largest intact salt-marsh in all ofHoodCanal andStrait of Juan de Fuca think it can. Martha Baskin has our story.
Narration: With Green Acre Radio this is Martha Baskin.DabobBay is shaped like the thumb and pointer finger ofHoodCanal’s outstretched arm. It holds the largest intact salt marshes of all the waterways that make upHoodCanaland theStrait of Juan de Fuca. Peter Bahls with the Northwest Watershed Institute wants to keep it that way. “THIS USED TO BE A ROCK BULKHEAD OR ROCK WALL AND AS PART OF THIS PROJECT TO PROTECT DABOB BAY WE TOOK OUT THE BULKHEAD AND REPLACED IT WITH A KIND OF SOFT SHORE LINE ARMORING.” On this pristine bay with only one mega-home in sight, seeds and straw have been strategically placed on the bank. On the steep slope above a winding road is being removed or ‘de-commissioned’. “A LOT OF THE SALT MARSHES HAVE BEEN FILLED BY ROADS AND THESE SALT MARSHES OUT HERE ARE STILL PRETTY MUCH WHAT THEY WERE LIKE IN THE 1870’S WHEN THEY WERE FIRST SURVEYED WITH THE NAVIGATIONAL CHARTS.”
The project is part of an effort to protect the Tarboo Watershed which flows into the north end ofDabobBayfrom its headwaters and restore streams and wetlands along Tarboo Creek. Earlier this year the Department of Natural Resources transferred six hundred acres of forested slopes and ten acres of shoreline to conserve this section ofDabobBay. The land was purchased with a grant from the Salmon Recovery Funding board. Spawning ground for salmon and rich in oyster and clam, planting trees on the slopes will help the land become a productive source of sediment rather than a vehicle for landslides when it’s been over developed. After spreading out straw, Bahl’s team covers it with mats or coyer made from coconut husks. “LET’S DO THIS AREA ALONG THE SHORE FIRST SO I CAN GET YOU STARTED ON THE COYER.” He then suggests a tour of the slope above. As recently as last week it was a winding road. We slide on straw, wade through wood chips and climb over logs. “IN A FEW YEARS YOU WON’T EVEN KNOWA ROADWAS HERE.” Coastal spits aroundTarbooBaywere the reason a couple of hundred acres was protected originally in the 1980’s. “BUT WE REALIZED THAT YOU’RE NOT GOING TO PROTECT THE SALT MARSH SPITS JUST BY THIS LITTLE LINE AROUND ‘EM YOU NEED TO PROTECT THEOVERALLBAYAND THE PROCESSES OF THE HILL SLOPE AND SEDIMENT MOVEMENT.” Conserving all of the forests will ensure the integrity of the salt marsh spits, says Bahls, and in the process provide habitat for critters. “YOU CAN SEE WE PUT UP A FEW LOGS FOR BALD EAGLE SNAGS AND WOOD PECKERS AND THE LOGS IN THE GROUND EVENTUALLY WHEN THE TREES GROW THESE WILL ROT AWAY AND BE HABITAT FOR AMPHIBIANS.” We circle a caterpillar doing the heavy lifting. Two years ago The Nature Conservancy removed another road. “WE’VE HAD NO EROSION PROBLEMS OR WASH OUT PROBLEMS. YOU CAN SEE IT’S GETTING PRETTY WELL RE-VEGETATED AND A FEW TREES ARE STARTING TO GROW.”
Upstream at Tarboo Creek is where the Northwest Watershed Institute began this project ten years ago. The project has not been a one-person effort. Partners include The Nature Conservancy, the Jefferson Land Trust, the Department of Natural Resources or DNR, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Wetland Reserve Program, among others. Ecologist Deborah Nemens with DNR says restoringDabobBayand the Tarboo Watershed offers a model for restoring all ofPuget Sound. “IT CAN PROVIDE A REFERENCE SITE FOR FOLKS WHO ARE TRYING TO RESTORE AREAS THAT HAVE SEEN MORE DEVELOPMENT.” Designing the project requires a sense of what was there before. “SOMETIMES IT CAN BE HARD TO DO BECAUSE EVERYTHING HAS BEEN SO ALTERED. SO IT’S REALLY HELPFUL TO HAVE THOSE REFERENCE SITES THAT YOU CAN GO TO. OH THIS IS WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE.”
The Jefferson Land Trust also helped Bahls and the Northwest Watershed Institute find landowners interested in restoration, like the Freeman family of Seattle who have a long history of conservation. “SO I CALLED ‘EM AND THEY SAID MY WIFE’S GRANDFATHER KIND OF INVENTED IT AND I SAID OH REALLY WHO WAS THAT. HE SAID ALDO LEOPOLD. SO MY JAW KIND OF DROPPED AND I SAID OK.” Leopold is author of The Sand County Almanac and considered the father of wildlife ecology. Susan Freeman is his granddaughter. “IT WAS SOMETHING THAT MY GRANDFATHER DID AND MY FATHER DID, I DID IT WITH HIM GROWING UP AND NOW WE’RE DOING IT SO THAT’S KIND OF A FUNCARRINGON OF THE LEGACY.” With help from friends and their children the Freeman family has planted over 5,000 trees. Over the decade 2,700 acres have been protected in the Tarboo Watershed and Dabob Bay Natural Area. Three miles of streams now meander naturally. Peter Bahls throws a stick in Tarboo Creek to spot for salmon. “ONE WAY TO FIND EM IS TO THROW A LITTLE STICK AND SEE IF THEY COME UP FOR IT ‘CAUSE IN THE SUMMER THEY’RE REALY HUNGRY. DID YOU SEE THAT? YEAH.” Fish are jumpin’, trees growing high and roads decommissioned. It’s considered a model for restoringPuget Sound. How it will play out in more urban byways, is still being worked out. But stay tuned, restoration is seeing a revival.
This week Green Acre Radio is brought to you with support from the Russell Family Foundation. Engineering by CJ Lazenby. Ideas for stories? Please email us at greenacre@jackstraw.org.
From the studios of Jack Straw Productions and KBCS this is Martha Baskin. -0-
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