Stewardship Partnership by Bengt Miller, SFEG Stewardship Coordinator | Project 5 of 30

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Bengt during a June 2020 stewardship visit to Gilligan Creek.

On a recent visit through the Skagit watershed, the weather was crisply cold after a snow event. The further upriver we went the deeper the snow was. This was a blessing in disguise.  We were getting out into the field to steward a couple of conservation properties owned by Seattle City Light (SCL).  Stewardship visits involve visiting these conservation properties and making sure everything is above board. Usually, the visits are a snapshot in time of goings-on at the site. The frozen ground provided the opportunity for a longer snapshot since comings and goings were solidified in the snow.  On this particular day, no nefarious activities were encountered and we saw evidence of coyotes, deer, elk, and various winter resident birds.

Because the land is owned by the City of Seattle, through SCL, it is public and visitors are welcome. Given the conservation designation on the properties only passive activities are permitted, such as bird watching, hiking, photography, picnicking, etc. If you choose to visit a property be aware that hunting and fishing are allowed within designated seasons with the requisite licenses. I recommend wearing an orange vest, regardless of the season.

Unnamed stream flowing through the Granstrom property

 

If you are familiar with the Skagit watershed you know that it contains 5 electricity-generating dams. The two on the Baker River are owned by Puget Sound Energy. The three dams upstream from Newhalem are owned by Seattle City Light and provide electricity to Seattle. Since the SCL dams have an impact on salmon populations within the Skagit River SCL compensates for this by purchasing lands with good habitat value and giving them a conservation designation.  I intentionally didn’t say ‘mitigates’ because that implies a legal requirement. The properties SFEG stewards for SCL are managed by the ESA Lands Program. This is a voluntary program within SCL. There is also the Wildlife and Mitigation Lands program, which SCL is required to operate as part of their Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license.

The partnership between Skagit Fisheries and SCL began in 2010. Since that time SCL has continued to acquire parcels and SFEG has conducted restoration activities on the ones that require it. If you have attended a volunteer planting party with SFEG it’s likely you have planted trees on a SCL conservation property.  If you recognize the names Anderson Creek, Iron Mountain Ranch or Granstrom you are a truly dedicated volunteer. To date SFEG has installed about 90,000 native plants on 265 acres owned by SCL.  Funding for this has come from SCL, Salmon Recovery Funding Board and Washington Department of Ecology.

SCL properties are managed for multiple use, like this one along the Skagit River that combines grazing and wildlife use.

One thing that makes the SCL ESA Lands program unique is the multi-use nature of some of the properties. Traditionally ‘mitigation’ lands are designated for wildlife and all other use is prohibited. In developing the ESA Lands Program SCL wanted to be conscientious stewards of the land as well as continue to promote local use of land. The solution to this was allowing multi-use opportunities on properties where it was feasible. The Skagit Valley has a long and proud agricultural tradition. There are a number of SCL owned properties where conservation and agriculture co-exist. These properties are prime examples of cooperative multi-use.

In the 10 years that SFEG has been stewarding some SCL properties, we have seen dramatic changes from acres of land lost to bank erosion to the early stages of forest establishment. One thing that excites me the most is when I notice a native plant on site that was not planted. This generally happens at about year seven or eight, when planted trees become large enough to be self-sustaining and exert influence in their local environment. This natural recruitment is something that happens constantly in mature forests and seeing the first stages on a restoration site gladdens the heart. It is felt even more strongly when I know that it is happening under trees that I have planted. If you want to experience something similar attend a SFEG planting event and then visit the site periodically over the coming years and observe changes. I look forward to many more of these experiences over the next 30 years.

Spawner Survey Successes! East Fork Walker Then and Now: How to Protect our Rivers for all Inhabitants. | Project 4 of 30

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East Fork (EF) Walker is a tributary of the Nookachamps Creek. E.F. Walker drains water from the surrounding agricultural lands, logging areas, and ORV trails, making it flashy during storm events and creating high sediment loads. Like many of our monitoring projects, we began our restoration efforts by replacing a perched culvert with a bridge on a private road crossing.

By removing blackberry bushes and planting native vegetation along the upper portion of the stream, we helped stabilize the bank, created cover and shade for salmon, and provided nutrient input for macroinvertebrates (an important food source for juvenile salmon).

This project was completed in 2015 with the hope that our restoration efforts will improve fish passage, and result in a higher return of spawning salmon.

Spawning Coho Salmon, November 2020

Every year, we recruit a team of volunteer citizen scientists to walk streams and conduct spawner surveys on streams like EF Walker. Volunteers are trained and assigned to streams in early October and commit to walking their stream and collecting data until the salmon run has ended. Skagit Fisheries has been monitoring EF Walker for the past 6 years to analyze our impact. Our data showed a huge increase in salmon, carcasses, and redd activity since the start of our project in 2015.

While it is always exciting to hear the good news for salmon, we are also excited to hear stories from our surveyors about the impact our healthy streams have on greater ecosystems. EF Walker is also home to bald eagles, great blue herons, beavers and other animals that take advantage of the rich riparian ecosystem.

On January 2nd, 2021 our spawner surveyor Chad Verbitsky, and his daughter, Audrey walked EF Walker as they normally do on Saturdays.

Chad and Audrey were thrilled to see a duo of bald eagles up close. They saw the adult eagle take off, but the juvenile eagle stayed put on a branch.

Chad and Audrey saw the juvenile struggle to move, and finally flew over the trail–until it nose dived into blackberry bush.

The eagle tried to fly away but was unable to.

Chad called the first animal rehab organization he found online, who told him to put the eagle in a box. This suggestion did not sit right with Chad as despite the fact that the eagle was a baby, it was still a big bird of prey with dangerous talons. Chad then got in touch with Sarvey Wildlife Care Center, located in Arlington, WA. Sarvey was able to dispatch someone to help with the eagle. Just as the dispatcher approached the eagle to help it break free of the blackberry, it flew away. Chad was told that often younger birds deplete their energy when hunting for salmon and need to rest before they can fly off.

While we are happy that our baby eagle was able to fly away, we are glad that Chad contacted someone that can help him. If you see a hurt animal, please do not handle the bird yourself. Instead, contact a wildlife rehab center that is dedicated to saving the lives of sick, orphaned, injured, or displaced wild animals, so that they may be successfully returned to their native habitat.

 

 

A Refuge for Swans and More, Close to Home| Project 3 of 30

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Just a quick jaunt outside of the bustling metropolis of Mount Vernon and you’re at DeBay’s Slough, a side channel of the Skagit River.  The property, now 629 acres, was dedicated by WDFW in 2001 as a place for the public to view overwintering trumpeter swans and other wildlife.  A swan flying over the area in 1900  would’ve seen a large S-curve in the river at this location.  Straightening the river at the S-curve to improve navigation about a century ago created DeBay’s Island and the corresponding Hart Island to the north of the river.

1860s*
2021

A large field ringed ¾ of the way around by forest, this site provides habitat for many creatures in addition to swans.  On a recent mid-February morning red-winged blackbirds were calling, as they so often are near water.  In a stand of dead trees the “peek peek” of a downy woodpecker could be heard.  The ubiquitous Stellar’s jay was cackling, and trumpeter swans could be heard softly trumpeting from the slough as well as in the air.  A small flock of mourning doves took up residence in a cottonwood tree, and a pair of bald eagles perched in a tree high above it all, surveying their breakfast and lunch options.

SFEG has been working in partnership with WDFW to assist with riparian restoration on multiple sections of DeBay’s Slough.  Restoration plans for the property call for partially reforesting a small portion of the property along the water.  Restoring this site will improve function of floodplain and riparian forest, while protecting side channel habitat for salmonids. Several plant species already onsite such as wild roses, Oregon grape, and Douglas spirea provide food for many insects, birds, and mammals.  

Additional planting efforts will add deciduous and evergreen trees to the mix.  In partnership with WDFW, SFEG will hold volunteer planting parties here on Saturday, February 27, and March 6, 2021.  Small volunteer groups of 5 will be spread throughout the property in morning and afternoon shifts in order to comply with state-mandated Covid-19 safety guidelines.  Sign up here!

More information about the DeBay’s Slough Swan Reserve can be found Here

 

 

*Detail of a section map originally prepared by Department of the Interior, General Land Office, Surveyor General’s Office, Olympia, Washington Territory.  Surveyors began on Fir Island in 1866 and finished with the Sauk River Valley in 1885. This detail was taken from a compilation of the GLO’s work and was researched and developed by Skagit County Residents Larry Kunzler and Leonard Halverson, May 1994.