Strategy Table of Contents

• I. Introduction, Acronyms
• II. Executive Summary
• III. Project Priorities
• A. Mission and Philosophy
• B. Stocks and their Status
• C. Priority Stocks and Recovery Goals
• D. Prioritized Watersheds
• E. Watershed Processes and Habitat Features
• F. Priority Actions and Areas Strategy
• G. Community Issues and Support
• H. Community Outreach Plan

Return to NOPLEGroup.org Site Map

List of Figures, Tables and Appendices

• Figure 1 Strategy Development Process
• Figure 2 Historic and Current Productivity
• Figure 3 Watershed Basin Area
• Figure 4 Tier Designations
• Table 1 Strategy Development Criteria
• Table 2 Stock Status & Trends
• Table 3 NOP Stakeholders
• Table 4 Current Hatchery Information
• Appendix A Watershed Data Matrix
• Appendix B Strategy Development Data
• Appendix D Watershed Pages and Nearshore Strategy
• Appendix E Documented Limiting Factors & Watershed Processes
• Appendix F NOPLE Map & Area

Project

TRG Score
9/2/05

TRG
Ranking
9/9/05

CFG
Ranking
9/19/05

LEG
Ranking
9/21/05

Prioritization Criteria
See Project Priorities (Strategy, Section III)

• Addresses priority stock(s)
• Is located in a priority tiered watershed
• Recovers a priority action, area
• Is of high benefit to salmon and has a high likelihood of success
• Has community support
• Is timely or constitutes an opportunity that would be lost if not acted on now, and
• Is of appropriate cost

Prioritization Process
See 2005 NOPLE Project Review Process

Deep Creek Roads Decommissioning and Sediment Reduction Project

94.06

1

1

1

IMW Final Restoration Treatments

93.00

2

1

2

Hoko River Habitat Restoration

91.78

3

1

3

Nearshore Central Strait of Juan de Fuca: an ecosystem assessment of salmonid use and priority restoration actions

88.32

4

2

4

Pysht Estuary Conservation Proposal

71.05

5

2

5

Project

Priority Stocks

Priority Processes and Limiting Factors

Priority Actions and Areas

Project Benefit and Certainty, TRG Ranking

Community Support, LEG Ranking

#1. Deep Creek Roads Decommissioning and Sediment Reduction Project

See detailed explanations of project Fit to Strategy

Fall Chum is listed as "depressed" in 2002 SaSI.

Olympic Peninsula coho, steelhead and SJF chum are identified as priority WRIA 19 stock in the NOPLE Strategy.

Will prevent potentially catastrophic damage to three Tier 2 watersheds and will help protect spawning and rearing habitats of multiple wild stocks.

No hatchery outplanting occurs in these watersheds which are managed for wild fish production only.

Restores natural processes, specifically, hydrology and sedimentation. Will resolve a major limiting factor, excessive sedimentation, at the watershed scale.

According to Deep-Twin Watershed Analysis (USDA, 2002) and the NOPLE Strategy, excessive sedimentation is a major limiting factor for these watersheds. Decommissioning of 11 miles of road will return sediment processes to more natural levels, and avoid repeat of the catastrophic landslides, debris flows and severe erosion that occurred in 80s and 90s.

Olympic National Forest has completed watershed analyses (USDA 2002), an Access and Travel Management plan (USDA 2003b), and an Environmental Assessment (USDA 2004) that specifically identify this project as the priority action and this road as the priority area.

Road decommissioning is the next priority action under NOPLE's Priority Action and Areas Strategy, which is set forth in Section F of the NOPLE Strategy.

The road to be decommissioned crosses numerous 1st order tributaries and convergent headwalls in three Tier 2 watersheds.

These three watersheds also make up one of the watershed clusters of the Intensely Monitored Watersheds (IMW) program.

The NOPLE TRG characterized this project as a particularly well-documented and prioritized restoration action.

This project complements Lower Elwha Tribal restoration work in Deep Creek and East Twin River, as well as the USFS decommissioning of an additional 13.5 miles of roads in these watersheds.

This project will protect substantial SRFB restoration investments already made downstream, i.e. IAC 00-1884, 02-1583, and 04-1546.

This project has strong support from the WRIA 19 citizen group and the Lower Elwha Tribe.

Olympic National Forest currently has $260 K in match available which will expire in 2006. It is unlikely that the ONF will receive future funding for road decommissioning. The availability of these funds (50% match of total costs) represents an opportunity that must not be lost.

The TRG mean-score placed this project at rank #1. The WRIA 19 citizen group concurred with this ranking. The LEG maintained this ranking.

#2. IMW Final Restoration Treatments

See detailed explanations of project Fit to Strategy

Fall Chum is listed as "depressed" in 2002 SaSI.

Olympic Peninsula coho, steelhead and SJF chum are identified as priority WRIA 19 stock in the NOPLE Strategy.

No hatchery outplanting occurs in these watersheds which are managed for wild fish production only.

IMW Project to answer important questions regarding effects of watershed-scale restoration on entire stocks.

Large woody debris serves a habitat forming process, by increasing channel roughness, slowing water velocities, building channel bed elevations, trapping and sort spawning gravels, and forming scour pools.

Per Deep-Twin Watershed Analysis (USDA, 2002), as well as the NOPLE Strategy, lack of LWD in these watersheds is a major limiting factor, resulting from previous land-use practices.

Tier 2 Watershed that is part of the IMW study. This project will treat by helicopter the last remaining untreated tributaries and mainstem areas (which were left untreated so far due to difficulty of access).

Will actually complete watershed-level restoration.

Important for IMW study.

This project complements $2.3 million in restoration actions in these watersheds to date.

This project complements ONF efforts at decommissioning roads in these watersheds.

This project will actually complete watershed-scale LWD restoration in Tier 2 watersheds with very limited residential development.

Employs tribal crew, which includes displaced fishermen and loggers.

Klallam people have strong historic ties to these watersheds.

The TRG mean-scores placed this project at rank #2. The WRIA 19 citizen group concurred with this ranking. The LEG maintained this ranking.

#3. Hoko River Habitat Restoration

See detailed explanations of project Fit to Strategy

Chinook is a priority stock in this area. Project will recover segment of juvenile habitat for priority stock. Project will also benefit coho, steelhead and cutthroat.

Road decommission, bridge removal, ELJs will restore sedimentation, channel complexity, and LWD habitat forming process.

The premise behind the restoration design is to reestablish natural riparian processes that have been interrupted by bank modifications and constrictions.

The project addresses several identified limiting factors on a sufficiently large scale.

Action: Address priority limiting factors cited in LFA and Hoko River Watershed Analysis.

Area: Tier 1 watershed. Over 2 miles of salmon habitat. Reach has unique valley configuration, dynamic and productive floodplain area, proximity to State land that will be conserved for high habitat value.

High potential for restoration due to unique opportunities.
Complements completed and planned restoration by Makah and Elwha Tribes.

The applicant is proposing commonly used restoration measures that are entirely feasible. DNR has demonstrated the ability to perform this type of work, with Lower Elwha Tribe and Makah Tribe contributing experience in the design, implementation and monitoring phase.

Although tier 1 and high quality project, unique circumstances of ranked 1 and 2 projects place this project at 3.

The TRG mean-scores placed this project at rank #3. The WRIA 19 citizen group concurred with this ranking. The LEG maintained this ranking.

#4. Nearshore Central Strait of Juan de Fuca: an ecosystem assessment of salmonid use and priority restoration actions

See detailed explanations of project Fit to Strategy

Chinook, Chum, Bull Trout (federally ESA listed). Project will answer questions about presence of nearshore lifestages of priority stock along WRIA 18 and WRIA 19 nearshore.

According to Regional Nearshore and Marine Aspects of Salmon Recovery in Puget Sound (Redman, et all, 2005), all 22 populations of Chinook and all populations of Chum use the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca nearshore area. However, information on nearshore usage of different habitat types is lacking. This assessment will serve to define the where and when of chinook and chum use, which is directly relevant to project development and sequencing in the nearshore area.

Nearshore is Tier 1. The federal listing of critical habitat boundary stops at the Elwha river mouth due to a lack of information on fish use in nearshore areas west of the Elwha. The tech review team conceded the importance to gain this use information and may update the critical habitat boundary once such information is available. This assessment will bridge the gap.

The NOPLE Nearshore Strategy indicates for the Central & Western Straits that assessments to define habitat function are of equal priority to protection and restoration actions (Table 3 of NOPLE Nearshore Strategy)

This project is within critical listed habitat for federally listed species. It is in Tier 1 and includes two Tier 1 watersheds and a number of Tier 2 watersheds. It addresses a priority data gap listed in NOPLE nearshore strategy for WRIA 18 and 19. It addresses top priority in Shared Strategy (Elwha Dungeness Region). This project is key to prioritizing restoration and protection actions along the Strait of Juan de Fuca nearshore.

Although tier 1 and high quality project, the TRG mean-score placed this project at rank #4. The WRIA 19 citizen group concurred with this ranking. The LEG maintained this ranking.

#5. Pysht Estuary Conservation Proposal

See detailed explanations of project Fit to Strategy

Project will protect estuary that includes priority habitat of priority stock. Snorkel surveys have observed juvenile Chinook, Coho and Chum, surf smelt and sand lance.

Will preserve existing habitat and prevent loss of estuarine habitat critical for food production, refuge, juvenile rearing and smoltification, and migrating. Will protect and ensure availability for future restoration measures critical watershed processes in estuary.

Nearshore is Tier 1. The Pysht watershed is Tier 2. Protection and restoration of Pysht estuary have been identified as priority actions in the NOPLE Nearshore Strategy. The Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Plan (2005) and the Puget sound Nearshore Project (2003) both prioritize protection of shoreline and estuary habitats as highly significant actions for sustaining salmonid recovery.

Protecting and/or restoring estuarine habitats on the Olympic Peninsula have been high priorities for SRFB funding, including projects at the Dungeness River and Jimmycomelately Creek. The Pysht Estuary contains, by far, the largest concentration of estuarine habitats in the Strait of Juan de Fuca between Dungeness Spit and Neah Bay.

By allowing the landowner to retain certain uses on portions of the 945 acres, this grand-scale project is affordable while providing a very high level of protection to the estuary and its associated nearshore habitats.

The TRG mean-scores placed this project at rank #5. The WRIA 19 citizen group concurred with this ranking. The LEG maintained this ranking.