by Judy Murphy

Click here to read the minutes of the Jan. 8, 2010 Planning Advisory Committee meeting

What will South Puget Sound look like in 50 years?  Will salmon and rockfish, shorebirds, eagles, invertebrates, and marine mammals be flourishing?  Will the water be pristine enough to allow shellfish harvesting?  Will our children and grandchildren enjoy a Nisqually estuary that is similar to, better, or worse than today?

As a step towards ensuring the future of a healthy marine environment surrounding the Nisqually delta, the Nisqually Reach Nature Center (NRNC) has submitted a proposal to the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) requesting that approximately 10,000 acres of state-owned South Puget Sound waters be designated a Washington State Aquatic Reserve. 

“The Aquatic Reserve Program offers us a very exciting opportunity to participate in protecting our marine environment in South Puget Sound,” said NRNC Director Daniel Hull.  “The Center would like to play a leading role in preserving what we have today -- something that is very special -- for future generations.”

The state of Washington's Aquatic Reserve Program was established in 2002 as a means to preserve, restore, and improve both marine and freshwater state lands.  The program brings together local and state governments, non-governmental organizations, citizens, and Tribes that share an interest in preserving or restoring an aquatic environment.

Where would the Aquatic Reserve be located?

The Center has proposed a reserve area stretching from the shoreline of Tolmie State Park across Puget Sound between McNeil and Anderson Islands to the eastern shoreline south of Steilacoom, bordered on the south by the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge (NNWR), and on the west by the shoreline where the Center is located, north to the State Park.  It would include the shorelines of Anderson and Ketron Islands and the deep waters of Nisqually Reach. 

Because the shorelines within the proposed reserve are managed by many different entities, the Center is enlisting partners to join in supporting the proposal.  At present our partners include The Nisqually Tribe, the NNWR, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, Thurston County, the Anderson Island Association, and the National Oyster Company.  Discussions are continuing with other potential partners such as Ft. Lewis, the BNSF Railroad, Pierce County, City of DuPont and private property owners/associations.

Why is this designation important?

We have a unique opportunity in the South Sound to preserve a relatively undeveloped marine environment from future degradation.  The Nisqually delta and Nisqually Reach provide critical habitats for threatened, endangered, or priority marine species such as several species of rockfish, forage fish and salmon, marine mammals, and sea birds.  The beaches, mudflats, and marshes of the Nisqually delta support a food chain for dozens of bird species, and the deepwater habitats and eelgrass and kelp beds provide food for rockfish.  Juvenile chinook salmon develop in the waters near the delta. The food production of the reserve area as well as restoration efforts at NNWR, where dikes have been removed allowing tidal lands to be reclaimed, further enhance the significance of the area as a migratory bird stop along the Pacific flyway.

Among the goals of the reserve will be to 1) monitor and prevent the loss of eelgrass beds, 2) inventory the extent of kelp beds and assess the effects of human activities and invasive species, 3) inventory the species and habitat of deep-water invertebrates and fish and prevent their contamination or loss due to activities such as dredging and overfishing, 4) continue bird monitoring, particularly to document the results of the dike removal at the NNWR, 5) carry out research projects in deep water areas, and 6) enhance appreciation and stewardship among shoreline  landowners, recreational users, commercial interests, and others through educational programs and public involvement.

One exciting research opportunity will be the mapping of deep-water environments using remote underwater video cameras and remotely operated vehicles.  The Center has received a starter grant from The Russell Family Foundation that will enable us to use such equipment from the University of Puget Sound for the purpose of collecting baseline data on habitat distribution and health in deepwater areas of Nisqually Reach.

Would reserve status change how the area could be used?Designation of this area as an Aquatic Reserve would not change how the area is used at the present time.  A management plan, to be developed by the reserve partners, would consider issues such as any potential adverse effects of new leases on state-owned aquatic lands for aquaculture, piers, marinas, dredging, pipelines, or dredged material disposal,  which might be detrimental to the reserve environment.

According to NRNC Board President Doug Myers, “Establishment of the Nisqually Reach area of Puget Sound as an Aquatic Reserve will help to ensure that our community will enjoy a healthy and richly diverse estuarine habitat for years to come.”