Salish Sea Currents Climate 2020

with their own special characteristics. Tidal forests are some of the
“It’s a long game,” Chamberlin says. Tidal forests were built layer
shade and sustenance to salmon. Scientists now argue that it’s not
A 2018 report from the Washington Coastal Resilience Project
hardest hit of these, having decreased by more than 90 percent.
upon layer, tree upon tree over centuries. “We can’t just come in and
enough just to identify and restore old habitat. They need to manage
does just that. The report, titled “Sea Level rise considerations
Significantly more exist on Washington’s outer coast and the Columbia
suddenly make this type of habitat,” he says. It’s going to take some
future habitat.
for nearshore restoration projects in Puget Sound,” recommends
basin, but most of what remains in this region can be found here on the
time. Maybe lifetimes and generations.
that restoration projects should “consider the extent to which
Snohomish delta.
In essence, that means 150-acre Otter Island and a smaller 20-acre
plot at nearby Heron Point. Otter Island is owned and managed as
conservation land by Snohomish County. Heron Point just to the north
was recently purchased by the Tulalip Tribe which intends to protect
the habitat forever.
THE LONG GAME
Protecting what remains is now paramount for biologists. So far,
holding the line is working. Otter Island and Heron Point remain much
as they have been for centuries.
The next step may be more difficult. What can be done to bring back
the lost 90%?
What scientists can do is make an approximation. Recently, the state
breached several dikes in this area, opening up miles of new salmon
habitat along the Snohomish.
During our float over here we see what’s possible. The area known
as the Smith Island restoration is now flooded along with the nearby
Qwuloolt estuary. Both areas are parts of an EPA-funded plan to
preserve estuaries throughout Puget Sound. The goal is to restore
about 7,380 acres of estuarine habitat in Puget Sound by 2020. The
newly formed estuaries may not match the full richness of Otter Island,
but scientists are optimistic.
Playing the long game could also include planting trees as has been
done on the Nisqually delta, a place seen by many as the crown jewel
of estuary restoration in Puget Sound. There, ecologists have started to
LOOKING AHEAD
Factors like climate change and sea level rise in particular have forced
scientists to take a broader view of habitat restoration. Rising tides
from the earth’s melting ice caps could impact places like Otter Island
and potentially most other restoration projects in the area. More
saltwater incursion could upset the delicate balance of life here.
“These trees — the Sitka spruce — are salt tolerant but they’re only
tolerant,” Chamberlin says. “If you raise the sea level to a point where
they are inundated for a longer period of time or the salinities change,
you could potentially negatively impact them. I think it’s one of the
questions that needs to be evaluated.”
there is upland space to accommodate landward migration of
nearshore habitat.”
Redirecting rising salinity away from Otter Island could be one step,
but scientists also wonder if they can go even further: Make new
habitat. Could they identify other forests higher in the watershed
that might one day be in the path of rising tides? In some cases, that
might bypass the need to plant more trees. It’s a long shot, they say,
but a potential strategy under consideration.
Whether tidal forests will one day make a return to Puget Sound
remains an open question, but for now, Otter Island continues to
remind us of what we once had and what we still stand to lose.
approximate tidal forests along the sloughs that might one day provide
Heron Point, north of Otter Island, is a tidal forest protected by the Tulalip Tribe. PHOTO: WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY.
Researchers netting salmon in the Snohomish River delta for study. PHOTO: NOAA
24 SALTWATER HABITAT
PUGET SOUND INSTITUTE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON | TACOMA
salishseacurrents.org
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