Restoration can't overcome loss of natural shoreline habitats

“My dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that.”― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Shoreline restoration in Puget Sound is failing to keep up with our ongoing development of shorelines.  Despite our best efforts at restoration, we're losing habitat because we won't stop doing the damage.  

I often wonder whether our visible restoration projects are actually solving the problem.  It's pretty clear the answer is no if we develop more shorelines than we restore.  This study only looked at part of Puget Sound, but I doubt the answer is much different elsewhere.

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Serious dam removal-the Elwha River

I've been waiting for this; it seems like it's taken forever. But now the Elwha River dams are coming down. See the big chunk missing from Glines Canyon dam on the Elwha River.

If you're really interested, you can follow the 3 year restoration project with the webcams.

Why is this a big deal? Washington's Elwha River once hosted miraculous salmon runs, with fish up to 100 pounds. But two big dams blocked the river near it's mouth almost a century ago, so the salmon fizzled out despite pristine habitat. Ironically this is one place where salmon could still be thriving in the lower 48. Most of the Elwha River watershed is pristine and protected in Olympic National Park.

It's a good day for river restoration and fish conservation.

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The great salmon carcass caper

Restoration of ecosystems is good except when it's not.

What do you think about putting the dead rotting bodies of salmon into streams with water quality problems caused by excess nutrients? If you're like me, that sounds bad.

So why are smart and earnest conservationists doing it in the Molalla River, which is on Oregon's nutrient-polluted streams list? Because swarms of salmon used to die and rot in streams, so restoration means putting dead salmon bodies in streams where they "should" be. This seems to work in nutrient-limited streams, but a stream with nutrient excess may respond differently.

When salmon streams are healthy, then the rotting bodies feed bugs and fish. When salmon streams are degraded, lacking native species, and already burdened with excess nutrients, then adding more nutrients isn't likely to restore anything.

There's nothing magic about salmon carcasses. They will feed and make more of whatever lives there. It what lives in a stream is algae and non-native fish, then salmon carcasses will only feed the unwelcome guests.

I like the idea of salmon carcasses in streams. But only at the end of a restoration process when habitat is good, native species are present, and the ecosystem is fairly healthy. I'm happy when the rotting bodies are native fish that just spawned after swimming upstream naturally.

But putting salmon in streams to jump-start the process may just worsen existing problems. All things in good time.

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Oyster project killed

New York Harbor, as most harbors, could use more oysters. But alas, it's not to be since a Baykeeper oyster restoration project had to be killed out of fear that poachers might steal the oysters, eat them, and become sick.

There are so many layers of irony here I don't even know where to start.

If they steal the oysters and get sick, we're supposed to worry about them? Sorry, eating stolen oysters should make people sick, this would be divine justice. The reason for killing the oyster project was to protect the legitimate shellfish industry, since oysters making people sick might hurt legal shellfish business. This seems crazy. Save the NY oysters, they deserve a chance and we need them to thrive.

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Oyster restoration success in the Chesapeake

Good news for oysters, and that means good news for the Chesapeake Bay. Gigantic oyster-shell artificial reefs are proving successful as a home for oyster refuges. This is good news, after a spate of bad news for oysters in recent years.

Oysters are great things to have in a bay, they produce habitat and filter out algae that can otherwise contribute to nuisance algae blooms. And...they make a great dinner, especially when eaten raw.

The newly-made oyster reefs are sanctuaries where oysters are left to grow and breed unmolested. Protecting some good reefs makes sense, to help repopulate the bay. Let's hope the early success continues.

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A new day for salmon?

Could it be that political tides are turning in favor of saving salmon? Will we finally muster the political will necessary to reverse habitat loss and restore salmon?

A story in the always-stimulating High Country News suggests that we may finally be ready to do what it takes to help salmon recover.

We already know that salmon restoration is a good investment that will make money.

The bottom line? Idaho does not deserve a government-subsidized seaport, it's too far upstream (435 miles from the ocean) and uphill (738 feet above sea level). Get real, Idaho, and wait for rising sea levels if you really want to have a coastline.

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Rapid recovery of damaged ecosystems

Now there's a title of a scientific paper that makes me sit up and take notice. In this era of doom and gloom, it's nice to hear some good news.

What's behind the title? Let's listen to the authors:

Recent reports on the state of the global environment provide evidence that humankind is inflicting great damage to the very ecosystems that support human livelihoods. The reports further predict that ecosystems will take centuries to recover from damages if they recover at all. Accordingly, there is despair that we are passing on a legacy of irreparable damage to future generations which is entirely inconsistent with principles of sustainability.

We tested the prediction of irreparable harm using a synthesis of recovery times compiled from 240 independent studies reported in the scientific literature. We provide startling evidence that most ecosystems globally can, given human will, recover from very major perturbations on timescales of decades to half-centuries.

Accordingly, we find much hope that humankind can transition to more sustainable use of ecosystems.

Hooray, some validation that optimism is more than just wishful thinking.

hat tip: The Natural Patriot

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Instant river, just add water

The so-called Chelan River works if you add water. See photo (right).

According to the online-only Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

The Chelan County Public Utility District is spending nearly $16 million to restore year-round flow to the Chelan River Gorge, a four-mile stretch of river that tumbles from the dam at the foot of Lake Chelan to the Columbia River, about 400 feet below.

As a test, crews started spilling water Monday into the normally dry river bed. Water pooled near the river's mouth and spilled into a carefully engineered channel with strategically placed boulders, logs and rocks, all to provide new spawning habitat for steelhead and chinook salmon.

"It's one thing to look at the drawings, but when you see how the water actually flows around the boulders and wood structures and riffle, it's another story," biologist Steve Hays, the PUD's fish and wildlife senior adviser, told The Wenatchee World.

It's great to see water put back in a river, and it's truly strange to know that there are rivers around the world that have all their water removed. It's a traveshamockery (a borrowed phrase that means a travesty of a sham of a mockery).

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Recession aids conservation

Thanks to our blessed recession, the Elwha dams will come out a year sooner! Now that's economic pain to die for.

Stimulus money will be used to create dam removal jobs and speed the crumbling, tumbling of this devastating bit of concrete. I know, let's have a recession every year, so we can speed up conservation projects!

Why is this a big deal? As the Seattle Times explains:

Supporters of the Olympic project hope it will restore once-legendary salmon runs destroyed when the Glines Canyon and Elwha dams blocked access to 70 miles of habitat.

Dam removal was approved by Congress in 1993, and demolition had been scheduled for 2009, until rising costs for the $308 million project delayed the start to 2012. With work expected to start in 2011, the dams could be gone by 2013 or 2014.

The new schedule was welcome news to Robert Elofson, natural-resources director for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. The tribe has worked to see the dams removed for 25 years, with an eye toward bringing back salmon that were vital to the tribe.

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Asians banned from the Chesapeake Bay

Asian oysters will not be allowed to populate the Chesapeake Bay, despite declines in native oyster populations.

Is this xenophobic protectionism or smart ecology? Opinions differ.

The native Eastern Oyster, reduced 99% by overfishing and disease, is in trouble despite officials spending many millions of dollars in efforts to bring them back.

Asian oysters were touted as a possible ecological replacement by some, in hopes that they would help filter the water and provide income to watermen who could farm and sell the oysters.

According to the Washington Post:

Today's announcement also marks the end of discussions over the past few weeks, which began with Virginia officials for Asian oyster farms, Maryland officials against them, and the Corps in the middle. A number of federal agencies and environmental groups had also weighed in against the Asian oyster, saying the risk of it escaping and playing havoc in the Chesapeake's battered ecosystem was too high.

Could it be that it's time for ecological replacement therapy in the Chesapeake? Shall we hold out for species purity even where the need for oysters is great and the native species seems unable to mount a comeback? I don't know, but I wonder.

Introduced species are usually a problem, even when well-intentioned. But can we hold out for native species entirely in a warming world in desperate need of ecosystem services like those oysters can provide? I have a feeling this is an issue that will receive more, not less debate in the future.

For now, let's cheer for oyster restoration projects, in the hope that the native Chesapeake oyster will come roaring back.

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Pesticide mixtures hurt salmon

What happens when salmon get a snootfull of toxic chemicals? It's not good, and it's not a big surprise that it's not good. But hey, somebody had to prove it.

This study shows that real world levels of pesticides make it harder for salmon to smell, which is how they find their way home in their miraculous migration.

According to study author Keith Tierney:

"Our results indicate salmon restoration efforts may meet with limited success unless water quality issues are resolved first."

Lest you think this is alarmist bunkum, here's more on how pesticides are bad for salmon.

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French TV comes to US to find bass

A French film crew came to the US to film a special on striped bass fishing. Interesting to them since their sea bass is hurting. Maybe it's the french look, lacking the stripes, that has their sea bass in trouble? Or maybe it's those misplaced French urges that are getting them in trouble (see photo).

Anyway, here's a story from the NY Times that explains how our bass are doing well, and fishermen are vigilant in trying to keep the fish healthy. There was strong medicine doled out in the 80's and it worked, and (almost) everyone wants to keep the success. Invest in success, build a better future (now we're living in the better future that those 1980's regulations invested in), and watch the support emerge for conservation!! YEE-HAW, ya gotta love it.

Oh yeah, one thing to note. If you're ever in Bridgeport, Conn and wanna catch some stripers, stop by Jimmy O's bait and tackle and talk to Jimmy Orifice. He'll set you straight on getting ahold of the big ones.

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Klamath River dams to come down

Blogfish is over the moon, the nasty Klamath River dams are going to come down. PacifiCorp, the owner of the dams, has agreed and the dams should come out in 2020.

There's much to be done, and years to wait. But I think I just might see this river without dams someday.

It's a good day for a fish and river guy.

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A solution for excess CO2?

On the Island of Doubt, blogger James Hrynyshyn waxes enthusiastic about a new approach for getting pesky CO2 out of our atmosphere and chemically locked up in rocks.

I read his blog, and it's not every day that he finds something that rises above his doubt. It's atmosphere restoration.

Wouldn't it be nice to find a relatively easy techno-answer to our carbon dioxide pollution that threatens to acidify our oceans and change our way of life?

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Oyster restoration project

Loss of oysters is bad, and Massachusetts Audubon is trying to fix that at an Audubon sanctuary in Massachusetts (see photo).

Wellfleet Bay might have a few (thousand) more oysters soon, thanks to efforts to build habitat for baby oysters. This is a good project, relying on natural oyster reproduction and using human intervention to replace and restore a missing ecological element--massive mounds of oyster shells that provide a suitable home for baby oysters. Human intervention to replace something that's missing because of us. Makes sense, and it just might work.

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Redfish Lake sockeye salmon success

Is it a good idea to spend $Millions$ on heroic efforts to rescue sockeye salmon in Redfish Lake? I'll admit to being skeptical of the heroic Redfish Lake sockeye rescue program. Just like I was skeptical about the California condor rescue effort.

Well, it's a pleasure to report that Redfish Lake sockeye salmon are doing well this year, and the rescue effort may ultimately prove worthwhile.

I doubted that we'd succeed in maintaining sockeye salmon in Redfish Lake. And, if successful, I thought the remaining fish would be too domesticated. I think results show we can maintain a living sockeye population in Redfish Lake. Now, officials are releasing some to spawn in the wild, and we'll see whether they're too domesticated to survive.

There's still the nasty issue of downstream dams that kill too many fish. This year's good news is not anything close to full recovery for Redfish lake sockeye salmon. But now it looks like we just might have some sockeye around when the dams ultimately come out (dams are not forever).

Intensive care for sockeye salmon is looking good this year at this magnificent lake in the sky (some 900 miles from the ocean at 7,000 feet elevation).

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And the dam came tumbling down...another one

Dams are falling everywhere, this time it's the Merrimack Dam in New Hampshire. This is an old dam, originally built in the 1730s to power industry, including a sawmill, gristmill, and bridge. Now in disrepair and unused, it's a river-harming anachronism and it's gotta go!

Thankfully, it will go. Click here for a live dam cam, and watch the action.

Removal of this dam is good news brought to you by the awesome people at American Rivers, and I don't just say that because they hired me for a few jobs in the mid-90's.

I'm glad to offer some success stories to you pessimists out there. I hope you notice that some things do get better, like rivers that improve when bad old dams are removed. Note that I'm not saying all dams should come out. These dam removal projects are the win-win scenarios that are leading the way for productive removal of harmful dams, and replacement of dam benefits where some benefits remain.

Check out the Milltown Dam in Montana, the Marmot Dam in Oregon, and others including the grandaddy dam removal project for the US, the Elwha Dam in Washington now set to come out in 2009. I can hardly wait.

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First-in-a-century fish success

Who says we can't undo damage done to the environment? Here's a success story.

A 13 inch rainbow trout made history last week. It swam upstream to spawn in the Clark Fork River, past the former site of the Milltown Dam. This is quick success for the restoration project, and it should give hope to everyone that ecosystem restoration can work.

Blogfish brought you the news of the Milltown Dam coming down, and now I'm very pleased to tell you that fish are moving past the old dam site. Go Fish! They're tougher and more resilient than many people think.

image: Fish Eye Guy, one of his amazing collection of photos

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Sandy River runs free, after dammed century

Well folks, it happened last Friday. High flows blew out the last remaing earthworks of the old Marmot Dam, and the Sandy River now runs free once again.

The undamming era took a new step forward; this dam is now GONE. Not huge at 47 feet tall, but significant as it once produced enough power for 12,000 homes. The biggest dam yet removed in Oregon.

We knew this was going to happen, it was all planned. I invite you to take a moment and celebrate un-development for the sake of fish. It CAN and DOES happen. Click here for video of the blessed event.

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If you've ever wanted to blow up a dam

Check out this video. Concrete Marmot dam has been largely removed, and now we await high water (could come as soon as Thursday) to blow out the remaining structures and sediment buildup. The video is a scale model of what's left blowing out in high water.

Dam destruction and it's legal!!

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