Connecting land, water, people, and wildlife
The Nisqually Land Trust has partnered with Forterra and the Anderson Island Park District to acquire some of the last remaining undeveloped shoreline property along Puget Sound — 17.6 acres that will be added to Jacobs Point Park on Anderson Island, within the Nisqually Reach Aquatic Reserve.
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Pacific Ninebark is one of our favorite native plants to use in restoration projects. It has long trailing branches that create shady nooks along shorelines and in upland forests. Like many species of the Rosaceae family, it has fibrous roots that help stabilize slopes and streambanks. It’s a great nectar source for many insects, including bees and butterflies. And since the bark isn’t very palatable, deer and elk rarely damage it.
It’s also attractive. The blooming season is fairly short – often mid-May to mid-June – but the dome-shaped clusters of small white flowers catch the eye every spring. The flowers develop into papery red fruit with shiny yellow seeds that are released in the fall.
Pacific Ninebark may not grow as fast as the native willows, but it does tolerate a wide variety of conditions. It grows well in sun and shade; and while it grows best in places where soils are moist for part of the year, it tolerates sites that dry out during the summer. Since a mature Pacific ninebark bush may get to be 15 feet tall and 15 feet across, a patch of these shrubs can form a wonderfully dense thicket that provides excellent nesting sites for native birds and shelter for many species.
by Kim Bredensteiner, Nisqually Land Trust Associate Director
When I think of the Middle Reach of the Nisqually River, just upstream of Yelm, I think power and mystery: steep, forested bluffs, wide gravel bars littered with cobbles, river islands that change shape year by year, hidden side channels and expansive floodplain.
The Nisqually Land Trust’s Thurston Ridge Protected Area includes 155 acres and two miles of shoreline along this part of the Nisqually. It protects high-quality salmon habitat, tall bluffs covered with Douglas-fir, side channels where industrious beaver make their homes, and young floodplain forests dominated by red alder and cottonwood.
Twenty-five years ago, landowners who’d planned to build cabins along this stretch of the river found that the river had other plans. The Nisqually migrates powerfully through this area, and what was once the main channel suddenly became a side-channel along the toe of the bluff.
Shortly thereafter, we acquired two properties in the Thurston Ridge Protected Area – one purchased, one donated. Both are in the river’s floodplain and are sometimes underwater during high flows. Over time it is likely that the river will move back across the floodplain and reoccupy that side-channel. Protecting these properties, and the rest of the Thurston Ridge Protected Area, ensures that this natural channel-migration process can happen.
Our thanks to the supporters who helped fund these early protection projects and the landowners who partnered with the Land Trust. Twenty-five years later, we see the fruits of those efforts in a natural, free-flowing river. And the Nisqually Land Trust continues to focus on protection of the Nisqually River floodplain.
By Katie Kirdahy, Volunteer Coordinator
Dan Miszewski was at Yelm Cinemas one day in 2015 when he saw
an ad for the Nisqually Land Trust. He’d been a longtime volunteer with the 
Washington Trails Association and Mount Rainier National Park Associates, but he was looking for something closer to home. He began coming to our weekly work parties, and after a few months he joined our Site Steward program and “adopted” our Lower Reach Protected Area, on the Nisqually River near Yelm.
The Lower Reach hasn’t been the same since.
Dan turned out to be hardworking and a bunch of fun. Site stewards are responsible mainly for monitoring their properties, but Dan has gone well beyond that. He’s accelerated habitat restoration, spending over sixty hours caring for his site last year alone.
The Lower Reach has long had issues with dumping, camping, vehicle trespass, firewood robbery, and Scotch broom infestation. Dan tackled them head on. He cleaned up dumpsites and planted ferns and scattered logs to disguise and obstruct old four-wheeling paths. Over the winter, he also planted more than one hundred salvaged trees.
When Dan isn’t planting he’s pulling Scotch broom and generally keeping a watchful eye on this riparian forest and its shoreline, which provides high-quality habitat for all five species of native Pacific salmon. And Dan’s site-visit reports are funny and positive, showing his connection to the outdoors: “Nature is very much reclaiming the place, the two side roads are just covered with wild grass and flowers.”
Thanks to Dan for all he’s done for the Land Trust. His work has been invaluable and we hope he sticks around for a while!
by Charly Kearns, Land Steward
Western bluebirds are now a common sight at the Land Trust’s Powell Creek Pastures property, along the Nisqually River. It’s always a joy to see them hunting for insects or perched on fence posts. They are a cavity-nesting species but are unable to create their own nests, so they rely on woodpeckers, tree rot, and humans to create safe places to lay eggs. Volunteers have helped us install dozens of birdhouses throughout the Pastures property, and we have watched bluebirds successfully fledge multiple generations of young.
Bluebirds prefer open woodlands, like the Pastures, but are found in different habitats throughout the western United States. In summer, they primarily eat terrestrial insects, like caterpillars, pill bugs, and grasshoppers. In winter, they largely depend on seeds and hard berries. And, though stable, Western bluebird populations do face risks: habitat loss from development and extensive logging, loss of openings due to fire suppression, removal of dead trees, and invasive species, such as European starlings and feral cats.
Bluebirds have a fascinating and unusual family dynamic. Nesting pairs may allow some sons to remain within their defended territory but will cast out most daughters. The stay-at-home sons may try to mate with outcast daughters from neighboring territories and eventually create their own territory. However, some sons may not mate at all, and instead stay within their parents’ domain and help care for offspring. This cooperative breeding strategy significantly increases the survival rate of fledglings.
Henry David Thoreau wrote that “the bluebird carries the sky on his back.” This is actually closer to the truth than you might think. The color blue is rare in nature, especially in the animal world. In fact, the only vertebrate known to actually produce a blue pigment is a group of fish. All other blue-colored vertebrates get their color from structural elements. In bluebirds (and most blue feathers), this is accomplished by tiny air pockets within the barbs of feathers, which scatter light, reflecting only blue wavelengths.
These somewhat common birds are anything but ordinary, and we love providing them with a home!
The Land Trust recently added two more highly prized
properties to its acquisitions along the
Whitewater Reach of the Nisqually River, near Yelm, which is rated highest priority for protection in both the Nisqually Chinook Salmon Recovery Plan and the Nisqually Steelhead Recovery Plan.
The properties total twenty acres and just over one-third mile of shoreline, and they provide spawning and rearing habitat for all five Pacific salmonid species native to the Nisqually Watershed, including Chinook, coho, chum, and pink salmon and steelhead trout. Both Chinook and steelhead are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
In addition, the purchase of one of the properties completes the goal of securing land for the potential extension of the Yelm-Tenino Trail all the way to, and possibly across, the Nisqually River. The property and one purchased in 2016 bookend railroad tracks, owned by the city of Yelm, that cross the river and run to Roy, in Pierce County. The track and its trestle could be converted to a pedestrian and bike crossing, which would be the first on the Nisqually River.
“It’s a bold vision,” said Land Trust Outreach Coordinator Cris Peck, who will work with Yelm on planning for the potential project, “but it’s an inspiring one. The Yelm-Tenino Trail already connects with the Chehalis Western-Woodard Bay Trail in Thurston County. If we can extend it across the river to Roy, and connect the Thurston County network with the planned Pierce County trail network, we’ll have a regional jewel.”
The two new property acquisitions, and a third completed in 2016 are part of a combined project funded by Thurston County Conservation Futures and the Washington Salmon Recovery Funding Board. Total cost for the three properties was $490,000.
The two new properties are undeveloped, with largely intact shoreline, forest, and wetland habitat. “Acquiring high-quality habitat while it’s still healthy – before it has to be restored – is unquestionably the most cost-efficient strategy for salmon recovery,” said Land Trust Executive Director Joe Kane.
All three properties will be managed as part of the Land Trust’s Yelm Shoreline Protected Area, expanding it to 227 acres and 2.79 shoreline miles.
Wildlife monitoring equipment installation in the Ohop. Photo: Nisqually Indian Tribe Natural Resources Department
(Source: 2016 Summer Newsletter, page 14)
by Cris Peck
I like to call our stewardship work “habitat farming” – we protect, maintain and enhance habitat for wildlife, and one of our “yields” is increased wildlife populations. We’re elated when we learn about salmon, beaver, caddisflies, coyote, birds, elk, and bear on our properties. They’re all indicators of good habitat quality and connectivity.
The Lower Ohop Valley is a perfect example. Our restoration project there is massive, with a dozen partners helping to re-meander the creek and reforest the floodplain. The project was designed to benefit salmon, particularly Chinook and steelhead trout, but the fast-growing plantings and reconnected floodplain are providing habitat for amphibians and dozens of bird species. The valley is now home to a robust elk herd, and we’ve heard reports of a resident black bear for the first time in over 30 years!
We know much of what we know because we’re lucky to have volunteers and partner organizations that help collect wildlife data through citizen science and wildlife surveys. To help keep “common species common,” Northwest Trek, the wildlife park near Eatonville, brings volunteers to Land Trust properties, including the Ohop, to observe and record evidence and sightings of the critters using our lands, from stream bugs to big mammals. Volunteers from the park also conduct seasonal amphibian egg mass surveys in the Ohop. This ongoing monitoring helps quantify general habitat quality and tracks changes over time.
Furthermore, over the past two years, the Nisqually Indian Tribe has worked with consulting biologists to survey wildlife in the Lower Ohop floodplain. They installed nine cameras that captured images of elk herds, coyotes, deer, and even beavers! In addition, the cameras observed 55 bird species, including first-time documentations of black-headed grosbeak, hooded merganser, northern harrier, sharp-shinned hawk, and western tanager.
Like people of all ages and backgrounds, I often become captivated for a few short moments by the presence of a wild animal, whether a tiny insect or a large mammal. The idea that future generations will have the opportunity to experience this sense of awe is a cornerstone of why we’re dedicated to land protection and habitat restoration in this beautiful watershed.
A sampling of the 196 species documented in the Ohop Creek Restoration wildlife surveys conducted by the Nisqually Indian Tribe Natural Resources Department and ICF International. Wildlife cameras caught, left to right: Roosevelt elk, northern flicker and coyote. (Photo: Nisqually Indian Tribe & ICF International)
(Source: 2016 Summer Newsletter, page 10)
George Walter retires from the Board of Directors
George, at the beginning of it all, circa 1989.
George Walter, who founded the Land Trust in 1989 and served as its president from 1989-2012, retired from the Board of Directors in May after almost three decades of service.
We’re happy to report that George will continue to chair our Lands Committee, which coordinates acquisition and stewardship of the Land Trust’s properties. It is difficult to capture the profound impact George has had on conservation in the Nisqually Watershed. During his tenure with the Land Trust, we have permanently protected over 5,000 acres of wildlife habitat.
That alone is a tremendous legacy. But as a long-time employee of the Nisqually Indian Tribe’s Natural Resources Department, as a former chair of the Nisqually River Council, and as the close ally and confidante of the late Nisqually leader Billy Frank Jr., George has played an even larger role.
In 1980, when George helped draft the plan to restore and manage the Nisqually Watershed, only 3 percent of the Nisqually River shoreline was protected. Today, 78 percent of the shoreline enjoys permanent conservation status, making the Nisqually one of the most well-protected rivers in the state.
George has been at the center of achieving that remarkable progress, which the Puget Sound Partnership recognized in 2012, when it gave George its Lifetime Achievement Award.
We are immensely grateful for his leadership, his friendship, his inspiration, and his passionate commitment to our mission. Thank you, George!
Farewell Friends
Welcome Aboard!
Mike Ryherd holds the certificate verifying that he and his wife, Anne, were the winning bidders for 25 carbon credits at the Land Trust’s annual auction.
The Ryherds’ credits are the first ever to be retired to offset the carbon emissions of private individuals in South Puget Sound. They are the equivalent of approximately one-half of an average local household’s annual carbon emissions.
(Source: Summer 2016 Newsletter, page 3)
Equivalent of taking 6,000 cars off the road
The Land Trust and Microsoft have made national news and local history by completing the state’s first-ever “carbon credit” transaction.
News of the deal made the Seattle Times, the New York Times, the Tacoma News-Tribune, the Olympian, radio stations KPLU and KUOW, and over a hundred other media outlets nationwide.
To simplify, as part of its voluntary $20 million-a-year initiative to offset 100 percent of its carbon emissions worldwide, Microsoft has paid the Land Trust for carbon stored on a 520-acre property within our Mount Rainier Gateway Reserve, near Ashford.
As trees grow, they pull, or “sequester,” carbon pollution from the atmosphere and help reduce the impacts of climate change. The amount of carbon and the rate at which the Land Trust’s trees are sequestering it has been verified under California’s rigorous cap-and-trade program, the country’s only regulated carbon-credit program.
Microsoft purchased 35,000 carbon credits, the equivalent of taking 6,000 cars off the road. If we had not acquired the property and eliminated commercial harvest of the trees, much of that carbon would have been released into the atmosphere.
“This is a game changer,” said Land Trust Executive Director Joe Kane. “There are 28 land trusts in the state, and we all face a common problem: How are we going to finance stewardship of our conservation properties over the long haul?
“The carbon market might hold an answer. As these trees grow, they’ll continue to generate new credits. Potentially, we have a perpetual stewardship fund.”
The forest Microsoft has invested in provides habitat for at least fifteen different wildlife species, including marbled murrelets and northern spotted owls, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
However, Kane said, the project was a “big gamble. It took over two years and was enormously expensive for us, with no guarantee of success.
“But the carbon-credit model holds huge potential for the climate, for our forests, and for land trusts. Somebody had to step up. We consider it our job to be a conservation innovator, so we gave ourselves the assignment.”
As trees grow, they pull, or “sequester,” carbon pollution from the atmosphere and help reduce the impacts of climate change.
The Washington Environmental Council (WEC) partnered with the Land Trust. WEC’s Paula Swedeen, one of the nation’s leading authorities on carbon markets, was the project’s lead developer.
“It was a rigorous process,” she said. “But it has to be. California companies are legally required to meet emissions standards, and there can’t be any question about what work the forest is doing. The data has to be rock-solid.”
Meanwhile, she said, WEC wanted to demonstrate to other Washington businesses that a carbon project can be done. “We wanted to pair carbon financing with forest conservation right here at home.”
This is the first time a business has purchased credits in Washington State. “Microsoft has set an example,” Kane said. “And this is a carbon project you can walk around on. How cool is that?”
Additional Information (9/29/16): Check out the Washington Environmental Council video about the project.