Taking (out) the high roads to save the Skokomish

Olympic National Forest

The Skokomish River is sick, experts say, and intensive care is needed for
any hope of recovery.

Part of the problem is the unimaginable quantity of soil, sand and gravel
collapsing from aging logging roads in the Olympic Mountains. The material
washes down numerous tributaries, spills into the South Fork of the
Skokomish River and eventually pushes out into the estuary in southern Hood
Canal.

In some places, the river is essentially filled with gravel. During winter
floods, the Skokomish is mentioned in news reports more frequently than any
other river in the state. During summer months, river flows decline and
sometimes disappear into thick layers of gravel. Fine sediment in the water
further degrades water quality and can suffocate fish.

While experts work on strategies to heal the river, major efforts are under
way to eliminate the sources of stray gravel. That work includes removing
old roads and pulling out culverts before they blow out in a storm.

"This is a watershed in need of a lot of help and repair," said Kathy
O'Halloran, natural resources officer for Olympic National Forest, during an
inspection of work under way this summer.

O'Halloran credits a multitude of organizations, working together as the
Skokomish Watershed Action Team, for keeping the restoration effort on
track.

The Big Dig

One project under construction this summer is nicknamed the "Big Dig."

It involves removing 36,000 cubic yards of earth that completely filled in a
120-foot-deep canyon along a tributary of LeBar Creek. That much material
would fill 3,600 normal-sized dump trucks - although contractor Sam Bickel
is using trucks at least twice that big.

Under two contracts totaling $625,000, work crews are eliminating a section
of LeBar Road, removing a 10-foot culvert at the base of the canyon and
restoring the slope to a more natural condition.

At the time these logging roads were built, high points were blasted or dug
out of mountainsides to maintain a gradual slope. The resulting material was
used to fill in the low points, including canyons where the roads cross
various streams. Despite ongoing efforts to stabilize the fill slopes, the
material often breaks loose during storms and slides into the streams.

More than 1,000 landslides have been linked to roads in the South Fork
watershed.

In last December's deluge alone, more than 20 road segments and several
culverts washed out, sending sediment downstream.

While much gravel has been coming down out of the mountains, changes in the
valley have made the problems worse, according to experts.

Dikes along the lower river and Hood Canal delta have forced the river into
a relatively narrow channel, preventing it from spreading its gravel load
over a larger area.

What should be done to nurse the river back to health is the subject of a
multiyear investigation headed up by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

That investigation, now in its second year, will provide a prescription for
reducing flooding and improving habitat for fish, including three threatened
species.

The Skokomish River, with its 240-square-mile watershed, is the largest
river draining into Hood Canal.

About half the basin lies within Olympic National Forest, with another
one-fifth in Olympic National Park.

Green Diamond Resource Company (formerly Simpson Timber) owns about 15
percent; City of Tacoma, 6 percent; State of Washington, 3 percent; and
Skokomish Tribe, 2 percent.

Under the Shelton Cooperative Sustained Yield Act of 1946, Congress
authorized extensive clearcutting to boost logging jobs in the region.

By 1990, more than half the South Fork watershed had been cut over. The road
density reached nearly 4 miles of road for every square mile of forest - one
of the most extensive road networks in the Northwest.

The Northwest Forest Plan, which called for restoring aquatic ecosystems,
declared the Skokomish a key watershed. Since the early 1990s, about 100
miles of logging roads have been decommissioned, but hundreds of miles
remain.

Recognizing the problem, U.S. Rep.

Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, last year secured $40 million to address Forest
Service roads across the country. About $750,000 of that was directed to
South Fork projects.

Stewardship Programs

To reduce the bleeding of gravel out of the mountains, Olympic National
Forest has switched some of its timber sales to "stewardship" projects.

Most timber sales in the Olympic these days are designed for thinning trees
to promote old-growth conditions. Stewardship projects allow the timber
revenue to be used for restoration rather than going into the national
treasury.

The Skokomish Watershed Action Team developed a three-year plan, which
identified 42 projects it hoped to complete at a cost of about $49 million.

Stewardship projects require that plans be developed in collaboration with a
variety of experts and community groups. The Skokomish Watershed Action
Team, for example, lists 38 participants, including private landowners,
landowner associations, government agencies, environmental and conservation
groups, restoration organizations and the Skokomish Tribe.

The idea of a stewardship project in the Skokomish was first promoted by
Regan Smith of Northwest Ecosystem Alliance, now Conservation Northwest,
according to O'Halloran of the Forest Service.

Later, Mike Anderson of the Wilderness Society became a driving force in
keeping the group together, formulating goals and lobbying congress.

Malcolm "Bob" Dick of the American Forest Resource Council said the team was
able to get past the blame game, which had pitted one group against another,
to begin looking at what could be done in the upper watershed.

"There was a lot of acrimonious finger pointing at first," Dick said, "but
we decided that finger-pointing was not going to solve the problem."

Because of their careful consideration for natural resources, the
stewardship contracts have generated additional dollars from the State
Salmon Recovery Funding Board, Environmental Protection Agency, Rocky
Mountain Elk Fund, Washington Conservation Corps and federal watershed
funds.

The first stewardship contract, called the Flat Stewardship Project, was
signed in 2006.

That project includes 260 acres of thinning, which generated $250,000.

Restoration work included three miles of road decommissioning, such as
removal of unstable material, rebuilding stream crossings, construction of
drainage swales and revegetation with native plants.

The Big Dig is part of this project.

"The group felt so good about what came out of Flat that they wanted to do
more," O'Halloran said. "Pine is one of those areas."

The Pine Stewardship Contract involved 69 acres of thinning, which generated
about $25,000 for road decommissioning. Legacy Roads added $25,000 with
another $10,000 from Forest Service funds. Included in the project is nearly
a mile of trail built along the route of former roads.

Olympic National Forest is now going through an environmental review for
about 31 miles of road restoration in the Church Creek, Brown Creek and
Steel Creek areas. Work could be done next year if funding comes through.

For a discussion about water-related issues, check out the blog Watching
<http://pugetsoundblogs.com/waterways/wp-admin/>  Our Water Ways at
kitsapsun.com.