Hi folks,

I attended the meeting in Lacey last night that addressed the recent =
discussions about restoring a portion of the Nisqually NWR "freshwater =
impoundment" to tidal influence.

As most Tweeters are aware, with the two "500-year" floods this winter, =
the Nisqually River dike was breached in several places, the river =
flooded 95%-plus of the place, and the tides washed in and out. Local =
wetland bio Steve Shanewise (sp?) read an article about FWS estimates to =
'repair the damage' of $5 millions and went somewhat ballistic, wrote a =
letter to the daily Zero (Olympian) castigating the Service for wasting =
lots of money to patch the dike again - when the River will obviously =
just blow it out in the next 500-year flood that comes in the next 20 =
years. He also noted that estuary habitat is at a Premium here in Puget =
Sound country, that there's a greater species diversity in salt marsh, =
the benefits to wildlife and fish (salmon!) populations, etc etc..

Anyway, local Audubon outfits and the Nisqually Delta Association put =
this meeting together to hear from some of the people concerned, and =
about 45 (?) turned out. Including the Refuge Biologist and the new =
Deputy Manager, Jean Takekawa. Jean is new to Nisqually, being a =
transplant from California. But, before the "Natives" take a crack at =
that, please be aware that she's got *lots* of experience and expertise =
in salt marsh restoration brought here from her last job at San =
Francisco Bay NWR. =20

Steve brought a rudimentary draft of an idea for broaching the River =
dike and the northern portion of the dike in a few places, and =
establishing a low-head dike/walking trail/service road that would block =
out the northern-most 400 acres or so, and permit tidal flow to be =
re-established. His plan would *add* to the miles of trails on the =
Refuge, create a real wildlife *sanctuary* within the place, reconnect =
existing remnant surface flow channels north of the 'new' interior dike, =
and create a roost site for shorebirds at high tide.

Several folks at the meeting expressed concerns that the refuge is =
currently used by lots of people who think that its current status is a =
better use - that the hawthorns and Himalaya blackberry brambles in the =
abandoned pastures are great habitat for migrants, wintering birds, and =
that the semi-abandoned fields are such great waterfowl and heron =
habitat. Also there was concerns about losing one of the best walking =
trails in the south Puget Sound lowlands, or of having Puget Sound =
washing up against the Interstate Five fill. =20

Personally, I'm in favor of whatever it might take to return as much of =
the Nisqually Delta to tidal flow as is possible. The basics of Steve's =
proposal would restore about 400 acres of the refuge to tidal influence, =
and one of the most important wildlife and fish habitats available would =
be restored. The proposal would increase the amount of trails for the =
footloose. It's my humble opinion that wildlife abundance and diversity =
would be increased with salt marsh restoration. Steve also noted the =
potential benefits to the hydrologic system of having places where the =
river could flow into its old channels during floods - rather than =
backing up at bottle-necks in the current dike system and increasing the =
flooding in the lower River valley (I'm not an engineer, but it doesn't =
take a rocket scientist to realize that the current dike system just =
flat isn't going to *contain* the Nisqually... she'll blow it out every =
time we have a flood like this past winter's).

The Refuge folks rightly pointed out that there's an incredible Process =
involved in getting something like this accomplished. The overall =
Refuge Management Plan will have to be amended. The NEPA process will =
have to be followed, with Environmental Assessments, public meetings, =
studies, and a range of options (am I the only one that gets kind of =
miffed with the Alternative 1-2-3-4-5 and "No Change Option" =
format??...) Then, funding will have to be found (and Nisqually flood =
repair costs are sucking funds from other Refuges right now, when the =
Newt-led Government is paring away funds for even the most basic FWS =
operations).

Several people were worried that, if the FWS spends hundreds of =
thousands of dollars repairing the dike breaches today, will they be =
willing to rip it out in a couple years to restore tidal flow and permit =
river overflow into the old flood channels? We didn't really get an =
answer to that one. In any event, I was glad the Refuge personnel came =
out to tell us what was going on on the place and to listen to the =
locals. Some of the best news is that they anticipate re-opening the =
Refuge and the trails in early May (I hope I have that right).

Linda Carpenter was going to see about getting Steve's proposal into the =
next copy of the Echo (Black Hills Audubon rag). Stay tuned. There'll =
be more to come, I'm sure.=20

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net