thriftstore glasses and barbed wire

Snipping wire for otter snares is generally precluded with a sigh and grimacing face - not because it's ridiculously challenging, it's just really tedious...Fortunately Kurt, the lead scientist/otter guru, was pleasantly surprised by the number of complete snares, meaning fewer untampered snares that we "get" to clip. Because it's a very awkward, abrasive task, I can't really do it inside our house (nothing like stabbing yourself with a random wire chunk to reinforce that minor detail) - so, much to the entertainment of our neighbors, I've moved a table out onto our front porch and have set up a little wire snipping sweatshop if you will - and the best part is the pair of mildly magnified reading glasses I snagged at Goodwill that I use as safety glasses; for $.39 I can handle the headache that sets in after an hour -it's a good timer for breaks.

Next week is the beginning of the wildlife's work with 2 very cool park technicians - it sounds like more trekking through the Elwha looking for otter latrines and eventually setting up the beloved snares.

The hydrology group is currently the in the midst of data interpretation madness as we prepare for a snow conference coming up in April, meaning my best friend Excel and I will be spending lots of time together in the next few weeks, thankfully I've got some good wine on hand...

Otter Photoshoot!

After working a few days with Kim, we saw our first legitimate otter last week, basking in the sun on one particular log near the State Salmon Spawning Channel (yep, it's that easy...). Our work has consisted of bushwacking along the side channels of the Elwha, looking for signs of otter latrines - silvery/white blobs of goop and fish bones. The latrines act as a communication center and are often used by multiple otters but locations change with seasonal changes. I'm currently gathering information/previous research related to the influence that changes in streamflow and tidal fluxes have on the relative use and placement of these latrines.

According to Kim, otters usually live in small groups and may gather in larger numbers for social gatherings. After identifying the most heavily used latrines for the season, we can set painless snares that collect otter hair as the animal moves through the snare (a barbed wire contraption held together by a paperclip). This hair is then used for DNA analysis to determine the size of otter communities, looking for repetitious DNA indicative of the "locals". This abundance estimate will be compared to numbers following the dam removal as well as looking at the transfer of marine derived nutrients (if salmon return in the upper reaches).

The hydrology group is continuing to work on our designated snow courses for the Dungeness. Apparently we have a new course on Deer Ridge that is ridiculously beautiful and a wonderful little hike in - I look forward to participating in that one soon!

Adopt a dog?

Well, the last few weeks have been awesome with regards to outdoor field work...

The wildlife project has officially started as I'm working with a wildlife biologist for the Lower Elwha Tribe. Kim (the biologist) has several different projects on her plate, but currently we're looking for otter latrines on the side channels of the Elwha. We throw our waders and backpacks on, and try to stay as dry as possible. There's a potential for some canoe action soon due to the high water levels and extensive bush-wacking needed for some parts of the river (I'll be crossing my fingers for that one!). The focus of this project is to get some idea of the resident otter population in the area by extracting DNA material from hair and scat. The population numbers will be compared to those following the dam removal to see how otters are impacted by extensive river changes and their influence on the survivability rate of spawning salmon.

Meanwhile, the hydrology project has been very entertaining. We've had gorgeous weather (knock on wood) while trekking around the Dungeness. On our last outing near "the Lounge", Dwight and I heard what we thought were coyotes. However, as we came around the bend, we discovered a hound dog with some odd tracking device-collar thing...of course, I immediately wanted to stop and see what the deal was as we had not seen anyone the entire day. After coaxing the dog over towards the Jeep, I noticed he was really thin and had some foot issues (no bare ground up there). Thankfully Dwight let me put the dog in the back seat and agreed to drive down to cell service. About 3/4 mile from the first dog pick-up, we found another dog in the exact same condition. She jumped into the Jeep after seeing her friend in the back seat, and we continued our journey down the road. In the end, we contacted the owners who said they were part of a "coon dog" group (8 total). Apparently, they release the racoon-chasing dogs in all directions over a wide area. Once the racoon is treed, the dog is expected to stay at the tree, barking until the owner finds him/her. The owner spoke as though it's completely normal to have a dog out for a few days before they find it...while I won't get into the ethics of this activity, I will say I was disappointed and for just a second thought I may be surprising Ben and Chris with 2 lovely dogs (I know we could have made it work!)...

2008's Arrival

Chris and I trekking towards BoJo

Dwight and I with the official snow tube and funky GPS antenna

2008 has officially begun with the start of Winter quarter - let the snow activities begin! Just before I left to go home for the holiday, we hydrology folks (Gus, Chris, Shae, Shaelee, Dwight, and myself) learned the insider's knowledge regarding snow sampling from NRCS representatives. Yesterday Chris, Dwight, and I went back out to start the official collection season - it was a ridiculously gorgeous day up the Dungeness and despite a few minor initial issues (like my inability to appropriately secure tire chains and the go-getter purple jeep getting lodged into the ditch...) we had a wonderful time absorbing the sunshine and stellar views. We measured the snowpack pack at BoJo (the uppermost site on the eastside of the Dungeness) and the Lounge (an open bog-like area with a random lawn chair adorning it's edge). Plenty of snow to trip, stumble, and get stuck in up at BoJo and the chair survived the holiday at the Lounge. The lowermost site on the eastside had no snow, and due to time constraints we didn't measure any of the sites on the westside. Yesterday was truly lovely!

My wildlife adventures will be starting up soon as I have made plans to accompany a biologist in her otter and elk expeditions - not totally sure what that means, but I'm looking forward to trekking out in Elwha country and continuing the learning trend...

Winter Floods

While we haven't received the snow I'm still hoping for, the Elwha has definitely been busy, as it has had the highest flow over the past two weeks since ~1949ish, and it was an impressive show. A few visiting friends and I trekked through parts of the Whiskey Bend trail yesterday and saw this giant tree with a gnarly rootwad hinged on Goblin's Gate atleast 15 feet in the air (lower picture). A little further upriver, the trial was completely gone, atleast 10 feet of bank had been eaten up during the storm - which meant we had a little off-trail adventure up to the historical "Michael's Cabin" site. Needless to say, the storms were hugely influential as the Elwha illustrates and the whole scene is very humbling to observe, powerful dynamics at work...next time I hope to have a front row seat!

Rain, Snow and Sunshine

In true winter fashion, we here in PA received our first snow on December 1st and I loved it! Unfortunately, it didn't last too long as now we're snowless but the downpour of rain is going strong... I'm excited to see what kind of truly "winter weather" we will get here, let the snow fall down!

Currently, my actual research involvement is very slim; the hydrology project is beginning but my farm work schedule has conflicted with the outings, so I haven't done any actual research-related work in quite a while, but next week we're doing an NRCS snowpack data training which will clue me back into the project. Meanwhile, the mysterious wildlife group has yet to materialize - I'm not quite sure what to expect in that realm, but I'm guessing it has do with working in the appropriate season for data collection (and apparently it's not the Fall!).

So, as for now, I'm really enjoying my work at the farm and look forward to all of the snowy adventures (hopefully) that come our way here on the Peninsula.

Actual removal or perpetual postponement?

Glines Canyon Dam

Lower Elwha Dam

Recently a lot of folks have asked if I sincerely believe the Elwha Dams will be removed in 2013 like they are tenatively planned for currently...and I honestly have to approach the question with some of my own hesitancy because of the Elwha's outstanding record of pushing back the removal date for a wide range of reasons - last year the removal date was postponed from 2009 to 2013 because a water treatment plant needed to be relocated and construction contracts had yet to be determined...that has apparently been resolved and 2013 is the most recent proposal for demolition...

A friend just sent me an article from the Lewiston Tribune (Idaho) entitled "Officials say fish are not jeopardized by dam plans" (http://www.wildsalmon.org/pressroom/press-detail.cfm?docid=720). Revolving around the controversy of a very weak potential to consider dam removal for the Snake River and and even more benign consideration of the Columbia River dams, NOAA fisheries conducted a biological opinion that dam operations on these rivers do not jeopardize fish survival for 13 listed fish species (salmon and steelhead), given that the dams include 73 additional actions "costing hundreds of millions of dollars intended to protect the fish and lay the groundwork for their recovery." These additional actions include extra spill water time, improved riverine habitat and enhancing fish passage systems. According to a regional administrator for NOAA, dam breaching is not included in these actions because "removal of dams is not under authority of the federal action agencies." Maybe I'm confused here, but isn't the Elwha dam breaching project headed by federal agencies?

While there are no fish passage systems on either of the Elwha Dams, I know the option of retrofitting the dams was proposed as a possible option in response to anadromous fish concerns. Unlike the Columbia, where I can understand some of the concerns related to the "threatening" general discussions regarding dam breaching, the Elwha seems like a perfect small-scale area to remove the dams and see if anadromous fish numbers will really repopulate and thrive like the most optimistic forecasts suggest.

If action continues to be halted by repetitious litigation and loopholes, the Elwha will remain a stalemate instead of a model to either support or disprove great uncertainty regarding endangered fish populations. The uncertainty can dissipate and be applied to larger scale systems like the Snake or even the Columbia, so why not? Therefore, in response to questions of the likelihood of actual Elwha dam removal, I remain skeptically optimistic (oh yes, it does exist) that when the removal actually happens, we can eliminate some of the uncertainty that is bogging down the progress of other projects, whether that be to include 73 additional actions or consider dam breaching as a viable option.