FY22 JSKT Dungeness Salmonid Recovery and Riparian Habitat Restoration Planning and Coordination

JSTs habitat and environmental planning programs will continue to develop and assist partners on projects that advance the conservation/restoration of ESA-listed salmon habitat iithin our U&A. Tasks are organized by Worksite and Worktype below. [Note: Est. start date JST Worksite: 7/1/24; Est. start date PNPTC Worksite:1/1/24]

[Worksite: JST NR Offices]
1) Planning necessary in designing riparian, floodplain, in-stream, and nearshore habitat restoration/protection projects benefitting ESA-listed salmon species:
Staff will continue to plan/coordinate floodplain/riparian restoration/conservation projects, as proposed in JSTs “Recommended Land Protection Strategies for the Dungeness River Riparian Area (2003 & 2017). Key elements of the plans include fee-simple land acquisitions to both permanently conserve high value riparian/floodplain habitats and allow for needed restoration of those that are degraded. The land acquisitions include landowner contacts, due diligence, coordinating cultural/environmental assessments, etc. Staff will plan/coordinate on the following types of measures to treat degraded habitats: riparian reforestation, logjam installs, side-channel creation, and removal or relocation of bulkheads, dikes, and other anthropogenic structures. In cases of reach-scale degradation, more intensive restoration may be required.
[Worktype: Coordination on implementing recovery plan] [Note: This task covers planning aspects of Project ID 2022-JSKT-04, and may include staff involvement on Engineering/Permitting]

This task may also include professional services related to obtaining aerial images and/or orthophotography for use in planning restoration projects and assessing riparian habitat changes over time.
[Worktype: Habitat survey/use of remote sensing] [Note: This task may also cover planning aspects of Project ID 2022-JSKT-04]

2) Providing tech assistance to partners designing/implementing riparian, floodplain, in-stream, nearshore habitat projects benefitting ESA-listed salmon species:
Tech assistance to restoration groups will target key factors limiting salmonid productivity, including low flows, undesirable channel morphology, and other habitat impairments. Planning may also support nearshore habitat conservation/restoration. Examples include drift cell protection for conservation of important accretionary landforms such as Dungeness, Gibson, and Travis Spits, along with the Sequim Bay drift cell complex and the Dungeness River Estuary.
[Worktype: Evaluation/analyses of restoration projects]

3) Coordinating activities related to advancing ESA-listed salmonid recovery/watershed restoration and considering climate change.
a) JST will continue to co-lead our watershed council or project meetings, evaluate salmon recovery projects, and coordinate projects/strategies or mitigation to address climate resiliency for salmon/water supplies.
[Worktypes: Coordination on implementing Chinook/Steelhead Recovery Plans; Evaluation/analyses of restoration projects.]

[Worksite: Point-No-Point Treaty Council Offices]
b) This task also includes salmon recovery planning/assessment activities appointed by JST to PNPTC. PNPTC efforts will extend our salmonid recovery capacity by: 1) assisting in riparian salmonid habitat protection/restoration planning; 2) refining/implementing the ESA-listed PS Steelhead Recovery Plan and implementing Hood Canal/Strait of Juan de Fuca Summer Chum Salmon Recovery Plan through adaptive management; 3) designing projects addressing factors limiting the productivity/viability of ESA-listed Pacific anadromous salmonids, 4) using climate-related streamflow/stream temp models to identify vulnerabilities to salmon habitat; and, 5) participating in other recovery forums, processes, initiatives focused on improving salmonid productivity/viability in the region.
[Worktypes: Coordination on implementing Recovery Plan (Chinook, S

This project continues to provide capacity support so that the Tribe’s Habitat Program and Environmental Planning Program staff may continue habitat restoration planning efforts largely aimed at riparian and floodplain restoration. Floodplain reconnection is the Tribe’s (as well as the Dungeness River Management Team’s) highest priority for increasing salmonid spawning and rearing habitat, and for reducing the potential for high flood events to scour salmon redds, projected to be more frequent with climate change, particularly in river reaches constrained by hard armoring or dikes. Treaty Council efforts allow us to extend our planning and coordinating capacity to regional efforts.

Targeted ESU or species –
Species of particular concern include ESA-listed: Puget Sound Chinook, Puget Sound steelhead and Hood Canal and Eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca summer chum; plus, pink salmon, and bull trout (char).