Chehalis Basin Aquatic Species Plan Expands Scope

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The Chehalis Basin Board’s finalized Aquatic Species Restoration Plan (ASRP) likely won’t be available for a few months, but a meeting Thursday provided a sneak peak into the basin-wide approach to save dwindling salmon populations and amphibians. The most notable change in plans includes an expansion in how much of the basin will be targeted — 555 miles instead of 450 miles of river will be addressed, and 16,500 acres of floodplain will be added, including estuaries in Grays Harbor County deemed critical to salmon.

As the board prepares to shift from the planning stage to more aggressive implementation, the ASRP sets out a 30 year timeline, the first 10 of which require a steep financial climb. Overall, it’s estimated to cost anywhere from $610 million to $1.3 billion, averaging $60 to $61 million per biennium, according to Emelie McKain, WDFW environmental planner and ASRP project manager. The ASRP received a few million dollars from the state last June, but it’s nowhere near what the board will have to request from the state. 

“I know the numbers are shocking … just be aware that we may have to do some real pushing for funding,” Dave Bingaman, Natural Resources Director for the Quinault Indian Nation, said. “We all know the revenue in the state will be squeezed.” 

But McKain said the funds are necessary to do exactly what the state legislature tasked the board to do: “aggressively pursue implementation” of aquatic species restoration in the Chehalis River Basin. The ASRP focuses on unique and critical habitat zones, including some tributaries that serve as the last stronghold for the threatened Oregon spotted frog.

“I’ll acknowledge the scientific near-term goal is lofty,” she said. “An aggressive pace of implementation is needed to have the best chance of positive change.”

According to the board’s projections, fall chinook salmon could fall to less than half the current basin-wide numbers by the latter half of the century if no action is taken. 

Colleen Suter, the environmental programs manager for Chehalis Tribe, expressed support for what was characterized as an aggressive plan. 

“I think that we’re doing the absolute best that we can to make the recommendations to move forward and not just stop the bleeding, but try and move the whole basin in a more productive direction when it comes to our natural resources,” she said. “I feel very confident with the way the ASRP is moving.”

Those who are helping develop the basin-wide strategy have compared the approach to refurbishing a run-down hotel. Revamping specific respawning areas will make it easier for salmon to reproduce and promote genetic diversity, the benefits of which will literally flow downstream and benefit the whole basin. 

But not everyone agreed with the approach on Thursday. Jay Gordon, a member of the Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority, argued that habitat restoration can only help so much if salmon populations reach dangerously low levels. 



“We can build all the rooms in the hotel, but if there’s nobody coming back to the hotel rooms, we did it for naught,” Gordon said. “I’ve been on the soap box before and I’m getting really frustrated that we’re facing a firestorm here and all I’m hearing about is habitat.”

Gordon pushed for the board to focus on “the other legs of the stool,” including predation or fish harvesting in the Pacific — issues he said may need to be addressed at a state-wide or even international level. 

Some members concurred, but emphasized that habitat restoration is an important piece of the puzzle. 

“This is what we have the ability to affect right now, at least in the short-term,” WDFW habitat restoration division manager Nicole Czarnomsk said. “But we can continue to work and find those intersections with different programs, and that’s the direction the ASRP is going … it’s definitely not something we’re ignoring.”

As the board finalizes the ASRP, a critical step will be coordinating with landowners. According to Brandon Parsons, an associate director for American Rivers who is involved with the ASRP, about 80 percent of the plan’s identified habitat is on private land.

Those collaborations with landowners are already going into effect through the Chehalis Lead Entity, which falls under the state’s Recreation and Conservation Office and has been facilitating restoration projects for two decades. The Chehalis Basin Board works closely with the entity, which receives stable state and federal funds, according to Watershed Coordinator Kirsten Harma. On Thursday, they put out a call for restoration project proposals through their “salmon grant” program.

Harma said the Chehalis Lead Entity is preparing to work closely with the board to ramp up restoration efforts through the ASRP. 

And although the board is faced with a heavy lift in the coming months and years, Parsons pointed to case studies in other states that were successful in rapid habitat restoration. In Colorado, for example, after a major 2013 flood, Parsons said 65 miles of river was restored and 700 landowners engaged in five years.

“That’s about the same pace that the ASRP needs to accomplish,” he said, noting that front-end collaboration expedited implementation. “Chehalis is ahead of the game. We’ve done a lot of this work, but it’s so essential that we continue that and we work with landowners.”