Recently in Grays Harbor County several state, local and tribal agencies are teaming up to survey and remove creosote-treated pilings from Grays Harbor waterways as part of a $100,000 restoration grant to the Quinault Indian Nation via the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Debris Program.
Project partners are matching the awarded grant with an additional $100,000 for future restoration work and to conduct a survey of Grays Harbor. The survey data will be used to produce a comprehensive map of the area to help prioritize creosote-treated pilings for removal in the future. Using aerial maps, a team of workers set out on the water in late July using GPS software to mark the location of pilings for future removal.
The Grays Harbor County Marine Resources Committee, the Nature Conservancy and the state Department of Natural Resources are working closely with the Quinault Indian Nation on the project. The Natural Resources Department provided the majority of matching funds for the federal grant, along with a $25,000 grant from the Department of Ecology Coastal Protection Fund. Money from that grant is being used for the removal of 160 creosote pilings on Damon Point later this coming week!
Another project well under way with the Quinault Tribe utilizing the same grant funds is to detect and remove derelict fishing gear in Grays Harbor, including nets and crab pots in the mainstream of the Chehalis and Quinault rivers. As Joe Schumacker, Fish Biologist for the Quinault and Grays Harbor MRC board member states, "The health of the Quinault River, Grays Harbor and neighboring watersheds are critical to the Quinault Nation."
In Grays Harbor County, the Chehalis and Humptulips rivers support some of the largest salmon runs in Washington, second only to the Columbia. Schumacker reports that treaty fisheries resources that support the cultural and economic well-being of Quinault tribal members depend upon healthy watersheds and estuaries and these projects will make significant gains toward eliminating hazards to fish and their habitat from chemically treated pilings and lost fishing gear. Both efforts will continue through the fall into early 2012 with great strides already being made since their project start dates late this summer.
