Habitat Management and Restoration

Quinault Department of Fisheries is responsible for developing science-based plans to protect and expand the fisheries of the Quinault Indian Nation throughout the Quinault U&A. This work includes activity as the Lead Entity in the Washington Salmon Recovery Program for Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 21, and participation in the Chehalis Strategy for WRIAs 22 and 23.  The Lead Entity develops prioritized lists of salmon habitat recovery projects for each funding cycle for WRIA 21 that have local community support. Development of recovery projects requires collaboration among tribal, federal, state, and local government agencies as well as non-governmental organizations, commercial and small forest landowners, and private landowners.

The Chehalis Strategy was created by the Washington state legislature in response to the 2007 floods in the Chehalis watershed. It is a dual-focus program that looks at reducing flood damage and recovering aquatic species. QIN and the Quinault Division of Natural Resources are heavily involved in the Chehalis Strategy, including, among others, staff from both Department of Fisheries and Department of Environmental Protection (QDEP). QDFi staff is involved in development and implementation of an Aquatic Species Restoration Plan (ASRP), including guidance of the overall program, reviewing restoration projects prior to funding, and monitoring the flood damage reduction actions to avoid any harm to salmon and/or conflict with the ASRP.

Watershed Restoration

Watershed restoration is a key component of many habitat management plans and endangered fish species recovery efforts. The most essential component of the Quinault Indian Nation’s Salmon Recovery Initiative, established in 2006 by the Quinault Business Committee, is the Upper Quinault River Restoration Program. With the objective of protecting and restoring floodplain conifer forest habitat for the native Blueback Sockeye and other salmon species, engineered logjams (ELJs) are a key component of the restoration program. ELJs create side channels that provide spawning habitat, create deep pools that help maintain cooler water temperatures, and create and protect forested islands in the river channel.

In the Chehalis Basin, the ASRP mentioned above is a watershed-wide restoration program for the basin, and while it does encompass the entire watershed, its initial focus is on spring Chinook production areas and other areas with historically high salmon production.

Other Restoration Activities

One of the other major restoration programs includes the statewide repair of barrier culverts owned by Washington State.  This program is the result of legal actions by the tribes under US v Washington Phase II, and it resulted in a Federal court ruling instructing the State to correct its anadromous fish passage barriers.  The lawsuit was filed in 2001 with the initial ruling favorable to the tribes in 2007.  The state continued to contest the ruling until the ruling was affirmed in 2018 by the U.S. Supreme Court.  QDNR  technical staff from both Quinault Departments of Fisheries and Environmental Protection have been involved at a technical level since the beginning.  

Restoration projects occur outside of the watershed-based programs on the Quinault and the Chehalis, including Lead Entity projects in the Chehalis basin and other projects spread throughout the U&A. Roads, from primitive forest roads up through major highways, are a source of harm for fish habitat. Fine sediments coming from native surface or gravel roads can clog river spawning gravel, reducing survival of salmon and steelhead eggs, and when suspended in the water column can harm rearing fish. Projects to reduce fine sediment input, including road removal, relocation, and road surface improvements, are conducted throughout the Quinault U&A. QDFi staff expertise is applied in selecting, designing, and implementing these types of projects.

Paved roads can also provide fine sediments to streams, and in addition, road runoff contains many chemicals and heavy metals that harm water quality. Included in the chemicals from road runoff is a newly discovered chemical called 6PPD-quinone, which is a degradation byproduct of 6PPD, a chemical used to protect tires from harm from UV light.  6PPD-quinone is highly toxic to Coho and harmful to other salmonid fishes. Its discovery was the result of a 20-year research program to determine what was causing seasonal pre-spawning mortality in adult Coho.  Work is ongoing on addressing this issue with both QDFi and QDEP  staff involved.   

With the high rainfall in the Pacific Northwest, river and lake water can become low in the nutrients essential for fish growth. Thus, a program to fertilize Lake Quinault has been ongoing for decades. Application of liquid fertilizer is carried out in spring and summer each year, boosting phytoplankton and zooplankton numbers and thereby the lake's ability to sustain growth in young blueback salmon during their time in the lake before migrating to the ocean. This program includes associated monitoring of nutrient levels and the biological response in the lake. 

The major impact  on salmon and steelhead habitat has been development of the land, changing it from a forest into land focused on human uses.  This includes development into agricultural lands, dispersed rural development, denser rural development, suburban areas, cities, and industrial areas.  New development requires a review under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA ), which evaluates potential environmental harm from proposed development actions.  Quinault Fisheries and EP staff review these proposals to evaluate potential harm to salmon and steelhead habitat.

In addition to the conversion of forest lands to other uses, the ongoing actions in a modern managed forest can harm salmon habitat.  The current regulations related to forest practices were negotiated in a process including the tribes, and thus the tribes are involved in day-to-day management  through reviews of proposed actions such as timber harvest and road building.  These regulations include an adaptive management element to evaluate how effective they are, and QDFi staff are involved in this adaptive management program.

QDFi scientists also provide information and input to community- and state-wide planning of developments and infrastructure where it could affect QIN treaty rights. As time allows, QDFi staff work on several ongoing issues  including but not limited to:

1.    Water rights and instream flows

2.    Effects of recreational activities on reserved treaty rights

3.    Development of Best Management Practices for agricultural lands