Salmon Habitat: Can People Do It Better? by Steve Koehler, November, 2001

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Having been involved in ecological restoration projects over the past twenty years, I have been considering our role in the process. Many folks blithely assume we know how to restore ecosystems. I am concerned that this level of conviction and hubris may be more of what got us in the current situation of habitat degradation in the first place.

One hundred years ago, a narrow understanding of processes by which fish reproduced themselves led us to think we could do better than nature. Nature's process was viewed as inefficient and wasteful. This line of thinking led to massive investments in, and nearly absolute reliance on, hatchery production as the means of sustaining salmonid populations. Even though government policies still don't reflect it, we now recognize the error of our ways regarding hatchery production. (J. Lichatowich, 1999; J. E. Taylor, 1999). Yet we still hold on to notions that we can do better than nature in creating or restoring habitat.

Site of former cabled log bank protection project above Schoolhouse Bridge, opposite Corps dike on Dungeness. Photo: S. Koehler, 11/12/01

Ecological systems are infinitely complex. Think of the complexity involved in the operation of a single living cell. Humans in their vast scientific knowledge cannot replicate natural evolution's achievement of a single cell. When we broaden our consideration to multicellular organisms with various groupings of cells working together to form digestive, nervous, sensory, structural, and reproductive systems, we make a leap of major complexity. To then view the complexity of an ecosystem with countless individual organisms functioning in concert, is absolutely mind-boggling. To think that we can recreate or even "restore" something as grandly intricate as an ecosystem may be at best inane, and at worst arrogant. In my humble opinion, the attitude that we can accomplish these things is not a scientific, but rather a cultural problem. It stems from our "can do" attitudes of industrial progress. We feel it is our duty to get involved. As industrious people, we cannot simply sit back and observe, we must take action.

Cottonwood girdled by cable anchoring bank protection logs at R.R. Bridge Park. Photo: S. Koehler, 12/97 Update: These cables were still present in mid Dec. 2001. On a visit to the site on Jan. 13, 2002 the author noticed the cables had been removed. (Damage to the tree is still obvious.) Was it purely coincidental that the cables were removed after over four years of being in place, or did publication of this piece have some effect?

Does this mean that salmon and other populations cannot be restored? No, it does not mean that at all! Salmon runs have reinhabited watersheds after glaciations and cataclysmic volcanic events. Restorations have occurred without help from humans. Nature has a remarkable propensity to restore itself. Indeed, nature is the most accomplished restorationist.

Does this mean there is nothing for us to do? Again, it means no such thing! We need to allow the opportunity for restoration to occur. First of all, we must halt present patterns and policies of habitat degradation, and we must protect sensitive habitats. It also means giving ecosystems the space and time to recover.

We can remove human-made constrictions to give streams access to channel migration zones. Removing or pulling back dikes, and revetments could alleviate scour and aggradation. Removing dams can restore access to good habitat. We can remove exotic species, and encourage re-establishment of native species, while doing our best to maintain the genetic integrity of native populations on a given site. There is plenty of work that could be done.

Dam on Canyon Creek stopping wild anadromous fish from accessing two miles of prime habitat. Photo: D. Goin

Conflict between human & fish habitat: Rip rap on Dungeness protecting Ward Rd. Who's winning this one? Photo: S. Koehler, 11/12/01

If wild systems do not have the physical space in which to function, they cannot exist. Wild ecosystems are not terrariums. "Wildlife management" is an oxymoron. I do not perceive of myself as a "keeper" of an ecosystem. Conversely, I perceive the ecosystem as a keeper of us all!

The "action" I'm advocating though is more to get us out of, and away from streams--not another round of alterations in streams. Here in Clallam County it has taken about 150 years to get to where we are now. Watershed recovery will not come overnight. Nature has its frames of time and space. We, who have grown accustomed to the speed of highway bypasses, television, and the Internet, want instant results. Budget cycles and funding sources demand immediately discernible outcomes and good PR to justify more dollars. Large projects, employing lots of people using big equipment to produce highly visible structural changes and artifacts, get attention and make for good press. Such projects however may be of dubious value for the ecosystem--particularly when we simultaneously engage in development or extraction projects on the same ecosystem with damages that far outweigh any potential benefits of our restoration efforts.

Perhaps we need to go a little slower and employ a more light-handed approach. For example, let's understand that soil is alive. It can be severely injured by compaction with large equipment. Use equipment wisely, skillfully, and only when necessary. Site needs should dictate the tools we use--not vice-versa.

Master restorationists: Beaver dam on Dungeness side channel, north of Woodcock Rd. Photo: S. Koehler, 11/12/01

Hindsight can give us the benefit of showing us what not to do, but it doesn't necessarily show us what to do. The folks who embarked on hatchery campaigns over a hundred years ago were well-intentioned, using the "best available science." We may be well-intentioned, but do we really know what is best? Can we step back and allow ecosystems to heal themselves? Can we learn something?

The first step on the road to restoration and recovery is to acknowledge what we are doing wrong, and stop our bad behavior. Before we can move to recovery as a culture, we must first stop doing damage.

Lichatowich, Jim (1999) Salmon Without Rivers, Island Press.

Taylor, Joseph E. (1999) Making Salmon: An Environmental History of the Northwest Fisheries Crises, University of Washington Press

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