The tides are back and change is afoot at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.
No one knows that better than Jean Takekawa, who manages the 3,000-acre refuge southwest of Tacoma.
She is in charge of returning 762 acres of the refuge to a saltwater marsh or estuary after more than 100 years as farmland and freshwater wetlands.
“Water is really taking over,” she said this week as higher-than-normal tides flooded into the refuge. “Nature and tides are very effective at this – better than we are at restoring the estuary.”
Takekawa said that though it’s been only four months since the tides were allowed to return, “it’s pretty remarkable how fast it is changing and evolving.”
“It’s fascinating every day because every day is different. No matter when you come out, there is something different to see,” she said.
On Sept. 25, the 106-year-old man-made dike that had protected 1,000 acres of the refuge was breached as part of a $12 million plan to restore the estuarine environment of the delta.
With the return of salt water, invasive canary reed grass is dying. So is pasture grass. And trees and bushes.
Historic tidal channels are re-emerging, carving sinuous routes laden with salt water and even a chum salmon or two.
At high tides, the Nisqually River and McCalister Creek again flow across the former farmlands. Fresh water mixes with salt water to create the perfect brew for young salmon and a smorgasbord of tidal mud-flat foods for birds and animals.
Shorebirds that usually hang out nearer the Sound are venturing far into the refuge. Eagles are everywhere.
Drivers passing through the Nisqually Delta on Interstate 5 this week couldn’t help but see the changes.
High tides in the mornings created flood-like scenes from the freeway north more than a mile to Puget Sound. Only tall bushes and small islands of grass poked above the surface.
Mother Nature is back in charge, Takekawa said.
The perfect place to view the transformation is the newly built Estuary Trail that opened in November. It’s a half-mile gravel path on top of a new dike built to enclose 256 acres of freshwater wetlands.
The viewing will get better. This spring, the refuge begins work on a mile-long cedar walkway that will take visitors to the mouth of McCalister Creek.
Takekawa said it will be high enough for use at both low and high tides.
Spectators should not expect a dramatic surge of water when high tides flood into the refuge.
The tidal flow doesn’t come in like a wave, said Kelley Turner, a biologist with the U.S. Geologic Service, which has formed a partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the Nisqually Tribe on the restoration.
It’s rather like the slow filling of a bathtub, Turner said.
She explained that four major channels bring tidal waters into the refuge.
“They fill up and overtop,” Turner said.
Three monitors have been installed on each channel to watch their rise and fall, water temperature and salinity levels. They are part of an overall estuary-monitoring program.
Jesse Barham, the refuge’s restoration biologist, said he has been surprised at just how quickly some of the historic channels in the old farmlands have opened up in the last few months.
Opening those channels is important, he said, because they provide more habitat for juvenile salmon to acclimate to salt water before they travel into Puget Sound and out to the Pacific.
Barham is also looking forward to how the Nisqually River will act when it floods now that it is free of containment by dikes in the delta.
Rivers in a delta normally move back and forth, creating new channels and environments, he said.
“Watching the river reminds you how wild this system really is,” Takekawa said. “It’s exciting to see the river take a different course.”
Change isn’t for everyone.
On Wednesday morning, Tom Solberg and Byron Smith of Olympia were out on the estuary trail enjoying the walk and the scenery.
Solberg said he misses the 5.5-mile loop trail around the refuge that disappeared when crews took out a dike.
Smith said they liked walking out by the Sound and seeing river otters, minks and coyotes.
“We won’t be able to see it again,” he said.
Howard Glastetter of Nisqually said he and his wife, Colleen, have been going to the refuge for 30 years. Glastetter said he preferred it the way it was.
Still, he added, the transformation is “probably a good idea.”
Mike Archbold: 253-597-8692
mike.archbold@thenewstribune.com
Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge
Address: 100 Brown Farm Road, Olympia (Take Exit 114 off Interstate 5)
Operator: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Hours: Open daily, sunrise to sunset. The visitor center is open Wednesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Phone: 360-753-9467
Web site: www.fws.gov/nisqually
Estuary Restoration information and science: www.nisquallydeltarestoration.org
