BLYN – Consider it a “how-to” guide for the next great habitat restoration project.
It’s been two years since the Jimmycomelately Creek restoration project was completed. But the work didn’t end then – the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe recently released a 72-page report explaining how the 10-year, $7 million project was started, the challenges it faced and what it took to complete it. And more importantly, it provides suggestions on how to deal with large-scale, multi-agency restoration projects.
Not a technical report, the document, Jimmycomelately Ecosystem Restoration – Lessons Learned Report, spells out the ups and downs of the project in an interesting and readable format.
“It’s a good tool for a community group, non-profit or an agency looking to do a restoration project, or even a college student interested in habitat restoration,” said Byron Rot, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s habitat program manager and a co-author of the report.
The idea for restoring the 15.4-square-mile ecosystem started in late 1996, following a massive rainstorm that flooded the creek, Old Blyn Highway and Highway 101 near the tribal center. Within days, discussions began about how to correct the resulting chronic flooding and habitat problems. These conversations evolved into what became the “The Jimmy Project.”
During the eight years it took to complete the four-phase project, the tribe and their major partners on the project, including local property owners, Clallam County Conservation District, Clallam County, Washington Departments of Transportation and Fish and Wildlife, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, restored the creek and its estuary to a more natural state. Work included diverting and rerouting the creek back to its historic path, removing remnants of an old log yard and restoring the estuary, and replacing two small culverts with a new bridge on Highway 101 to allow for proper flooding and fish and wildlife passage.
Lessons Learned is broken down into 14 sections, detailing the work that was put into every step, including partnership development, communication techniques, engineering and design, property acquisition, permitting and monitoring of the finished product. Each chapter ends with a Lessons Learned section, recommending how to approach the challenges of each step and what could have been done differently.
The report can be found on the tribe’s Web site at www.jamestowntribe.org, under “Programs”- “Natural Resources” – “Jimmycomelately Restoration.”
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For more information, contact: Byron Rot, Jamestown S’Kallam Tribe habitat program manager, at (360) 681-4615 or [email protected]; or Tiffany Royal, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, information officer, at (360) 297-6546 or [email protected].
