Friends of Olympic NP Newsletter
January/February 2010
Contents
Hurricane Ridge Road Repair
Elwha Restoration Update
Boulder Creek EA Approved
Did you Know...?
Deputy Superintendent Named
America's Best Idea Returns
A Closing Thought
Hurricane Ridge Road Repair
 On Monday, January 18, a 100-foot slide closed the Hurricane Ridge Road a half mile below the Heart O'the Hills entrance station. In only four days, a $1.4 million contract was awarded and repairs are now underway.
The contractor will work twelve hours each day from Monday through Saturday with 30 workers. Over 2,000 truckloads of the remaining fine-grained fill will first be removed, and a firm foundation built with rock and gravel. A six-foot diameter culvert and additional drainage will be installed and the road rebuilt. Park and Federal Highways Administration engineers estimate that repairs will take approximately six weeks to complete.
"We are extremely pleased to have a contract in place so quickly," said Olympic National Park Superintendent Karen Gustin. "A federal contract of this size usually takes four months to complete – I’m very grateful to both park staff and our Federal Highways partners for their work in making an award in only four days. Restoring access to Hurricane Ridge as quickly as possible continues to be the park’s top priority right now,"
Elwha Restoration Update
The removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams is the largest dam removal project, and the 2nd largest national park restoration project (after the Everglades restoration), in history. Authorized by Congress in 1992, the goal is full restoration of one of the most pristine, and historically most productive, salmon habitats in the Northwest. Prior to construction of the Elwha dams in 1913 and 1925, the Elwha returned about 400,000 salmon per year; runs are now about 1% of that, and two species are endangered. Studies suggest that the historic runs can be restored within 5 to 30 years after dam removal.
The entire project, forecast to cost $308 million, involves 43 projects, 90% of which are outside Park boundaries. Most are to mitigate the effects of dam removal. $54 million in ARRA stimulus funds pushed the entire project forward a full year, with dam removal now set to begin in 2011.
Sediments have accumulated in the reservoirs for 80 years. After the dams are removed, about half this sediment will be eroded as the river reclaims its natural channel. Sediments will move downstream, mostly during floods in the first 2 or 3 years. This will raise the river bed by an average of 1 to 3 feet, and re-establish the original estuary at the mouth of the river.
Most mitigation projects are intended to alleviate the effects of this sediment transport. Four major and several smaller projects are underway. This article is an update on their progress.
Port Angeles Water Treatment Plant (PAWTP)
This facility supplies drinking water for the City. City water had been supplied from a "Ranney well", basically porous pipes buried beneath Elwha River gravels, with minimal filtration capacity. This plant will operate for several years after the dams are removed, filtering sediment from river water and provide chlorination, fluoridation and pH control. The plant is located at the city transfer station (former city landfill) site. Construction is now essentially complete, the plant is being tested, and its operation will be transferred to the City this spring.
Elwha Water Facilities (EWF)
 These facilities remove sediments to provide clear water for the City of Port Angeles industrial water supply, the Elwha Fish Hatchery, the adjacent state Fish and Wildlife fish rearing channel, and may also pretreat water for PAWTP if needed at times of high turbidity.
Four projects are involved in EWF: a new surface water intake, removal of the old coffer dam (to reduce fish mortality), the water treatment plant itself, and improved flood protection by raising the Crown Z Road. The plant is located on the west bank of the Elwha, just north of the new county bridge. Completion is expected in February, with transfer to the City expected next summer.
Fish Hatchery
 Construction begins this month on the new fish hatchery, to be located on the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Reservation and operated by the Tribe. It helps provide a refuge for native Elwha salmon stocks as the dams are removed, and will produce coho, pink, and chum salmon and steelhead to repopulate the river. Facilities include rearing ponds, raceways, adult holding ponds, a fish ladder, and two buildings. It is to be completed by summer 2011.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is also now constructing four 100 foot salmon rearing ponds (pictured) on Morse Creek at Hwy. 101. These will rear Elwha hatchery salmon, which will then return to Morse Creek for spawning. This provides a refuge to ensure these genetic stocks are preserved, even if sediments temporarily bury salmon redds in the lower Elwha.
Native Plant Nursery
Completed in October, the new nursury at Robin Hill Farm County Park near Sequim includes a 30x70 foot greenhouse and 120x400 ft pot yard on a five acre site. It was highlighted in last month's FONP Newsletter. Since then, Park staff and volunteers have installed irrigation pipe and sprinklers in the pot yard, built workbenches, misting tents for propagating cuttings and a concrete soil bin, prepared a site for a seed prep and equipment storage building to be moved in, and are building an outdoor work shelter where seedlings can be transferred from greenhouse flats to outdoor pots.
This facility will produce over 150,000 native plants to revegetate and stabilize the beds of Lake Mills and Lake Aldwell as the reservoirs are lowered. Park volunteers will be relied on for much of this effort.
Other Projects
As sediment transport raises the riverbed about 3 feet at the mouth of the river, levees must be raised to provide an equivalent level of protection. Work on the Federal levee on the east bank, protecting the Lower Elwha Klallam Reservation, begins in May. Work on the west side levee, protecting private landowners, begins in June, as does work on the Klallam wastewater collection and treatment system.
Nippon Paper Industries USA, located on Ediz Hook, requires particularly clear water for its paper-making process. This requires the plant to have its own water treatment facility which further purifies water from EWF. Improvements in this facility are required for the plant to continue to operate during dam removal. A new outfall pipe is required to discharge the increased sediment removed from the clarified water further off-shore into the Strait. This work begins in May.
For affected residents adjacent to the river, well heads will be raised, septic drainfields protected, and flood control measures augmented, all to provide protection equivalent to that before dam removal. Portions of the Olympic Hot Springs (Elwha River) Road will also be raised 1 to 3 feet.
Dam Removal
All of these mitigation projects must be completed before dam removal can begin in 2011. Both dams will be removed simultaneously, in stages over 2 to 3 years. Restoration projects will begin as the reservoirs are lowered, and will continue for several years afterwards. Future issues of this FONP Newsletter will follow the progress of this remarkable project, and the recovery of the Elwha fisheries and ecosystem.
Boulder Creek Trail EA Approved
The last 2.2 miles of road to Olympic Hot Springs were closed due to a slide and flood in 1982. Since then, stream crossings have become difficult for hikers and unsafe for stock, and several culverts have become blocked. This trail provides access to Olympic Hot Springs, Appleton Pass, Boulder Lake and beyond for an estimated 72,000 hikes taken each year.
The Boulder Creek Trail Environmental Assessment has just been approved for conversion of this section of roadbed to trail. Bridges will be built across Cougar Creek and the problematic Crystal Creek washout, which has blocked stock access for maintenance of area trails. This project includes a new trailhead parking area, and rehabilitation of the Boulder Creek Campground.
The work will take place in 2011 and is scheduled to occur during removal of the Glines Canyon Dam in order to minimize the length of time that access to area trails is restricted.
Deputy Superintendent Named
Following the retirement of Sue McGill last November, Dr. Brian Winter, Elwha Restoration Coordinator, has been Acting Deputy Superintendent.
Todd Suess (pronounced Cease) will become Deputy Superintendent of Olympic, upon his arrival later this spring. He has been Superintendent of Jewel Cave National Monument in the Black Hills of South Dakota since 2001, and prior to that was Chief of Resource Management at Devils Tower National Monument.
Did you know...
Over six thousand students participate in week-long Olympic Park Institute educational programs each year!
America's Best Idea Returns
 This fall, Ken Burns's sweeping documentary film about our national parks, The National Parks: America's Best Idea, captured America's imagination.
If you missed it the first time or are simply craving a rerun, the film will air again beginning January 27 at 9 pm on KCTS 9, featuring an episode each Wednesday through March 3.
Filmed over the course of more than six years in nature's most spectacular locales--including Olympic and Mt. Rainier--the film tells the story of people from every conceivable background who devoted themselves to saving precious portions of the land they loved, and in doing so reminded Americans of the full meaning of democracy.
But this is not just a movie. This is our opportunity to inspire all Americans to dedicate themselves to protecting and preserving our national parks so that the parks can be enjoyed, explored, and cherished by our children, our grandchildren, and by all future generations.
Share your love of the national parks by gathering with friends and family to watch this powerful documentary.
A Closing Thought
"The Burns film is reinvigorating America’s love of their national parks. We invite all Americans to embrace their ownership of national parks, to come out for a visit, and to renew or create personal connections, and make memories that will last a lifetime. National parks are for everyone. National parks belong to every citizen. Please join us in caring for these special places." - Jon Jarvis, Director, National Park Service
Newsletter Editor: Rod Farlee, rodfarlee@olypen.com
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