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Nearshore Habitat in Thurston County
Background
In 2001 Thurston Regional Planning Council (TRPC) was awarded a Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB) grant to evaluate the nearshore conditions along Thurston County's marine shoreline. After consultation with the Squaxin Island and Nisqually Tribes, a nearshore study was designed to explore current and future beach conditions and their relationship to forage fish (e.g. surf smelt and sand lance) which are prey species for anadromous fish.
Shoreline Update Mapping
There were a number of pieces to the SRFB grant. The first major element was creating a Geographic Information System (GIS) map of the marine shoreline. A bulkhead inventory for the City of Olympia was undertaken and was added to already existing data for the county. Thurston County is one of the few counties on Puget Sound with a comprehensive bulkhead inventory. GIS data from multiple sources was collected and integrated into a common data base called Digital Shoreline Inventory for the Thurston Region.
Forage Fish Mapping
An update of the forage fish spawning locations from 2002-2004 was added to the forage fish map in the Digital Shoreline Inventory for the Thurston Region. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), with the assistance of the Squaxin Island Tribe, converted historical spawning sites into a digital database. This allowed further analysis of the forage fish data base by species, location, and date over an almost 30 year time period. Both the Shoreline Update and the Forage Fish Mapping will be valuable resources when Olympia, Lacey and Thurston County update their shoreline master programs. The current master program, Shoreline Master Program for the Thurston Region, is available on this website.
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Marine Shoreline Sediment Survey and Assessment
The Marine Shoreline Sediment Survey and Assessment - Thurston County, Washington was completed in 2005. This report documented the current beach conditions which affect forage fish spawning along Thurston County's marine shoreline. It used GIS analysis and field data from a set of 29 paired beach sampling sites. The report also created a sediment budget by inlet in an attempt to quantify future beach sediment conditions. |
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The report contains numerous findings about the present beach conditions and identifies a number of data gaps which limited the analysis. It contains a map of marine shorelines indicating which shoreline segments should be preserved or restored. The report also contains recommendations for improving beach conditions and future monitoring.
The report is available for download below, or printed copies can be purchased for $42.00 plus shipping and handling. It is also available on CD for $2.00 plus shipping and handling. To order a copy of the Marine Shoreline Sediment Survey and Assessment - Thurston County, WA, please contact the Thurston Regional Planning Council - 2424 Heritage Court SW #A - Olympia, WA 98502-6031 Telephone: (360) 956-7575 Fax: (360) 956-7815 or order by e-mail from info@trpc.org (please include your contact information).
For additional information on this project, contact:
Project Manager: Steven W. Morrison, Senior Planner, (360) 956-7575
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