The Nisqually Indian Tribe and several of its partners received a federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) award at the start of the year for ecological forestry management.
The tribe found …
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The Nisqually Indian Tribe and several of its partners received a federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) award at the start of the year for ecological forestry management.
The tribe found out it won the Performance and Innovation in the State Revolving Fund Creating Environmental Success (PISCES) Award on Jan. 5.
The project recognized by the EPA was the tribe’s acquisition of property for permanent ecological forestry management with partners that include the Nisqually River Council, Nisqually Community Forest and the Nisqually Land Trust.
The acquisition includes future restoration of timberlands, stream and tributary shoreline in the Mashel River and its tributary, the Busy Wild Creek, according to a news release.
The tribe and its partners used a watershed-based landscape approach and worked collaboratively with the state Department of Ecology to purchase and manage properties, pooling each group’s areas of expertise and funding sources, the release stated.
Each of the 50 states can submit only one project for consideration for the George F. Ames PISCES Award, according to the release. Only five projects nationwide were selected for “exceptional” status, including Nisqually’s project, which was the designated submission for Washington.
“This is a fascinating project. We hope we can share this across the country as a model and see it replicated elsewhere in the country,” said Andrew Sawyers, EPA director of the Office of Wastewater Management. The agency oversees the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which helped pay for the project prior to its selection for the award.
“An EPA model, Visualizing Ecosystems for Land Management Assessment, showed that short rotations of timber harvest of 40 years result in reduced water available for streamflow during critical summer rearing for salmon species,” the release stated. “This negatively affects quality and quantity of habitat availability due to high rates of water evaporation from trees and soils in younger forests and less woody debris and duff-layer material to hold water in the drier months.”
David Troutt, the natural resources director for the Nisqually Tribe, used creative thinking to help get the recognized project off the ground.
“As development in the Nisqually River watershed has added more wells that are not counted against minimum flows, we have had to think outside the box about ways to protect it and be able to hand it off in good health to our kids and grandkids,” Troutt said.
The project will improve water quality and quantity in the Mashel River, the main tributary to the Nisqually River.
Willie Frank III, chairman of the Nisqually Tribe, said he was taught by his mother and father about the importance of being a good steward of the region’s water, and gave a call to action to continue the work the tribe and its partners have started.
“We have to do whatever we can to protect our watershed and we can’t do it alone,” Frank said. “Projects like these where we are working with state, federal and local non-profits partners show what can be done when we work together.”