Diving Deep into the North and Middle Forks of the Nooksack River
We asked four long‐time Whatcom Land Trust naturalists to help piece together the puzzle of ecological interconnectedness that exists in and around the Nooksack River. Here are some of the issues they identified and how Whatcom Land Trust is working to address those issues.
Meet the panelists:
Dave Church is a retired hydrologist and water resources engineer with 42 years of private practice in surface and groundwater problems of the western United States. Dave currently serves as land steward of the 110‐acre Maple Creek Reach preserve on the North Fork Nooksack near Maple Falls.
Todd Folsom, stream ecologist, earned two graduate degrees in the ecology of freshwater macroinvertebrates. He worked in the environmental division of a power company doing environmental monitoring and impact assessments on rivers and lakes of the Piedmont and Blue Ridge Mountain regions of the Carolinas. Todd serves as volunteer naturalist for Whatcom Land Trust.
Bob Lemon is a naturalist who wears many hats. Bob considers himself first as a marine biologist without an advanced degree, and second a terrestrial botanist. He shares the stewardship duties at Whatcom Land Trust’s Steiner‐Wildcat Reach properties on the North Fork Nooksack with others and annually interprets the nearshore environment at ‘What’s the Point?’, an annual celebration of the marine life at Point Whitehorn, co‐sponsored by Whatcom Land Trust and other organizations.
Nick Sky is an environmental educator, natural historian and ecologist exploring and studying the living systems of the Pacific Northwest. Nick is a life‐long student of ethnobotany, that is, the relationship between plants and humans. His greatest passion is the study of how human cultures have interacted with ancient trees and ancient forests and how these interactions have impacted the local, regional and global environment.
From your perspective, how does your specialty or the area in which you work, affect the health of the North and Middle Fork system as a whole?
Nick Sky (NS): As someone with a whole‐systems view I think ancient forests provide a lens to study today’s forests as well as the holistic function of life on Earth. Ancient forests are great places to learn about complexity, diversity, and ecocultural resilience, including how these interrelationships play out in the upper reaches of the Nooksack River. Historically, for thousands of years, we would have experienced here in the Pacific Northwest a mosaic of ancient forests with trees of different ages, species, and natural histories that thrived alongside wetlands, prairie, scrub and other habitat. Ancient forests supported complex natural systems that have had profound impacts on the ecology and environment of this region and still today impact the global biosphere. Whatcom Land Trust, along with other organizations, is helping to restore some of the ecological functions provided by ancient forests, especially on the mid and low elevation lands, including floodplains and other riparian areas, where the smallest acreages of ancient forest were retained and most land is in private ownership.
Whatcom Land Trust | 412 N Commercial St, Bellingham, WA 98225 | 360-650-9470 | whatcomlandtrust.org Dave Church (DC): To follow the idea of interrelationship, the dynamics between the water flow and the landscape is visible and has a huge impact on this area. Maple Creek fans out into several channels as it flows to flat land, then meanders across the historic floodplain before meeting up with the Nooksack, creating a fan‐shaped forested wetland riddled with pools and small channels beneficial to salmon and wildlife. This area along the North Fork, where Maple Creek and its wetlands meet has created a distinctive ecosystem known as Maple Creek Reach. I am continuing to observe the North Fork’s actively migrating channel and Maple Creek’s more stable alluvial plain to document their interdependent effects on salmon migration and spawning, as well as the beaver habitat that contribute to many of the spawning reaches that feed the North Fork.
Todd Folsom (TF): To take this idea to a smaller level, I study macroinvertebrates, an animal group that people know better as mayflies, stoneflies, caddisflies, clams and such. Macroinvertebrates are like the canaries in the coal mine: They are bellwether species, vital components of river ecosystems and food for many species of fish. Without a healthy, diverse community of macroinvertebrates the Nooksack River and its Beaver built this pond at Maple Creek Reach from the pools tributaries would not be recognizable as anything like and channels that fan out across the floodplain, creating they now exist. habitat for salmon fry and other critters and species that depend on diverse complex habitat of Maple Creek Reach. Bob Lemon (BL): Since my work is focused at the extreme ends of the river, I see the importance of biodiversity from the headwaters all the way to where it empties into the Salish Sea. I do a lot of citizen science surveys to gauge the health of the salty shorelines of Whatcom and Skagit Counties. The forage fish and small crustaceans we monitor serve as the main food supply for migrating salmon going both upstream and downstream. They need natural, unarmored shorelines to spawn and thrive. Moving back upstream, in the headwaters area I am part of a high elevation meadow monitoring study being conducting by some members of the local Native Plant Society. Bears needs berries, berries need pollinators and un‐forested open spaces. With an accelerating changing climate and other perturbations, meadows are shrinking in size, moving upward in elevation, and increasingly becoming forested. As we track these changes at opposite ends of the river we see the fragility and interdependence of life in and on the river.
In your opinion, what is the most important issue facing the North and Middle Fork area?
TF: I would have to say land‐disturbing activities. When land is disturbed for farming, logging, building houses and other development, soil erodes into streams and rivers. This causes sedimentation which can smother habitat, especially for macroinvertebrates and spawning fish. Clearing along streamsides and opening up the forest canopy over streams exposes the river to more sunlight which heats the water. Rising water temperature reduces dissolved oxygen, often above the limits for many fish and macroinvertebrates to reproduce and thrive. As well, removing trees from streamsides reduces the input of leaves and twigs which provide food for many macroinvertebrates.
DC: From a hydrologic perspective, exacerbating that problem is the reduction in the duration of seasonal flow due to reduced glacial melt, negatively affecting water supply source and climate change.
Whatcom Land Trust | 412 N Commercial St, Bellingham, WA 98225 | 360-650-9470 | whatcomlandtrust.org NS: This is a difficult question. If I had to choose a focal point I would choose, not surprisingly, the way forests are managed, especially in our watersheds. Like Dave said, changes in hydrology affect forest health, and vice versa. Loss of forest habitat negatively impacts water quality, temperature, availability, and the structural complexity of stream and river systems, which profoundly impact salmonids and in turn the loss of salmonids negatively impacts forest health. Loss of diverse and complex river channels with their riffles, pools, undercut banks, woody debris, log jams and such negatively affects the diverse, complex, rich and abundant habitat needed by salmonids and other species. Plus, our forests, when allowed to mature, sequester huge volumes of carbon and help soften the impacts of climate change, helping to improve the resilience of human and natural communities. In addition, to touch on Todd’s focus, ancient forests harbor incredible levels of biodiversity, especially microinvertebrate species and this too has crucial impacts on the ecocultural resilience of the living communities of our region.
BL: I believe the most important issue for our rivers is managing for accelerated climate change. A changing climate impacts all the related issues raised in this discussion. Rising, warming, and acidifying seas, invasive species in all ecosystems, logging practices, floodplain development leading to shoreline armoring, increasing storm intensity and frequency, higher Mature conifers like this spruce near the confluence of Maple eruptive winter flows, reduced and warmer summer Creek and the North Fork Nooksack represent the iconic flows: These are all issues we face directly and that vision of the Pacific Northwest while providing vital affect the plants and animals that depend on the river, ecosystem services for the wildlife and species who live here. including humans.
How does Whatcom Land Trust distinguish itself working to address the issue and why is it important?
BL: The Trust’s strategy to buy and manage properties on a landscape scale is evident in many parts of Whatcom County, including the North Fork properties. Maple Creek Reach is a good example where the Trust intentionally pieced together 110 acres over 10 years working together with three different property owners. Connecting water systems with complex communities of flora and fauna help to promote biodiversity and healthy, resilient habitat. Racehorse Creek and the property I steward at Steiner/Wildcat Reach are other good examples of interconnectivity on the North Fork.
DC: Whatcom Land Trust’s restoration of Maple Creek Reach is slowly returning to its native state an historic forested wetland that had been cleared for farmland and subsequently abandoned. Working with the Lummi Tribe and other restoration partners, drainage ditches have been replaced with meandering channels, native trees and wetlands restored, particularly along the East Fork of Maple Creek. In addition to creating beneficial habitat for salmon and other wildlife, this work is helping to retaining more of the outflow of the creek into the river.
TF: Whatcom Land Trust’s restoration work planting trees in riparian areas restores canopy cover. This helps to moderate water temperature and the trees’ debris provide a source of food to stream animals. On a larger scale, protecting land from disturbance prevents soil erosion into the streams. Whatcom Land Trust’s 100‐year vision to preserve land, water and natural resources means that protections are in place forever.
Whatcom Land Trust | 412 N Commercial St, Bellingham, WA 98225 | 360-650-9470 | whatcomlandtrust.org
NS: Whatcom Land Trust plays a vitally important role in protecting and restoring places where people can still experience ecological diversity/complexity and learn how this natural state fosters resilience of local communities (ecocultural resilience). These experiences on the land and knowledge gained will become increasingly important in generating a sense of urgency as well as the cooperation needed to affect positive actions and lasting change.
What is the single most important thing for people to know or do in order to help protect this iconic natural resource?
NS: Really, it’s the sense of urgency if we wish to maintain the incredible quality of natural life we have come to expect living here. This means taking personal responsibility and devoting as much support as possible ‐ financial, volunteer‐hours and advocacy ‐ to Whatcom Land Trust. In addition, it is important that we undertake Individual, neighborhood, and community efforts on home sites and other private land ‐ from planting native plants and habitat creation to conservation of resources and advocating for sensible, long‐term, land‐use policies to help promote biocomplexity and resilience. The lower end of Maple Creek Reach, shown here where Maple BL: It’s tempting for property owners on fresh and Creek meets the North Fork Nooksack, is protected forever thanks saltwater shorelines to believe that armoring is the to Whatcom Land Trust, its many preservation partners, and the best answer to protecting one’s property and generous community that has made this beautiful place a lasting property values. Reasonable solutions are possible treasure for all of Whatcom County. without incurring tremendous and damaging costs – environmental and otherwise, on generations of people and species.
DC: I would say that we need to accept and preserve the active natural river processes ‐ fluvial geomorphology, in technical terms, with their timeless creation and destruction of its valley.
TF: While it is easy to see the big things ‐ large fish, eagles, osprey, it is usually the little things, even the ones we cannot see, that are so vital to maintaining healthy rivers. When we look beyond salmon, we see that macroinvertebrates, microinvertebrates, algae, fungi, are all essential components. We won’t have salmon and all of the other big ‘stuff’ without protecting the little ‘stuff’. Those protections must extend beyond rivers into the river basins and beyond.
Whatcom Land Trust would like to thank each of the panelists for taking time to provide their insight on this ecologically critical area in Whatcom County.
*The views expressed by the panelists in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Whatcom Land Trust.
Whatcom Land Trust | 412 N Commercial St, Bellingham, WA 98225 | 360-650-9470 | whatcomlandtrust.org