Newswave-Fall 2012
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
NEWSWAVE NEWS FROM THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR: OCEANS, COASTS AND GREAT LAKES IN THIS EDITION: Fall 2012 Interior’s River Initiative .......1 Dam Removal on the Dam Removal on the Elwha ..1 Elwha River A Day in the Life as an “Island Already manifesting signs of Keeper” ...................................3 new life as the watershed is Restoring Coastal Wetlands ..4 reconnected to the sea By Barbara Wilcox, USGS U. S. Coral Reef Task Force Meeting in American Samoa 5 One year after crews began to take Arctic Habitat Studies ...........6 down two obsolete dams on the Elwha River in Washington State, Eastern Neck National Wildlife the unprecedented restoration is Refuge: ..................................7 already manifesting such signs of Coral Research Partnership new life as fish hatchlings, tree Award .....................................8 saplings and the beginnings of beaches. Hope for Great Lake Fish .... 10 Secretary Salazar participated in a Urban River Project ............ 10 ceremony this summer marking the The responses are part of the ongo- removal of the Great Works Dam on the ing restoration study by U.S. Geo- National Oceanic Partnership Penobscot River in Maine – a major step logical Survey (USGS) scientists Program............................... 11 toward enabling the river to flow freely from Old Town to the Gulf of Maine. and their state, Federal and tribal ERMA Expanded to Arctic .. 12 Ecosystem responses to removing partners. The Elwha River runs Interior at CSO Meeting ..... 12 dams in the Elwha river watershed are through Olympic National Park highlighted in this issue. Photo credit: DOI SCUBA Divers ............... 13 Tami Heilemann, DOI. Elwha See page 22 Deepwater Canyons ........... 14 Interior’s River Initiative Science: Key for Tampa Bay 15 “All American Rivers” Restoration Fish Extinctions .................. 15 Projects Benefit Coastal and News from the Regions ...... 17 Ocean Waters Too Trends of Coastal Change .. 20 By Caitlin Fong and Chris Eng Managing Offshore Sand ... 21 Rivers are a critical part of the Surfing Bison........................24 endless water cycle. Rain that falls in the mountains starts a journey through tiny streams that This issue of NEWSWAVE includes ultimately flow into our Nation’s examples of Interior programs mightiest rivers, discharging along engaged in restoring and strengthening connections with our coasts. This perpetual cycle ties even our most interior lands to Aerial view of the mouth of the Elwha watersheds and local communities River near Port Angeles, Wash. Photo that benefit our Nation’s estuaries the health of our coasts and oceans. credit: Tom Roorda, Northwestern and coasts. Territories Inc. See River Initiative page 9 NEWSWAVE • Fall 2012 Visit us online: http://www.doi.gov/pmb/ocean/index.cfm For more information about Are you interested in contributing ocean and coastal activities to NEWSWAVE? at DOI contact: Visit: http://www.doi.gov/pmb/ocean/ Terry Holman, Coordinator news/Newswave/index.cfm DOI Ocean and Coastal Activities, Please contact Ann Tihansky with any 1849 C Street, NW, Mail Stop 3530 questions, comments or to receive Washington, D.C. 20240, NEWSWAVE via email. Telephone: 202-208-1944, [email protected] Fax: 202-208-4867 202-208-3342 or 813-727-0841 [email protected] Subscribe to the Federal NEWSWAVE Contributors Marc Blouin prepares a drill tower for Ocean.Data.Gov’s Newsletter geologic coring in support of a climate Ann Tihansky, Editor, DOI Receive monthly updates about change study in South Florida. Photo Tami Heilmann, DOI the National Ocean Council's data credit: USGS. See related story page 13. Liza Johnson, DOI portal. Support ocean, coastal and Seth Sykora-Bodie, DOI Great Lakes information sharing Charlie Broadwater, BOEM and planning. Rodney Cluck, BOEM Contact Laura Muhs, Natural New Video: Return of the Gen- Heather Crowley, BOEM Resource Specialist tle Giants: Huron-Erie Cor- Marjorie Weisskohl, BOEM [email protected] ridor Fish Habitat Restoration Deanna Wheeler, BOEM Learn about restoring vital Charles Barbee, BSEE Chris Horrell, BSEE fish habitat in the Great Lakes David Smith, BSEE region. Footage includes lake Zoe Diaz-Martin, USFWS sturgeon spawning on the new Chris Eng, USFWS reef habitats even before the Amidia Frederick, USFWS construction was complete. See Caitlin Fong, USFWS www.estuaries.org/conference related story page 10. Kathy Kuletz, USFWS 6th National Conference on Coastal and Estuarine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= Habitat Restoration, October 20-25, 2012 Tampa LKzollX4Z50&feature=youtu.be Shaun Roche, USFWS Convention Center, Tampa, Florida Marc Blouin, USGS Betsy Boynton, USGS Kate Bradshaw, USGS Noel Burkhead, USGS Arleen Elkins, USGS Ben Young Landis, USGS Sandra Morrison, USGS Rachel Pawlitz, USGS Barbara Wilcox, USGS Cris Benton Diana Bowen, Coastal States Organization Laura Bankey, National Aquarium Allison Miller, Consortium for Ocean Leadership Tom Roorda, Northwestern Territories Inc. Judy Irving, Pelican Media Keith Thorpe, Peninsula Daily News This image is a 3-D terrestrial LIDAR scan of Interstate 510 in New Orleans, Louisiana Nanette O’Hara, Tampa Bay Estuary on August 31, 2012 during Hurricane Isaac. This new technology is being used Program by USGS to map flooding in urban areas. http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article. asp?ID=3389&from=rss#.UHSH9i7pfgd 2 NEWSWAVE • Fall 2012 A Day in the Life as an “Island Keeper” Refuge interns share their summer experience at a National Wildlife Refuge By Zoë Diaz-Martin and Amidia Frederick Note: Zoe and Amidia were sta- tioned at “Outer Island” within the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, Connecticut On graduation day, like millions of other college students finishing up their bachelor’s degrees and entering the real world, both of us Island Keepers from left, Amidia Frederick and Zoe Diaz-Martin at Outer Island. Below, pondered the same question: “what a typical view from Outer Island, part of the island system in the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, Connecticut, Photo credit: Shaun Roche, USFWS will become of us in these hard http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=53546 times?” Yet, the Stewart B. McKin- ney National Wildlife Refuge on Wanted: coastal Connecticut has given us the gift of time to contemplate our Enthusiastic individuals to spend futures and to decide what to do in their summer on an island off the this world. Most importantly, it has coast of Connecticut gaining valu- provided us with lots of practical able work experience in the natural experience that we can use if we resource field. choose to pursue full-time work in Refuge interns will spend three the field of natural resources. months assisting with important When we tell people our titles tasks like invasive species man- are “Island Keepers” with the US and collect Asian shore crabs into agement, wildlife and vegetation Fish and Wildlife Service, we get small buckets. As part of a new surveys, nest counts, fencing/post- responses mixed with awe and inventory of the island’s birds and ing habitat, pollinator monitoring, laughter. In reality, a day in the life vascular plants; we have identified working with threatened and endan- of an “Island Keeper” is filled with some species that had not yet been gered bird species, interacting with both. No day here is exactly the recorded here. the public by conducting interpretive same. Our duties are varied but we tours and educational programs, Being an island keeper requires are mainly responsible for greet- and assisting with island mainte- you to be a flexible self-starter ing the public, leading interpretive nance projects on the property. and have a sense of humor. It is a tours and environmental educa- Applicants must be able to work once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that tional programs, aiding with main- in all kinds of weather, over differ- gives you hands-on experience tenance projects and managing ent types of terrain and with biting with applied environmental science invasive vegetation. One day might insects. in the natural resources field. It is consist of pulling Japanese Knot- also a chance to do some island weed, while another is painting a living daily astounded by the sheer building or showing local inner- Learn more about the USFWS beauty of the Thimble Islands. city kids the wonders of the island “Island Keeper” program: Most of all, it is satisfying to work and intertidal zone. We especially http://www.fws.gov/refuges/news/ toward conserving areas that are enjoy environmental education and Island%20Keepers%20Need- important to wildlife in the north- seeing the faces of school children ed_01032012.html eastern United States. light up as they conquer their fears 3 NEWSWAVE • Fall 2012 Restoring Coastal Wetlands Adds Value to Silicon Valley Interior Supports Collaborative Spirit in South San Francisco Bay By Ben Young Landis “Restoring ecosystem processes and functions in these important shorelines of the South Bay ben- efits not only fish and wildlife, but the people and communities who live in and visit the surrounding areas,” said Interior Assistant Sec- retary of the Interior for Water and Anne Castle, Interior Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science, visits the Science Anne Castle, who toured South Bay restoration team. Left to right: Cheryl Strong, wildlife biologist with USFWS the project earlier this year. “The Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Laura Valoppi, biologist with USGS Western Ecological Research Center