Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge “In Every Outthrust Headland, in Every Curving Beach, in Every Grain of Sand There Is a Story of the Earth.” — Rachel Carson
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U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge “In every outthrust headland, in every curving beach, in every grain of sand there is a story of the earth.” — Rachel Carson Heerman’s gulls ©Dow Lambert Introduction Activities Dungeness NWR is open to the public year-round. Hiking, wildlife At Dungeness National Wildlife watching, and photography are Refuge one of the world’s longest popular activities on the Refuge. natural sand spits softens the rough Some areas are closed seasonally sea waves to form a tranquil bay, or permanently to protect sensitive fertile tideflats, and beaches of sand species. and gravel. Here wildlife find food, a place to rest, and protection from Location West of Sequim on Highway 101, winds and pounding surf. Recognizing turn north on Kitchen-Dick Road. the area’s importance to wildlife, Continue 3 miles to Dungeness President Woodrow Wilson declared County Recreation Area. Pass The “Blue Goose,” Dungeness Spit and its surrounding through the recreation area to reach designed by J.N. waters a National Wildlife Refuge the Refuge parking lot. “Ding” Darling, in 1915. has become the symbol of the Dungeness is one of over 500 refuges National Wildlife Dungeness NWR Dungeness Spit Refuge System. in the National Wildlife Refuge WASHINGTON System. A network of lands set aside Dungeness specifically for wildlife, the System is Rec. Area Lotzgesell our living heritage, conserving wildlife Road and habitat for generations to come. Kitchen- Dick Rd. SEQUIM To Port Angeles 101 0 1 2 3 MILES To Port Townsend Dungeness Spit ©Long Bach Nguyen History of the Refuge The Market Many people depended on the rich Hunting Era bounty of fish, shellfish, and waterfowl in the waters surrounding Dungeness Spit for their livelihood. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, this was a prime area for waterfowl hunters who supplied restaurants in Seattle. A new invention — the power boat — allowed these “market” hunters easy access to flocks of brant that wintered in the area. S’Klallam people digging clams. ©North Olympic Library, Bert Kellogg Collection Ornithologist Walter Taylor reported, “During the months of November and December, 1913, Traditional For thousands of years S’Klallam and January and February, 1914, S’Klallam Use people visited Dungeness Spit to no less than 3,000 black brants gather shellfish, hunt waterfowl, are reported to have been killed and bury their dead. In 1872 the in the vicinity of Smith Island S’Klallam were forced from their [20 miles from Dungeness] by villages along the Dungeness River hunters who pursued them by by Euro-American homesteaders the use of power boats, most of and spent a difficult year living on the birds being killed in the kelp the Spit. In 1875 they bought 222 beds offshore.” acres to establish the settlement of Jamestown east of the Dungeness Public concern over rapidly dwindling River. The tribe secured Federal Crabbing on numbers of geese and ducks led to the recognition in 1980. Dungeness Bay, establishment of Dungeness NWR ca. 1900. in 1915. A Beacon for On December 14, 1857 the New ©North Olympic Library, Mariners Dungeness Lighthouse became the Bert Kellogg Collection first operational light in the Salish Sea. The lighthouse was 100 feet tall at first, but was lowered to 63 feet in 1927 because of cracking in the tower. Originally equipped with an oil-burning light and a bell, these signals were progressively replaced with newer technology and power sources. The lighthouse was placed on the National Register The New of Historic Places in Dungeness 1993. Today visitors may hike to the Lighthouse lighthouse and enjoy breathtaking USFWS views from the signal tower. Habitats of the Refuge Tideflats Nutrient-rich sediments accumulate The Power of About 10,000 years ago, melting on the lee side of Dungeness and Erosion glaciers left thick deposits of sand and Graveyard Spits. Although the mud gravel along this shoreline. As waves appears lifeless, millions of worms, carved steep bluffs from these clams, and crustaceans burrow deposits the material was gradually Western sandpiper beneath its surface. When low tide pushed north and east from the ©Dow Lambert exposes the mud, shorebirds such as headland, creating Dungeness Spit. dunlin, sandpipers, and whimbrels Weather and waves continue to erode eagerly probe for this hidden bounty. away the bluffs feeding the five-mile- long Spit, causing it to lengthen about Dungeness Harbor and Bay 13 feet (4.4m) per year. Protected from heavy surf and fertilized by nutrients washing down Dungeness Spit and the bluffs from the land above, Dungeness Bay overlooking it create a variety of and Harbor teem with fish and habitats that are home to 244 bird invertebrates. Eelgrass beds in the species, 18 types of land mammals, Bay provide food for brant, and a and 11 marine mammal species. nursery for young Dungeness crab, flounder, salmon, steelhead, and Refuge Diversity Forest and Bluffs cutthroat trout. In winter, flocks of On the bluffs above the Spit, waterfowl, loons, and grebes find food coniferous forests host black-tailed and shelter here. deer, songbirds, and raptors. Tree snags are convenient lookouts for Climate Change bald eagles. The bluffs are home to The low lying habitats of pigeon guillemots that burrow into Dungeness are at risk of the sandy soil and glaucous-winged significant impacts as the gulls that roost on the outcroppings. earth warms and climates shift. Higher temperatures Dungeness and Graveyard Spits melt polar ice caps, causing A line of driftwood above the high- American wigeon sea levels to rise which is water mark stabilizes the Spit and ©Dow Lambert of particular concern for this delicate Bald eagle environment. Peter Davis/USFWS provides shelter for shorebirds, as well as perches where peregrine falcons scan for prey. On the ocean side of the Spit, dunlin, sanderlings, and black-bellied plovers probe the sandy beaches for invertebrates. Harbor seals rest and nurse their pups at the tip of Dungeness Spit. The unique habitat of Graveyard Spit is protected as a Research Dungeness Spit and bluffs Natural Area. ©Dow Lambert Semipalmated plovers ©Dow Lambert Olympic Mountains as seen from the Dungeness Spit. Sue Mayo/USFWS Strait of Juan de Fuca New Dungeness Light Station National Historic Site Open Year-Round Protection (5 miles from parking lot) Island NWR Lotzgesell Rd. d R s Kitchen- y a Dick Rd. C To Port Angeles S CARLSBORG equim Ba To Port SEQUIM Townsend Boat Landing Zone y 0 1 2 3 4 5 Miles Open year-round by BLYN reservation only* Closed to All Strait of Juan de Fuca Public Access Dungeness Spit Open Year-Round Boat Access Only (no wake zone) Dungeness Open May 15 to Sept. 30 Bay N Graveyard Spit Dungeness Harbor 0 1/2 1 MILE Cline Spit Drive Marine Sequim - Foot Access Only Dungeness Open May 15 to Sept. 30 Way Upland Forest Cays Rd. Off-trail and Rd. Dungeness Bluff Closed to All Public Access Recreation Lotzgesell Rd. River America Area of (Clallam County) Dungeness oice V Lamar Rd. Lotzgesell Rd. Kitchen-Dick Road Legend Clamming, Public Boat Crabbing N Launch E Hiking Saltwater Parking Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge protects critical Wildlife R Fishing p Observation/ habitat for wildlife and provides viewing opportunities for Primitive Trail people. To ensure that wildlife continue to have a place Photography n Restrooms Main Trail to rest and feed, some recreational activities are allowed Boating only in selected areas during certain times of the year. O (no wake zone) Refuge Boundary Areas of the Refuge are closed to provide sanctuary for Boat Landing Zone* wildlife during critical feeding, resting, and nesting times. Beach Use *By reservation; call 360/457 8451 Wildlife Highlights Brant Brant are small (about 3 pounds) dark-colored geese that rarely stray Waterfowl Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge far from salt water. Special glands lies on the Pacific Flyway, a migration remove salt from the seawater they route travelled by birds between their drink. Eelgrass, a plant nesting and wintering grounds. that grows in shallow The Refuge’s combination of mild bays, is their favorite maritime climate, shelter from food. About 1,500 brant storms, and abundant food also makes winter at Dungeness it an ideal winter home for waterfowl. NWR from October to About 8,000 ducks and 1,500 brant February. In March they spend the winter here. are joined by brant migrating north along Early in the fall, green- the coast with numbers Brant winged teal and mallards ©Dow Lambert peaking at around 4,000 in late April. feed on aquatic plants By mid-May they have left for their and invertebrates in the nesting grounds — the coastal tundra shallow water of of Alaska, Canada, and Siberia. Dungeness Harbor. American wigeon visit In the fall the entire Pacific Graveyard Spit at low population of brant (about 140,000 Harlequin ducks tide to graze on sea lettuce and birds) funnels into Izembek National are one of several Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. For a few sea ducks seen on eelgrass. When winter rains begin, the shoreline of these ducks visit fields and wetlands weeks they fatten on eelgrass. Then Dungeness Spit. on the mainland to feed on grain and most fly 1800 miles (3000 km) to Baja ©Dow Lambert tender grasses, returning to the California — the longest nonstop Refuge at night to roost. migration of any goose. Smaller groups stop further north, including Diving ducks, such as bufflehead, at Dungeness NWR. surf scoters, red-breasted mergansers, long-tailed ducks, common goldeneye, Once tens of thousands of brant and harlequin ducks hunt for mollusks, wintered in the Salish Sea, but today crustaceans, and small fish in the only 8,000 do so.