2015 Commencement Bay Stewardship Collaborative: Ecosystem Management Plan NRDA Trust Resources, Stewardship Framework and General Management Approach Commencement Bay Stewardship Collaborative: Ecosystem Management Plan NRDA Trust Resources, Stewardship Framework and General Management Approach May 12, 2015 Prepared by: EarthCorps 6310 NE 74th St, Suite 201E Seattle, WA 98115 M ay 2015 EarthCorps Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 5 Chapter One: Stewardship Collaborative Framework..........................................................7 1. NRDA Trust Species in the Commencement Bay Ecosystem ………………………………..7 1.1 Pacific salmonids ........................................................................................................................7 1.2 Ground fish habitat requirements ........................................................................................ 11 1.3 Bird assemblages and habitat requirements .................................................................. 12 2. Target Functional Habitat Types in the Commencement Bay Ecosystem........ 13 2.1 Freshwater Functional Habitat Types ............................................................................... 13 2.2 Nearshore Functional Habitat Types- ............................................................................... 15 3. Commencement Bay NRDA Site Descriptions............................................................... 19 3.1 Freshwater off-channel/floodplain habitat sites .......................................................... 25 3.2 Freshwater tributary stream habitat site ........................................................................ 26 3.3 Nearshore sites- Intertidal emergent marsh/tidally influenced off-channel ....... 27 3.4 Nearshore sites- Bluff-backed beaches, Intertidal gravel beaches and associated subtidal habitat sites .................................................................................................... 30 Chapter Two: Stewardship and Management Approach .................................................. 33 4. Monitoring Approach ............................................................................................................... 33 4.1 Qualitative Monitoring ........................................................................................................... 34 4.2 Quantitative Monitoring ........................................................................................................ 36 4.3 Additional monitoring ............................................................................................................ 42 5. Adaptive Management ............................................................................................................ 42 5.1 Maintenance .............................................................................................................................. 42 5.2 Stewardship ............................................................................................................................... 44 6. Site Management Plans ........................................................................................................... 44 Hauff ......................................................................................................................................................... 46 Jordan ...................................................................................................................................................... 55 Middle Waterway – City of Tacoma .............................................................................................. 68 Middle Waterway - Simpson............................................................................................................ 76 Mowitch................................................................................................................................................... 84 Occidental .............................................................................................................................................. 92 Old Soldiers Home .............................................................................................................................. 97 M ay 2015 Page 3 EarthCorps Olympic View Resource Area Restoration ............................................................................... 105 Olympic View Triangle ....................................................................................................................... 112 Sha Dadx................................................................................................................................................ 123 Skookum Wulge ................................................................................................................................... 131 Squally Beach...................................................................................................................................... 139 Swan Creek .......................................................................................................................................... 149 Tahoma Salt Marsh ............................................................................................................................ 159 Yowkwala ..............................................................................................................................................167 7. Literature Cited ............................................................................................................... 174 8. Appendix A – Qualitative Field Form (Example) ................................................... 177 9. Appendix B – Qualitative Monitoring Benchmarks ............................................... 179 10. Appendix C – Qualitative Greenline and LWD Monitoring Benchmarks ......... 180 11. Appendix D – Invasive Species BMP’s ....................................................................... 181 12. Appendix E – Communications Plan and Talking Points ..................................... 189 13. Appendix F – Financial Dashboard (May 2015) ...................................................... 192 M ay 2015 Page 4 EarthCorps Introduction The Commencement Bay Stewardship Collaborative Framework and Management Plan incorporates watershed level objectives and planning for the long-term stewardship of the 17 Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) restoration sites in the Commencement Bay area, including the Puyallup River, the Hylebos watershed and the nearshore of Commencement Bay (collectively referred to as “the watershed”). This document provides the framework and basis for ongoing stewardship of all incorporated NRDA restoration sites and includes overarching long-term project goals and objectives, as well as describing EarthCorps’ approach to site monitoring and management ensuring that these areas continue to provide the ecological services they were intended to into the future. The information in this document is presented in two chapters. The first chapter, Stewardship Collaborative Framework, provides background information on: 1. NRDA Trust Species in the Commencement Bay Ecosystem • This section describes the animal species identified by the NRDA Trustees as primary target species that would benefit from restoration efforts and describes the life history and functional habitat requirements of these species. This information will establish the basis for tracking and measuring the long-term effectiveness of habitat restoration efforts at the 17 NRDA restoration sites. 2. Target Functional Habitat Types • This section describes the Functional Habitat Types that have been determined to be key to the survival of the NRDA Trust species listed in the previous section. This information provides the framework and context for ongoing habitat restoration, stewardship and monitoring efforts. 3. Commencement Bay NRDA Site Descriptions • This section describes each of the 17 NRDA restoration sites by the primary Functional Habitat Type that was the principal intent of restoration efforts at that location. This information will frame the ongoing restoration efforts at each site and guide monitoring efforts to ensure that the sites continue to provide their intended functional habitat requirements. The second chapter of the document, Ecosystem Management Plan, provides the information necessary to conduct monitoring, maintenance and long-term stewardship of the sites, organized in the following order: 4. Monitoring Approach • This section describes EarthCorps’ approach to long-term site monitoring based on the information presented in the previous section and includes M a y 2015 Page 5 EarthCorps both qualitative and quantitative approaches that can be used to assess the overall functionality of the different Functional Habitat Types. 5. Adaptive Management • This section describes EarthCorps’ approach to adaptive management of the NRDA restoration sites, including general Best Management Practices for maintenance activities and stewardship actions for long-term success. 6. Site Management Plans • This section provides individual site plans for each of the 17 NRDA restoration sites, including detailed site maps showing location and acreage of each Functional Habitat Type present at each site. The Stewardship Collaborative Framework chapter is intended to be updated only when additional