8/3/08

People For Puget Sound’s North Sound Office has had a successful summer recruiting and training local kayakers to survey Puget Sound shorelines for invasive Spartina.

This invasive, non-native grass was planted in the Puget Sound in the 1960s for dike stabilization. It is adapted to grow in a variety of tide-influenced locations and aggressively displaces native vegetation, disrupts shorebird and juvenile salmon foraging areas, and impacts shellfish habitat.

Spartina has been found in all the North Puget Sound counties.  Controllers at the state and county level feel they have identified and treated all large known infestations.  With eradication in sight, it becomes increasingly important for all of Puget Sound’s shorelines to be surveyed for Spartina so any potential seed sources can be located and treated.

This is where People For Puget Sound has stepped in to help.

In partnership with the Washington State Department of Agriculture, County Noxious Weed Boards, Beachwatchers, and the Skagit Marine Resources Committee, we have greatly expanded our Spartina Survey Program and have been conducting trainings and surveys throughout the North Sound this summer.

This groundbreaking program is connecting the recreational paddling community with researchers and mobilizing the paddle community to do good work for the Sound.

Working through local kayak clubs, we have recruited and trained dozens of volunteer kayakers to survey for Spartina.  Trainings occurred this summer for paddlers from Whatcom, Island, Skagit, and San Juan County.   Thanks to our staff and dedicated volunteers, over one hundred previously unknown Spartina patches were found!

We hope to continue to do surveys into the fall as well as next year, so please contact the Spartina Survey Program or call the North Sound Office at 360-336-1931 to get involved.

(Posted by Rachel Benbrook. Rachel lived on Orcas for almost a decade until just recently.   Rachel worked for the kayak tour company Shearwater Adventures on Orcas for several seasons and is well connected to the paddling community on Orcas.  She is looking to expand this program to the San Juans and  hopes for a great turnout for trainings in the islands in September.)