Updates: A public workshop and soft opening of the Beach Lake Conservation Area, East Elwha nearshore.

Four years after the world’s largest dam removal, the Coastal Watershed Institute (CWI) and partners continue critically important nearshore ecosystem restoration along the Elwha shoreline, including the Beach Lake Conservation Area. While our work restoring and managing the site is still very much underway, beginning the first of December, the site will be ready to begin receiving visitors. The site is still very much an active restoration site  and is closed until this opening. *NO EARLY BIRDS*

The event: A short presentation on the project will occur at 1:00 followed by an ‘informal’ opening of the property for public use.  The address is 2646 Lower Elwha Rd.  A few important notes are provided below.

Guidelines to visit the site on or after 1 December 2018. Parking is limited, please carpool. We are working on overflow parking for this workshop/event further details will be posted the day of the event at the site. We still have active restoration occurring at the site, so the site is closed to the public before the 1 December opening-absolutely no early birds! Also, remember this is an ecosystem restoration site, not a public park.   Dogs and other pets are therefore absolutely *not* allowed. Please leave your pets at home. Barring unforeseen circumstances, after 1 December 2018 the site will be open for day use and non-motorized foot traffic only. Public access, illustrated in the signage to be placed at the site, is limited to the established trail, and along the beach at least 10 feet water ward of the driftwood.  Absolutely no camping, no alcohol, no fire arms, and no hunting or fishing are allowed. All leave no trace rules apply.   Adherence to these guidelines is critical to future public access.

NOTE

The Tribe has recently formally stated they do not want the public to access the Elwha delta from the reservation or tidelands in front of the reservation.. They also will not allow any parking along the road or on Tribal property. Please intend to honor these requests and limit your visit to the Beach Lake site and public tidelands there.

Background: The Coastal Watershed Institute has led much of the nearshore ecosystem science and restoration of our region for the last quarter century, including the Elwha nearshore. Through the presentations at the last CWI led Elwha Nearshore Consortium (ENC) it was determined that remaining derelict shoreline armoring on the east delta continued to deteriorate the eastern Elwha   shorelines even after dam removal released hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of sediment to the nearshore. CWI went into action, and in 2016 secured state and federal grant funds for the conservation and restoration of a 26 acre parcel located east of the Elwha River on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Over the next two years CWI, with a number of important strategic partners, completed a conservation purchase of this property and a series of restoration projects that led almost immediately to a dramatic and persistent recovery of miles of beach of the east Elwha delta and the unarmored feeder bluff shoreline beyond.

CWI’s continued work is possible through ongoing partnership of a number of individuals and organizations including:  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office, Puget Sound Partnership, Estuary and Salmon Restoration Program, The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Bruch and Bruch Construction, 2 Grade LLC, Crescent Environmental,  The Phillips Family, Patagonia, North Olympic Land Trust, John L Scott Real Estate, Washington Department of Ecology, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Clallam County, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U. S. Geological Society, North Olympic  Peninsula  Lead  Entity  for Salmon Recovery, University of Victoria, University of Washington, Western Washington University, Peninsula College, Olympic Peninsula Surfrider Foundation,  Ornithologist Tom Butler, Hayes Family Foundation, Rose Foundation, The Seattle  Foundation,  Puget Soundkeeper  Alliance and Lighthawk.

For additional information contact: Jamie Michel, jamie.michel@coastalwatershedinstitute.org.

More on the Beach Lake Acquisition and Restoration Project can be found at the CWI blog.

More information on the Coastal Watershed Institute can be found at:

www.coastalwatershedinstitute.org.