South Slough Reserve 2016 Year in Review

Milestones

The 2017-2022 Reserve Management Plan completed.

Eleven hundred upland acres added to the Reserve.

Weather station relocated to Tom’s Creek Marsh.

Cultural surveys begin at Indian Point.

Indian Point

Valino Island

Staff-Outgoing, incoming, and passing through

Long time maintenance assistant Don Smith retired in May. Don, who could be found anywhere

and everywhere along the trails during a day’s work, loved caring for South Slough’s trails. He is

missed for his all-round “get the job done” attitude.

Talo Silver began working full time as maintenance assistant in June. Previously, as an employee

of Cardinal Services, Talo worked on contract with the Friends of South Slough (FOSS) to

maintain the Reserve’s aquariums at the Visitors Center.

Astrea Strawn left her position as AmeriCorps science outreach specialist in August. The

outreach specialist works with local elementary students participating in the Estuary Explorers

after-school program. Through this program students learn to apply classroom lessons in

science and math to real world problems.

Jesse Gilfillan, who replaced Astrea as science outreach specialist, began work in September

and will continue in the temporary position until next fall.

Computer mapping specialists Brian Mladenich and Jane Rombouts, and science technicians

Erica Wilkinson, Ryan Scott, and Sam Schrager, provided temporary assistance on grant-funded

projects, some of which continue through early 2017.

Don Smith Talo Silver

Astrea Strawn Jesse Gilfillan

Grants

Grants provide a significant source of funding for science and education. Grant-funded projects

approved in 2016 include:

Amount Grant

/Recipient

Source Purpose Ends

$20,000 Coquille Tribal Community

Fund /FOSS

Coquille

Indian Tribe

Arrest the decay of the

historic shed at

Fredrickson homestead

2016

$60,000 Bay Watershed Education and

Training (BWET)

/SSNERR

NOAA Outdoor education for

elementary students

2017

$246,000 Integrative Assessment Grant

/SSNERR

NSC Land use analysis for

the Coos estuary

2018

$15,000 Partners in Science

/C. Geierman

M. J. Murdock

Charitable

Trust

European green crab

population study

2019

$329,000 Land Acquisition and

Construction Grant

/SSNERR

NOAA Science lab and office

remodeling/ expansion

2019

$64,141 Fish Habitat Conservation

/FOSS

Pacific Marine

and Estuarine

Fish Habitat

Partnership

Mapping and assessment

of eelgrass in Coos Bay

2017

Grounds and Facilities

After decades of duty, South Slough’s facilities are beginning to show their age. Work has begun

to remodel and expand the reserve’s science laboratory and offices on the Oregon Institute of

Marine Biology campus. At the Visitors Center, repairs were made last winter after rains

overwhelmed a septic and sump pump and flooded the downstairs classroom.

The sidewalk behind the Visitors Center, which was removed to accommodate repairs to the

building’s foundation, has been replaced and once more accessible.

Inmate workers from the Shutter Creek State Correctional Facility helped to repair the Hidden

Creek boardwalk, maintain trails, and remove invasive species from Reserve lands.

Volunteers and Interns

Volunteers freely donate their time, talents and skills to the South Slough Reserve. Their work,

however, which broadens the Reserve’s reach in the community and throughout the South

Coast region, is not without value. In 2016 an average of 28 volunteers per month and interns

put in 5,845 hours valued at $134,942 (not including December).

Stewardship

Development of the Wasson Creek Restoration Plan is in its final stages. The ridgetop to estuary

restoration plan will include a reconnected channel design, planting plans to encourage native

plants, and upland forest thinning prescriptions for increasing diversity in previously harvested

stands. The drainage also has a rich cultural heritage which includes the Fredrickson house and

barn.

The arrested decay phase of the Fredrickson Shed project is now complete, thanks to funding

from the Coquille Tribal Community Fund to FOSS. A grant request for Phase 2 of the project, a

more thorough restoration, has been submitted.

Invasive Species Removal

The Reserve is still active with the local Gorse Action Group; the International Port of Coos Bay

pulled pampas grass this summer; Summer Science campers cut back invasive species on Indian

Point; Reserve staff pulled purple loosestrife from a neighboring property; and a Coos Forest

Protective Association inmate crew cut back large patches of Scotch broom and escalonia on

Reserve property.

Partnership for Coastal Watersheds (PCW)

The PCW continues to move forward. The group is guided by a committee that includes

representatives of the Coos County Planning Department, City of Coos Bay (planning and city

council), North Bend Planning, International Port of Coos Bay, South Coast Development

Council, Stuntzner Engineering, Department of Land Conservation and Development, Southwest

Oregon Community College, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, US Fish and Wildlife

Service, Coos Watershed Association, and the Coquille Indian Tribe. Currently the group is

focused on two projects: finalizing the Communities, Lands & Waterways Data Source project,

which is an encyclopedic compilation of all available data describing the socioeconomic and

environmental conditions in the lower Coos watershed

(http://www.partnershipforcoastalwatersheds.org/lands-waterways-data-source/), and a land

use analysis for the Coos estuary.

Education

More than 4900 people came into the Visitors Center between October 2015 and October

2016. Education and coastal training staff provided 123 classes, training courses, workshops,

and field trips, serving 3162 participants. Another 3285 people attended informal community

education classes.

Formal education emphasizes estuarine instruction for students from kindergarten through

12th grade using curriculum guidance from NOAA’s Kindergarten-to-12th grade Estuary

Education Program (KEEP). In 2016 KEEP students participated in programs ranging from

watershed science to mudflat and eelgrass ecology. The program benefits from the work of

dedicated volunteers and interns. More than 3000 students participated in KEEP in 2016.

With support from FOSS, the Education Program hosted four Summer Science Camps from June

through July for elementary through junior high school students. Most campers were from Coos

Bay area schools. Donors supported numerous scholarships for underserved families.

Paddlers’ certifications

Paddler trip leaders Joy Tally, education coordinator, Eric Dean, education program specialist,

and public involvement coordinator Deborah Rudd completed certified paddle instructor

training course provided by the American Canoe Association.

Bay Watershed Education and Training

The Oregon Coast Education Program (OCEP), a partnership of education institutions,

encourages use of best practices for field and classroom-based education to incorporate

meaningful watershed education experiences for students. The program is wrapping up its fifth

year at the Reserve. By participating in professional development workshops and activities,

local teachers gain resources and skills to support coastal education lessons for their students.

Participating organizations include the Reserve, the Oregon Coast Aquarium, the Hatfield

Marine Science Center, Portland State University, and the Oregon High Desert Museum.

Funding for OCEP is provided by NOAA’s Bay Watershed Education and Training program

(BWET).

Coastal Training Program

The Coastal Training Program provides training and technical assistance for coastal managers

and decision makers in the lower Columbia biogeographic province. Coastal training staff

hosted two NOAA-sponsored workshops, including Climate Adaptation for Coastal Communities

(Oct 6-8, 2015, Newport) and Introducing Green Infrastructure for Coastal Resilience (Feb. 23,

2016, Coos Bay); assisted the City of Coos Bay’s City Dock and Waterfront Boardwalk Advisory

Committee to develop redesign options for the boardwalk; began working with computer

mapping specialists in South Coast communities to improve networking, communication and

training, and with the Urban and Regional Information Services Association to develop training

and outreach strategies for computer mapping professionals; helped to develop and present

information about unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), including presentations about the

growing use of unmanned aerial vehicles by the research reserves, at Symposium By The Sea,

an annual one-day conference for computer and geospatial mapping professionals.

CTP staff also began working:

with state and local partners to develop advanced green infrastructure training for

engineers and landscape contractors, scheduled for February;

with NOAA’s Office For Coastal Management to explore the use of green infrastructure

to improve coastal hazard resilience;

with data management and computer mapping specialists to develop and present the

Oregon Geographic Data Fair at the annual GIS In Action conference at Portland State

University, scheduled for April.

The coastal training coordinator serves on the Pacific Marine Estuarine Fish Habitat Partnership

steering, governance, prioritization, and communication committees. PMEP is one of 19

nationally recognized fish habitat partnerships advancing ecological goals for native fish. PMEP

is prioritizing estuarine habitat restoration to benefit juvenile fish in West Coast estuaries,

including mapping and classifying estuarine habitats; documenting tidal wetland loss, and

identifying habitat stressors to prioritize juvenile fish habitat restoration in Washington,

Oregon, and California estuaries.

In 2016 the CTP coordinator assessed training needs, issues, audiences, and stakeholders for

future coastal training, through formal surveys and informal assessments to inform training

needs for the next several years.

Research

The water quality instruments at the four System Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP) stations

have all been upgraded to include wireless communication and smart sensor technology, which

allows for easier calibration and configuration.

Science staff completed the process of relocating the long-term SWMP weather station,

previously located on the campus of the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology (OIMB) from

August 2001-April 2015, due to the installation of a 140 foot wind turbine by OIMB in

December 2014. Staff selected Tom’s Creek Marsh located at the south end of the reserve.

South Slough submitted the implementation plan to NOAA to become a fully operational

Sentinel Site. The NERRS Sentinel Sites program pairs the long term water quality and water

level data collected at SSNERR’s System-Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP) sites with data

quantifying other controlling factors (e.g., marsh elevation, plant community, vertical accretion,

soil salinity, groundwater level) to help interpret long term changes in wetland emergent marsh

plant communities and eelgrass beds.

Science staff received NOAA’s Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) GPS equipment in September and

October. Using the equipment, staff and FOSS intern Sabine Berzins collected marsh elevation

data at all biomonitoring plots where vegetation data were collected. In addition, three new

vertical control marks were surveyed into our local network.

Wasson Watershed Monitoring

Science staff have begun baseline monitoring of the Wasson Creek lowlands, in preparation for

anticipated restoration work. Weekly Coho salmon spawning surveys were conducted (with the

help of volunteers and a FOSS funded intern). In February, staff began vegetation mapping for

four commonly occurring species including two native (slough sedge and small fruited bulrush)

and two non-native (reed canary grass and pasture grass). Last winter, bi-weekly surveys of

birds occurred. In March 2016, these became weekly surveys as birds began to migrate.

Lamprey Monitoring

Very little is known about lamprey distribution or abundance in the Coos watershed and in

particular the South Slough watershed. Reserve science staff met with Oregon Department of

Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) science staff to discuss the best way to assess lamprey populations in

the South Slough. As a result of this conversation, the reserve and ODFW staff began an

assessment of lamprey distribution and relative abundance in Winchester Creek using ODFW

lamprey shocking equipment and ODFW take permits.

Blue Carbon

The Reserve continues to collaborate with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to

quantify the rate of carbon sequestration in Coos estuary tidal wetlands, including Reserve

“sentinel sites”. Reserve science staff also partnered with researchers at the University of New

Hampshire and the Hakai Institute to collect soil cores from eelgrass sites in South Slough as

part of a blue carbon stock assessment of eelgrass beds across the Pacific Northwest.

Native Oyster (Ostrea lurida) Recruitment in Coos estuary

Oyster settlement plates were deployed in Haynes Inlet, Downtown Coos Bay, and Coalbank

Slough in April of 2016 to continue a multi-year recruitment study started by an OIMB graduate

student in 2012. Oyster recruitment was monitored every two weeks by interns and science

staff through August, but no oysters recruits were observed at any site during that period. The

decision was made to leave half of the settlement plates at each site through the winter to

determine if recruitment could be observed over longer sampling period.

Fish Assemblages of South Slough and Coos Estuary

Reserve staff, interns, and volunteers continued monthly seining at six sites in South Slough;

seasonal seining was done at Palouse, Larson, and Willanch Creeks in the upper estuary by

project partners. Reserve staff continues to maintain three water quality instruments at the

upper estuary sites; the sensors are calibrated and data are downloaded monthly. The project is

designed to characterize seasonal patterns of fish and invertebrate species diversity, richness,

and presence/absence throughout the estuary. An additional component of the project is to

assess habitat use of the Kunz restoration site by fishes, which was last investigated in 1997-

1998. Fyke netting in Kunz began in November. Two additional temporary part-time field

technicians (Erica Wilkinson and Sam Schrager) were hired to work on the project through

March 2017.

Eelgrass Mapping

The Reserve received a $64,141 grant from the Pacific Marine and Estuarine Fish Habitat

Partnership (PMEP) to fund eelgrass mapping of the Coos estuary. This project collected aerial

imagery, underwater video and bathymetry data to create updated maps of the distribution of

eelgrass throughout the estuary, including South Slough. In addition to showing the current

extent of eelgrass, maps from this project could be used to assess changes in eelgrass coverage

over the ten years since the last eelgrass maps were made for the estuary.

Green Crab Distribution and Abundance

Reserve received a $15,000 grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust’s Partners in Science

program. The grant provides a stipend for a high school science teacher (Christina Geierman) to

work for two summers on a European green crab monitoring project in the Coos estuary. The

reserve also hosted an Oregon Sea Grant Undergraduate Summer Scholar (Collin Williams) who

designed and implemented an intensive green crab survey of South Slough. Together these two

projects provided valuable data on the current abundance and distribution of this invasive crab

in the estuary and will help guide future control efforts and surveys.

Outreach

The Department of State Lands (DSL) is joining other state agencies in a project to improve our

websites for the various publics we serve. Throughout 2016 Reserve and DSL staff have been

working on the upgrades. Watch in 2017 for the new site!

Reserve staff and volunteers participated in the following community activities in 2016: Bay

Area Chamber of Commerce Planning Session, hosting an evening for Friends of Shore Acres

Holiday Lights event, Annual Bay Area Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet, Charleston Crab

Feed, Charleston Oyster feed, a special showing of Avatar with an education table and activity

for Earth Day weekend, Bay Area Brigade Clean-up, Bi-Monthly Wednesday Farmers Market,

Empire Clamboree, Salmon Celebration, Stand up for the Bay on National Estuaries Day,

Octoberfish, Science on the Screen series in partnership with Egyptian Theatre and the Coos

County Tourism Workgroup.