Rapid Shoreline Inventory Report The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Guemes Shorelines |
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| Joost Businger is a member of the Guemes Island Planning Advisory Committee. For further information contact Roz at (360) 588-0160 or rozglasser@juno.com.
See also People for Puget Sound article on Guemes Island Shoreline Inventory in their newsletter. [6mb PDF] See also article on the Rapid Shoreline Inventory.
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During the summer of 2005 People for Puget Sound and GIPAC conducted a Rapid Shoreline Inventory (RSI) on selected Guemes Island shorelines to establish a baseline condition of the current shoreline habitat and to gather information about the relationship between shoreline land use and beach health. Using local volunteers, physical and biological data were collected for six-and-a-half miles of island shoreline primarily in undeveloped areas.
Volunteers near Long Bay. Photo: Bronwyn Dexter, People For Puget Sound The complete report is available at the Guemes Library and here:
The data can be used by property owners to make informed decisions about voluntary conservation and restoration activities on their shoreline properties. The Rapid Shoreline Inventory gathered detailed biological data and physical data about the shoreline between the low tide line and the high tide line, the intertidal zone. Upland from the intertidal zone is the backshore zone. Observations were recorded about the physical habitat in this zone; bluffs, plants, driftwood and man made structures. Both nutrients and pollutants are transported by water through this zone to the intertidal zone.
There were no “unhealthy” habitats found on Guemes although a patch of invasive Spartina, a grass that crowds out native intertidal plant life, was found on South Shore. High quality habitats that are not being negatively impacted by natural or human activity were identified as sites for conservation opportunities. A site southeast of Seaway Hollow scored high as a conservation site. Areas of quality habitat that could be negatively impacted by development were identified as restoration sites. Planting vegetative buffers would be an example of a restoration project. Seaway Hollow was identified as a restoration area. Areas on North Beach, West Beach and Young’s Park were identified as being a blend of Conservation and Restoration. See the complete report for maps showing the recommended restoration and conservation sites and other details. It was also recommended that the entire island be inspected for Spartina invasion and that creosoted pilings on the south shore be removed. The Guemes RSI report is part of a larger blueprint for protecting and improving shorelines in Fidalgo, Bellingham, and Padilla bay. People
for Puget Sound offers many opportunities for property owners to learn
more about restoring and protecting the shoreline at www.pugetsound.org Thank you for taking the time to think about our precious shorelines. Joost
Businger |
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