Puget Lowland Forests (USFS), aka:
Puget Sound Douglas-fir Vegetation Zone (WA State)
The Puget
Lowland Forest ecoregion is a north-south oriented lowland
that encompasses the Puget Sound estuary of Washington and
British Columbia (minus Vancouver Island) between the
Olympic Mountains to the west and the Cascades to the east.
Geologically, this ecoregion is made up of glacial till and
outwash with some lacustrine deposits. The climate is
Mediterranean with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters.
Annual precipitation ranges from 25 to >60 in. The drier
areas are caused by rain-shadows from the Olympic Mountains
resulting in the development of natural grassland and
savanna communities. The sound itself and the rivers that
flow into it are important ecological and cultural features
of this ecoregion. Flooding is the major natural
disturbance event today.
• Douglas-fir trees are the most important
species of this zone.
•
Western Redcedar and Western Hemlock are found mixed in
with Douglas-fir.
• Bigleaf Maple is found on moist sites.
• Madrone is common along the shoreline
and on drained, sunny slopes.
• Red Alder is common after disturbance on
moist sites.
• Understory plant communities include:
– Swordfern, Salal,
Oregongrape.
– Three-leaved
foamflower, Evergreen blueberry, Pacific rhododendron.
– Creambush Ocean
spray, Common snowberry, Baldhip rose, and Western fescue.
Freshwater
wetlands – Poorly
drained sites with swamp or bog communities are abundant in
this zone. Wooded riparian communities are usually
dominated by Black cottonwood, Bigleaf maple, and Red
alder.
Shorelines
and coastal bluffs –
Shorelines are often lined with a thin band of Madrone.
Coastal bluffs often support Madrone or Douglas-fir/Madrone
stands.
Exotic
plants are common on
non-forested sites. Among the most widespread and
domineering are numerous species on introduced blackberries
and Scotch broom. Peripheral homesteads and low-density
developments are outposts of exotic plants. Besides the
spread of invasive weeds, a prominent effect of development
is the replacement of conifer trees with non-native
hardwoods.
Prior
to European settlement, the Puget
Lowland Forest ecoregion was dominated by dense coniferous
forest of western red cedar, western hemlock, and
Douglas-fir. Tree species on drier sites included
Douglas-fir, Garry oak, Pacific dogwood, and arbutus. Some
prairie and bog communities were scattered throughout the
ecoregion and the numerous islands and inlets were outlined
by a variety of nearshore habitats. The intimate
relationship between the forest and the sea is demonstrated
here perhaps better here than in any other region of North
America. Both the terrestrial and marine environments were,
and although altered and under stress, still are extremely
productive.
The most important conservation story about the Puget
Lowlands centers on the level and continued rapid growth of
the human population. The largest cities in BC (Vancouver)
and in Washington (Seattle) are both contained in the
ecoregion, as are many other large urban areas. This region
has been experiencing incredible urban expansion especially
in the U.S. over the last decade, and projections are much
of the same into the foreseeable future. Most of the dense
lowland coniferous forest has been cut and converted long
ago, and few sizeable natural forest areas remain. The
larger prairie areas in the southern portion of the
ecoregion near Tacoma and Olympia, Washington, have been
largely converted by urbanization and agriculture. Many of
the interior wetlands have been developed, but some still
remain. Continued urbanization and population pressures
pose serious threats to converting or degrading the little
naturalness that remains. Besides salmon, issues about air
and water quality, overcrowding, and the ever-growing
problem of invasive exotic species will continue to be at
the forefront of conservation in the region.
Puget Sound was the first
National Estuary Program site chosen by
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1987 and
continues to the present. Numerous research studies
continue to be generated including topics on toxics,
conventional pollutants, pathogens, human population
growth, habitat loss/alteration, introduced/pest species,
sedimentation, and oil spills. Current emphasis areas
include fixing and preventing on-site sewage system
problems, protecting and restoring shellfish beds, reducing
non-point pollution, improving wildlife habitat, protecting
the shared waters of Puget Sound in Washington and the
Georgia Basin in British Columbia, and education.
Sources
WA State - Puget Sound Douglas-fir
Vegetation Zone
USFS Ecological Subregions - Pacific
Lowland Mixed Forest
CBI Puget Lowland Forests
Our Watershed: Quilcene-Snow
Kala Point is
within the Quilcene-Snow Watershed. The Watershed Plan was
released earlier this year for our Water Resource Inventory
Area , WRIA-17 (see links, below).
WRIA-17 is located on the northeastern Olympic Peninsula,
and includes portions of Jefferson and Clallam Counties.
The WRIA encompasses direct drainages to Puget Sound from
Jimmycomelately Creek in the northwest to the Big Quilcene
River in the south. The watershed also boasts portions of
Hood Canal and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the
northeast flank of the Olympic Mountains.
The Washington State Legislature passed the Watershed
Management Act (Chapter 90.82 RCW) in 1998. The purpose of
the Watershed Management Act is to provide a framework for
addressing water quality, water quantity, and salmon
habitat issues at the local level. The Act provides grant
funding to Planning Units, which include governmental and
non-governmental entities. The ultimate result is a plan
for future water resource management.
The WRIA 17 Planning Unit adopted the following purpose
statement for the WRIA 17 Watershed Management Plan:
"The purpose of the watershed plan is to create a
decision-making tool for water resource management,
including future appropriation of water and land use and
development decisions. It is the intent of the plan to
recommend actions to ensure clean water in sufficient
quantities to provide both adequate habitat for fish and an
adequate supply for human uses. Therefore the plan will
include provisions for water quality protection and
enhancement, water conservation, and habitat
protection/restoration. "
Two primary goals of watershed planning:
1. Assess the status of water resources in the Water
Resource Inventory Area (WRIA).
2. Determine how to reconcile the competing demands for
water within the WRIA, including making sure there is
enough water in streams for fish.
NOTE:
The following is the basin classification used by the
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS):
Region Pacific
Northwest Region
SubRegion Puget Sound
Basin Puget
Sound
Most of Kala Point belongs to:
SubBasin Puget
Sound
Hydrologic Unit = 17110019
A
small portion of Kala Point (northwest) belongs to:
SubBasin Dungeness-Elwha
Hydrologic Unit = 17110020
SOURCES:
For detailed and recent information, see:
Quilcene-Snow Watershed Project (WRIA
17)
and
at
WA DOE's WRIA 17,
with general information at
WA DOE Water Quality Program's Watershed
Information
Average Rainfall – "Contour Map"
This map
depicts isopleths (isobars) of rainfall in inches, similar
to elevation contours on a topographic map.
Weather data is from 30-year averages, and it was produced
by NOAA and affiliated federal and state agencies.
You can see the rainshadow effect of the Olympics to the
east, which is most apparent in the Sequim area.
Kala Point falls in the 24-inch area.
