Project Area

The Elk River Unit - John's River Wildlife Area is a 1,670 acre property owned by Wa, Department of Fish and Wildlife and Ducks Unlimited. East of the property is the 5,413 acre Elk River Natural Resource Conservation Area.West of the property is the 172 acre Twin Harbors State Park.

Habitat

The Elk River Unit contains a diverse range of upland and wetland habitats however much of the area is degraded and provides poor or limited habitat quality. Wetlands Delineation identified 63% of the property area as wetlands. The elevation in the uplands area exceeds 100 ft above sea level.

Sample Technics

Two sample methods were used during the 10-month time span. Initially, eDNA was collected at three site on November 5, 2020. Biological sampling using dip netting and minnow traps occurred at five sites on four different dates during 2021.

Site 1

Site 1 was the downstream end of Little Andrews Cr. Coho were detected at this location.

Site 2

Site 2 was on a small tributary to Little Andrews Cr. and no salmonids of any variety were present.

Site 5

Site 5 was the final and furthest upstream site sampled on Little Andrews Cr. Coho were detected at this location.

Site A

Attempts to sample site A were made on two occasions but due to flooding no suitable sample locations were found for minnow traps or dip netting. No samples were collected on the east side of the wetland. The image shows the wetland 50ft east of the sample site.

Site B

Site B is a a 4-foot pre-cast concrete culvert running under State Route 105. At high tide the culvert it is totally submerged and during low tides there is a ~1ft outfall onto rocks which appears to be a partial barrier.

Upstream and downstream of the culvert was dip netted during the first visit on February 25, 2021, but no fish were collected.

Two minnow traps were placed upstream of the culvert during the second visit, April 9-10, 2021. Shrimp and crabs were collected but no fish.

Four minnow traps were placed both up and downstream of the culvert on September 19/20, 2021. Sculpin were collected, along with crabs and shrimp.

Site C

Site C is a 1.0-foot pre-cast concrete pipe that runs under Hunt Club Rd. The culvert is tidally influenced and has a tide gate at the culvert outlet that restricts tidal influence upstream.

The site was dip netted on February 25, 2021 but no fish were identified.

Two minnow traps were placed on April 9/10, 2021, one upstream and one downstream of the culvert. Sculpin were retrieved from the minnow trap downstream of the culvert, but the upstream trap was empty. Dip netting on the same day collected shrimp, sculpin and stickleback.

Site D

Site D is a a 3.0-foot corrugated steel culvert crossing a small access road. The culvert appears to be fish passable and although the channel is seasonal it meets the physical qualifications for a type F fish bearing channel.

One minnow trap was placed at the culvert inlet on April 9-10, 2021. One frog was collected in the trap but no fish were observed in the trap or subsequent dip netting.

Site E

Site E is an open freshwater pond.

Two minnow traps were set on September 19, 2021. Stickleback were collected from both traps.