Within the last couple of weeks, the City of Poulsbo removed two houses adjacent to the south fork of Dogfish Creek — one on 8th Avenue, one near Centennial Park. In late 2017, the Poulsbo-North Kitsap Rotary Club, as a community service project, removed a house that was located off Bond Road, near the main stem of Dogfish Creek.
These projects are big steps toward restoring salmon habitat and the natural function of the creek. Restoration of the south fork of Dogfish Creek has been a long process — the city’s plan was written in 2010 — and we commend the city and its partners for shepherding it through.
The several forks of Dogfish Creek are important to the web of life. Salmon spawn here; cover provided by rocks, stumps, undercut banks and overhanging vegetation provide a nursery for salmon fry. As they mature into smolts, they remain in the Dogfish Creek estuary where they feed on smaller fish, insects, crustaceans and mollusks. When their gills and kidneys can process salt water, they head out to big water — from Liberty Bay to Puget Sound to the Salish Sea to the Pacific Ocean.
After their time in the Pacific Ocean — three years for Dogfish Creek chum salmon — the salmon return to Dogfish Creek to spawn. Eggs that do not get buried in gravel end up as food for other fish and birds. The spawning salmon dies, its body decays and releases nutrients that feed developing salmon, insects and plant life. The salmon fry go on to continue the cycle of life.
It doesn’t take much for us to harm salmon habitat. Fertilizers we use in our yards and oil that leaks from our vehicles are carried by stormwater into streams where salmon live. Removal of trees and vegetation from watersheds warms stream water temperatures, leading to higher mortality rate for salmon alevin and fry. Habitat degradation means less salmon — for animals, for those whose cultures are tied to the salmon, for all of us.
The house on 8th Avenue did a lot of damage. Gravel on that lot indicates that the creek historically flowed over that site; the house altered the stream channel. The grossly inadequate culvert under 8th Avenue slows the stream flow, affecting upstream spawning areas and restricting fish passage.
Now with the houses gone, the city can restore the stream channel and replace the culvert with a larger box culvert —essentially, a bridge.
We all have a responsibility to care for the environment that sustains us, and the city’s continued commitment to restoring the health of Dogfish Creek is a reminder to residents of that.
— The North Kitsap Herald Editorial Board: Terry Ward, publisher; Donna Etchey, general manager; Richard Walker, managing editor.
