The Ozette Prairies of Olympic National Park - Natural Resources ...
The Ozette Prairies of Olympic National Park - Natural Resources ... The Ozette Prairies of Olympic National Park - Natural Resources ...
Oral Interviews Oral interviews with individuals from various tribes and non-Indians with a long-term history in the area are considered a legitimate, scholarly method of information gathering in the fields of anthropology, ethnobiology, environmental history, and historical ecology and are used to reconstruct Native American uses of the flora and land management practices (Anderson 2005; Boyd 1999a; Deur and Turner 2005; Egan and Howell 2001; Goble and Hirt 1999). There are Makah who are the present-day carriers of an oral tradition, chronicling the ancient practices and lifeways of the people. Native people still gather native plants and prepare traditional foods, and speak their native language. Between 2002 and 2007, thirty oral interviews were conducted with twenty-one individuals concerning the history of the Ozette Prairies. Seventeen interviews were conducted with thirteen Makah; two interviews were conducted with a Jamestown S’Klallam; eleven interviews were conducted with seven non-Indians with a knowledge of the long-term history of the area. Makah consultants were transmitting information that they received directly from parents or grandparents who had witnessed or used practices of which they spoke. Thus, this information is still quite fresh in the collective memory of the Makah and likely to be accurate. The Written Historical Record Supplementing the information from these interviews is a considerable body of archival evidence from the historic and ethnographic record, including nineteenth-century maps, newspaper articles, museum records and collections, and field notes from explorers, surveyors, botanists, and anthropologists which were studied along with General Land Office survey maps and accompanying notes for information on cultural uses and burning of the wetlands in the traditional territory of the Makah. Ecological Features of the Ozette Prairies The Ozette Prairies are a mosaic of wetlands and relatively drier treeless environments: bogs, fens, and grassland areas. Such open areas are rare in the forest that covers most of Olympic National Park and constitute some of the only habitats in which animals and plants not adapted to the shade of trees can survive. Since this open habitat is not extensive, some of these species are threatened or sensitive. In addition to being a refuge for these species, the wetlands have extremely high biodiversity because they encompass such a wide variety of ecological conditions, including bogs, fens, grasslands, and ecotones (transition 5
zones between forest and prairie). Because of these factors, the wetlands are a unique ecosystem, impor- tant not only for the species that require open habitats but also for the biota of the Olympic National Park as a whole. An overview of the two main wetlands of the Ozette—Ahlstrom’s and Roose’s—serves to illus- trate the ecological diversity of the Ozette Prairies. 6 Ahlstrom’s Prairie receives both rainfall and overland water flows. Braided rills flow north to south through central portions of the peatland, draining excess water from the wetland into an outflow stream south of the wetland (Gutchewsky 2004). In the ecotone around the wetland’s margin grow some of the forest shrubs that have edible berries: salal (Gaultheria shallon), evergreen Figure 4. Huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum) shrub in the shade of western huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum), and red hemlock trees on the western edge of Ahlstrom’s Prairie. Photograph by Kat Anderson, 2007. huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium) (Kate McCarty pers. comm. 2007, Bach and Conca 2004). Also in the ecotone, particularly on the west side of the wetland, grow large, huckleberry bushes with no berries under the dense canopy of young western hemlock trees (see Figure 4). On the northeast perimeter of Ahlstrom’s Prairie there is a small patch of giant horsetail (Equisetum telmateia) and skunk cabbage (Lysichitum americanus) in the ecotone. Under the advancing conifers, there is a build-up of old, dead bracken thatch. (see Figure 5). Just out from the ecotone in the higher and drier perimeter of the wetland a ring of bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) grows in very dense patches, particularly on the west side (Bowcutt 2007). Other associates along this perimeter include Indian tea (also known as Labrador tea) (Ledum groenlandicum), bog laurel (Kalmia polifolia), Menzie’s spiraea or hardhack (Spiraea douglasii var. menziesii) (Buckingham 1976-1977), and salal. (Note: Lenz and Cereghino (2002) found no rare species in areas dominated by salal and bracken fern, or in dense woody Figure 5. Dead bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) thatch in the same location as Figure 4. Photograph by Kat Anderson, 2007.
- Page 1 and 2: The Ozette Prairies of Olympic Nati
- Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents List of Figures .
- Page 5 and 6: Figure 35. 1895 Plat Map highlighti
- Page 7 and 8: Acknowledgments The conception for
- Page 9 and 10: many obscure references. Many other
- Page 11 and 12: Figure 1. View of Ahlstrom’s Prai
- Page 13: Until recently, we were limited by
- Page 17 and 18: The drier east-facing slopes have c
- Page 19 and 20: e important nesting sites for some
- Page 21 and 22: to the sea to the north of Cape Ala
- Page 23 and 24: 1928, notes that “tuberculosis an
- Page 25 and 26: Table 1. Timeline for Major Events
- Page 27 and 28: a significant part of the Makah’s
- Page 29 and 30: oxes, spoons, and bowls. Mature con
- Page 31 and 32: Figure 16. T.T. Waterman map. #22 a
- Page 33 and 34: It is possible that the Ozettes vis
- Page 35 and 36: in the wet areas, and salal berries
- Page 37 and 38: Species Uses Plant Part Location Be
- Page 39 and 40: Species Uses Plant Part Location Ti
- Page 41 and 42: 32 were small, but they were in abu
- Page 43 and 44: I still gather them [the leaves] ev
- Page 45 and 46: The Makah harvested the leaves of c
- Page 47 and 48: Born on February 2, 1926, eighty-th
- Page 49 and 50: She arrived early enough on the Mak
- Page 51 and 52: Prairie was not surveyed (see Table
- Page 53 and 54: 44 Figure 35. 1895 Plat Map. Townsh
- Page 55 and 56: Figure 37. Bracken fern (Pteridium
- Page 57 and 58: 48 the [Ozette] prairies. They woul
- Page 59 and 60: Enhance productivity of above-groun
- Page 61 and 62: We do have some evidence that the O
- Page 63 and 64: happened “yearly or whenever it w
zones between forest and prairie). Because <strong>of</strong> these factors, the wetlands are a unique ecosystem, impor-<br />
tant not only for the species that require open habitats but also for the biota <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>National</strong> <strong>Park</strong><br />
as a whole.<br />
An overview <strong>of</strong> the two main wetlands <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Ozette</strong>—Ahlstrom’s and Roose’s—serves to illus-<br />
trate the ecological diversity <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Ozette</strong> <strong>Prairies</strong>.<br />
6<br />
Ahlstrom’s Prairie receives both rainfall<br />
and overland water flows. Braided rills flow<br />
north to south through central portions <strong>of</strong><br />
the peatland, draining excess water from<br />
the wetland into an outflow stream south<br />
<strong>of</strong> the wetland (Gutchewsky 2004). In the<br />
ecotone around the wetland’s margin grow<br />
some <strong>of</strong> the forest shrubs that have edible<br />
berries: salal (Gaultheria shallon), evergreen<br />
Figure 4. Huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum) shrub in the shade <strong>of</strong> western<br />
huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum), and red<br />
hemlock trees on the western edge <strong>of</strong> Ahlstrom’s Prairie. Photograph by Kat<br />
Anderson, 2007.<br />
huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium) (Kate<br />
McCarty pers. comm. 2007, Bach and Conca<br />
2004). Also in the ecotone, particularly on the west side <strong>of</strong> the wetland, grow large, huckleberry bushes<br />
with no berries under the dense canopy <strong>of</strong> young western hemlock trees (see Figure 4). On the northeast<br />
perimeter <strong>of</strong> Ahlstrom’s Prairie there is a small patch <strong>of</strong> giant horsetail (Equisetum telmateia) and skunk<br />
cabbage (Lysichitum americanus) in the ecotone. Under the advancing conifers, there is a build-up <strong>of</strong> old,<br />
dead bracken thatch. (see Figure 5). Just out from the ecotone in the higher and drier perimeter <strong>of</strong> the<br />
wetland a ring <strong>of</strong> bracken fern (Pteridium<br />
aquilinum) grows in very dense patches,<br />
particularly on the west side (Bowcutt<br />
2007). Other associates along this perimeter<br />
include Indian tea (also known as<br />
Labrador tea) (Ledum groenlandicum), bog<br />
laurel (Kalmia polifolia), Menzie’s spiraea<br />
or hardhack (Spiraea douglasii var. menziesii)<br />
(Buckingham 1976-1977), and salal.<br />
(Note: Lenz and Cereghino (2002) found<br />
no rare species in areas dominated by salal<br />
and bracken fern, or in dense woody Figure 5. Dead bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) thatch in the same location as<br />
Figure 4. Photograph by Kat Anderson, 2007.
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