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 ...
4. The areas surrounding the true wetlands likely were created by Indian burning-- expanding the size of the Ozette Prairies. With repeat fire, the clearings eventually went beyond the saturated conditions to include surrounding upland soils--the areas where the trees are actively invading today. These openings were probably kept open with the non-Indian ranching and burning activities of Lars Ahlstrom and Peter Roose. 5. The Ozette Prairies are a product of both natural and cultural forces. Non-anthropogenic and anthropogenic factors have been at work during the Holocene to give us the high biodiversity found there today. The Ozette Prairies best fit the National Park Service category of ethnographic landscape, which is defined as “a site, structure, object, landscape, or natural resource feature assigned traditional legendary, religious, subsistence, or other significance in the cultural system of a group traditionally associated with it” (National Park Service 2001). Management Options for the Ozette Prairies There are a variety of options for the management of the Ozette Prairies such as mechanical tree removal, the reintroduction of fire, and a hands-off approach—letting nature take its course. What is needed is an accounting of all of the available management options and the weighing of environmental, cultural, and economic advantages and disadvantages for each option. Additional scientific research will be required. This section discusses the upsides and downsides of one of these options—to reintroduce burning to control the encroachment of woody vegetation. Reintroducing burning is complex and controversial. While Indian burning may have enhanced culturally significant plant species in the past such as bog cranberry and Indian tea and these plants can survive low to moderate intensity burns (http://www.fs.fed. us/database/feis), it is unknown how the reintroduction of burning may affect Plant Species of Concern listed in this report—given the current climate, recent land use history, and the presence of non-native plant species. The presence of non-native plants in the current vegetation is a major consideration to park managers when planning fire prescriptions. The presence of invasive plants may change the dynamics of the vegetation that develops after burning and in some cases may increase the invasion of alien plant species (Graber 2003). The use of prescribed fire is also restricted by air quality regulations and atmospheric and fuel conditions (Larry Nickey pers. comm. 2009; Graber 2003). Botanists, ecologists, and geographers have argued that if modern climate change is leading to a warmer/drier climate, then these wetlands may experience altered hydroperiods that are unable to 61
support their existing flora or parts of it (Clayton Antieau pers. comm. 2009; Graber 2003; Whitlock 1992). Ecologist David Graber (2003:264) says that “moreover, applications of previously benign or positive management practices, such as the relatively light and local burning programs Native Americans practiced for many years...now may produce undesirable, less ‘natural’ outcomes, or may simply be inadequate to mitigate anthropogenic stressors.” It is unknown how the Makah copper and the Ozette skipper may respond to fire. The ecological literature demonstrates that using fire to maintain prairie and wetland habitat for rare and endangered butterflies can be either beneficial or detrimental to the populations of the insects (Black et al. 2009; Swengel 1996; Schultz and Crone 1998; Panzer 2002). We don’t know enough about these particular butterflies, however, to assign them to either category. Butterfly expert Robert Michael Pyle is against the reintroduction of fire in the Ozette Prairies, but he recognizes the importance of open habitat for the welfare of the butterflies and recommends mechani- cal removal of the trees: Although major fire scars on the south sides of the large ‘cypress-like’ hemlocks in S. Ahlstrom’s Prairie show that fire has been an ecological feature of the area, we recommend against employing fire to reduce biomass on the Ozette Prairies. A large body of evidence is building that indicates fire is hostile to butterfly populations unless a large area of adjacent habitat remains unburned to permit refuge and recolonization. The gentian, the violets, the copper, the skippers, and their host plants, bog cranberry and grasses, will all be better served through small tree cutting than by fire, which could extirpate them. On the other hand, fire at Roose’s homestead appears to represent no threat, unless it escapes onto Roose’s Bog (R. Pyle and T. Pyle 2000). Fire ecologist James Agee (pers. comm. 2009) says that: Another alternative to consider in active management of the Ozette Prairies is to mechanically remove the trees and then reintroduce fire to portions of the prairies every few years. This should mitigate the butterfly impact and in the long run increase habitat for them. Bog ecologist Richard Hebda states: There are multiple factors involved with tree encroachment on the Ozette Prairies and yes absence of fire has likely played a role and grazing changes too. My recommendation would be to do some limited experimental fires at the margins of one of the wet areas and see what happens. Fire can have negative effects on wetlands increasing nutrient fluxes, reducing rate of peat formation, especially in Sphagnum areas, perhaps changing hydrology in the wetland itself so caution is warranted. Cutting out the trees may also be an effective approach if the tree cover is the key element of the hydrological processes. 62
- 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
- Page 65 and 66: such as parent material, land form,
- Page 67 and 68: to advance onto the Ozette Prairies
- Page 69: near Ozette; their meat and oil are
- Page 73 and 74: References Agee, J.K. 1993. Fire Ec
- Page 75 and 76: Croes, D.R. and E. Blinman. 1980. H
- Page 77 and 78: Howie, S.A., P.H. Whitfield, R.J. H
- Page 79 and 80: expanded by G. Peterson and G. Pete
- Page 81 and 82: Vanderhoof, M. 1960. Death of pione
- Page 83 and 84: num hummocks dominated by Empretum
- Page 85 and 86: Linda Kunze’s Survey of Sand Poin
- Page 87 and 88: Appendix 3 Evidence of Indian Burni
- Page 89 and 90: Appendix 4 Evidence of Indian Burni
- Page 91 and 92: Appendix 5 Evidence of Indian Burni
- Page 93 and 94: ear, and elk that graze in there. T
- Page 95 and 96: the spiritual world of the prairies
- Page 97 and 98: Prairie Animal Resources. The prair
- Page 99 and 100: Ram Singh discussed the importance
- Page 101 and 102: long by ½” thick. It was found o
- Page 103 and 104: Ha’hiba, Trees common around the
- Page 105 and 106: Vine maple (t’apsiyoqwpat, “spl
- Page 107 and 108: proof), and the stalks were used in
- Page 109 and 110: Mint (k’i’ilt’adapat, “cool
- Page 111 and 112: THE TRADITIONAL CULTURE OF QUILEUTE
- Page 113 and 114: property (with the exception of bea
- Page 115 and 116: which can be used without permissio
- Page 117 and 118: that spirits were just as natural a
- Page 119 and 120: ture Spirit, T’siq’ati) rewarde
4. <strong>The</strong> areas surrounding the true wetlands likely were created by Indian burning-- expanding the size<br />
<strong>of</strong> the <strong>Ozette</strong> <strong>Prairies</strong>. With repeat fire, the clearings eventually went beyond the saturated conditions to<br />
include surrounding upland soils--the areas where the trees are actively invading today. <strong>The</strong>se openings<br />
were probably kept open with the non-Indian ranching and burning activities <strong>of</strong> Lars Ahlstrom and Peter<br />
Roose.<br />
5. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Ozette</strong> <strong>Prairies</strong> are a product <strong>of</strong> both natural and cultural forces. Non-anthropogenic and anthropogenic<br />
factors have been at work during the Holocene to give us the high biodiversity found there today.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Ozette</strong> <strong>Prairies</strong> best fit the <strong>National</strong> <strong>Park</strong> Service category <strong>of</strong> ethnographic landscape, which is defined<br />
as “a site, structure, object, landscape, or natural resource feature assigned traditional legendary, religious,<br />
subsistence, or other significance in the cultural system <strong>of</strong> a group traditionally associated with it”<br />
(<strong>National</strong> <strong>Park</strong> Service 2001).<br />
Management Options for the <strong>Ozette</strong> <strong>Prairies</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong>re are a variety <strong>of</strong> options for the management <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Ozette</strong> <strong>Prairies</strong> such as mechanical tree<br />
removal, the reintroduction <strong>of</strong> fire, and a hands-<strong>of</strong>f approach—letting nature take its course. What is<br />
needed is an accounting <strong>of</strong> all <strong>of</strong> the available management options and the weighing <strong>of</strong> environmental,<br />
cultural, and economic advantages and disadvantages for each option. Additional scientific research will<br />
be required.<br />
This section discusses the upsides and downsides <strong>of</strong> one <strong>of</strong> these options—to reintroduce burning<br />
to control the encroachment <strong>of</strong> woody vegetation. Reintroducing burning is complex and controversial.<br />
While Indian burning may have enhanced culturally significant plant species in the past such as bog cranberry<br />
and Indian tea and these plants can survive low to moderate intensity burns (http://www.fs.fed.<br />
us/database/feis), it is unknown how the reintroduction <strong>of</strong> burning may affect Plant Species <strong>of</strong> Concern<br />
listed in this report—given the current climate, recent land use history, and the presence <strong>of</strong> non-native<br />
plant species. <strong>The</strong> presence <strong>of</strong> non-native plants in the current vegetation is a major consideration to park<br />
managers when planning fire prescriptions. <strong>The</strong> presence <strong>of</strong> invasive plants may change the dynamics <strong>of</strong><br />
the vegetation that develops after burning and in some cases may increase the invasion <strong>of</strong> alien plant species<br />
(Graber 2003). <strong>The</strong> use <strong>of</strong> prescribed fire is also restricted by air quality regulations and atmospheric<br />
and fuel conditions (Larry Nickey pers. comm. 2009; Graber 2003).<br />
Botanists, ecologists, and geographers have argued that if modern climate change is leading to<br />
a warmer/drier climate, then these wetlands may experience altered hydroperiods that are unable to<br />
61
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