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Home My WebLink AboutWetland Delineation and Evaluation - PLN General Forestech LLC 260 Old Fort Townsend Road Port Townsend,WA 98368 (360)2714779 www.littleforest.org Wetland Delineation and Evaluation for Brad Armstrong 60 NE Seitz Dr Belfair, WA 98528 Parcel Number 123303390021 Located in the SW '/4 - SW '/4 - S 30—T 23N—R 01 W Mason County, Washington SUMMARY Size of wetland — < .2 acre Category — III (as per Washington State Identification and Delineation Manual (Department of Ecology #96-94)) Justification: • Wetland less than one acre • Significant evidence of human-caused changes to topography and hydrology • Wetland is hydrologically isolated • Significant habitat value Forestech LLC INTRODUCTION: Forestech LLC biologists conducted a wetland survey on the previously described property. This survey was intended to determine if there is an existing wetland, and the category of that wetland according to the Department of Ecology guidelines. Field and office work to determine the presence of wetland conditions and the actual wetland boundaries were conducted according to the methodology outlined in the Washington State Identification and Delineation Manual (Department of Ecology #96-94), referred to hereafter as"The Manual." The evaluation was requested by Brad Armstrong PROJECT LOCATION This project is located in North Mason County, Washington, 500 feet east from the junction of Mission Creek rd. and Seitz drive. SITE DESCRIPTION The project site is bordered on the north by Seitz Drive, on the east by forest, field, and farm,the south and west is bordered by homes. The overstory of the site is occupied by an immature stand of red alder. The understory is occupied by a more diverse community of shrubs and herbs. (Vegetation is described in detail later in this report.) Water to the site is supplied by 2 small springs upslope and along the eastern edge. SOILS Hydric soil is defined as a soil that formed under conditions of saturation, flooding, or ponding long enough during the growing season to develop anaerobic conditions in the upper part. Hydric soils that occur in areas having positive indicators of hydrophytic vegetation and wetland hydrology are wetland soils. The subject soil is inundated by water supplied from two small springs. The soil in the wetland area was developed from upland type soils that have been inundated with water long enough and with enough frequency during the growing season to have developed hydric soil conditions indicated by mottling, which occurs when mineral soils are saturated enough to develop spots of contrasting color and which is a precursor to gleyed conditions. The site has been logged, cleared, and graded within the last 20 years. Woody debris buried within the soil profile confirms that the area has been graded. The USDA soil survey for Mason County has the soil on the project site mapped as the Indianola soil series, an extensively drained, droughty, brown upland soil with one to two inches of organic litter. 2 Forestech LLC Because the soil has been disturbed (logged, cleared, and graded), and there is no definable profile, the soil, other than indicators of hydric conditions, is not used as an indicator for wetland delineation. Plants were the primary indicator for the wetland perimiter. VEGETATION Hydrophytic vegetation is defined as the sum total of macrophytic plant life growing in water or on a substrate that is at least periodically deficient in oxygen as a result of excessive water content. When hydrophytic vegetation comprises a community where indicators of hydric soils and wetland hydrology also occur, the area has wetland vegetation. Emphasis is placed on the assemblage of plant species that exert a controlling influence on the character of the plant community, rather than on indicator species. Thus, the presence of scattered individuals of an upland plant species in a community dominated by hydrophytic species is not a sufficient basis for concluding that the area is an upland community. Likewise, the presence of a few individuals of a hydrophytic species in a community dominated by upland species is not a sufficient basis for concluding that the area has hydrophytic vegetation. Prevalent vegetation is characterized by the dominant species comprising the plant community or communities. Dominant plant species are those that contribute more to the character of a plant community than other species present, as estimated or measured in terms of some ecological parameter or parameters. The two most commonly used estimates of dominance are basal area (trees) and percent areal cover (shrubs and herbs). Hydrophytic vegetation is prevalent in an area when the dominant species comprising the plant community is typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. The wetland is occupied by a narrow range of overstory species and a moderate range of understory shrubs and herbaceous species. Red alder occupies about one half of the area of the wetland. There is also a minor occurrence of western red cedar, big leaf maple, and western hemlock. Shrubs occupying the understory of the wetland area are salmonberry, sword fern, elderberry, indian plum, blackberries, devils club, and cascara. Herbaceous species, or emergents, occupying the ground layer of the area of wetland are bracken fern, sedges, creeping buttercup, common rush, slender rush, saw beak sedge, large-leaved avens, common velvet grass, fireweed, bracken fern, sour dock, and canadian thistle. The red alder is about 10 to 15 years old and occupies about 50 percent of the forested canopy above the wetlands. Salmonberry, grasses, sedges, and rushes occupy the other 50 percent of the wetland area. 3 Forestech LLC HYDROLOGY Wetland hydrology is defined as the sum total of wetness characteristics in areas that are inundated or have saturated soils for a sufficient duration to support hydrophytic vegetation. Wetland hydrology encompasses all hydrologic characteristics of areas that are periodically inundated or have soils saturated to the surface for a sufficient duration during the growing season. Areas with evident characteristics of wetland hydrology are those where the presence of water has an overriding influence on characteristics of vegetation and soils due to anaerobic and chemically reducing conditions, respectively. Such characteristics are usually present in areas that are inundated or have soils that are saturated to the surface for sufficient duration to develop hydric soils and support vegetation typically adapted for life in periodically anaerobic soil conditions. Forestech LLC REFERENCES Hitchcock and Conquest, 1973. Flora of the Pacific Northwest. MacBeth,Div. of Kollmorgen Instruments Corp., 1992. Munsell Soil Color Charts. Pojar, Mackinnon, 1994. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Randall,Keniston, 1970. Manual of Oregon Trees and Shrubs. USDA, Soil Conservation Service, 1977. Soil Survey of Mason County. US Army Corps of Engineers. Wetland Plants of the Pacific Northwest. US Department of the Interior, 1988. National List of Plant Species That Occur in Wetlands: 1988 National Summary Washington State Department of Ecology. March, 1997. Washington State Wetland Identification and Delineation Manual,#96-94. Washington State Department of Natural Resources, 1993. Recognizing Wetlands and Wetland Indicator Plants on Forest Lands. 5 Forestech LLC Addendum 1 SCIENTIFIC NAMES AND INDICATOR STATUS OF PLANTS MENTIONED IN THIS REPORT Common Name Scientific Name Indicator Status Trees Bigleaf maple Acer macrophyllum FACU Western hemlock Tsuga heterophylla FAC Red alder Alnus rubra FAC Western red cedar Thuja plicata FAC Shrubs Red elderberry Sambucus racemosa FACU Himalayan blackberry Rubus discolor FACU Indian plum Oemleria cerasiformis FACU Salmonberry Rubus spectabalis FAC Creeping buttercup Ranunculus repens FAC Common rush Juncus effuses 03L Sawbeak sedge Carex stipata OBL Horsetail Equisetum spp. FAC Sword fern Polystichum munitum FAC Cascara Rhamnus Purshiana FAC Herbs Bracken fern Pteridium aquilinum FACU Slender rush Juncus tenius FAC Common velvet grass Holcus lanatus FAC Devils club Oplopanax horridus FAC Sour dock Rumex spp. UPL Canadian Thistle Cirsium arvense FAC Large-leaved avens Geum macrophyllum FAC Fire weed Epiobium angustifolium FAC 6 Forestech LLC INDICATOR CATEGORIES Obligate Wetland(OBL): Occur almost always(estimated probability>99%)under natural conditions in wetlands. Facultative Wetland(FACW): Usually occur in wetlands(estimated probability 67-99%), but occasionally found in non-wetlands. Facultative (FAQ: Equally likely to occur in wetlands and non-wetlands (estimated probability 34-66%) Facultative Upland(FACU): Usually occur in non-wetlands (estimated probability 67- 99%), but occasionally found in wetlands(estimated probability 1-33%) 7 Forestech LLe Addendum 2 Wetland Site Map for Brad Armstrong Parcel Number 123303390021 Located in the SW '/4- SW '/4-S 30—T 23N—R O 1 W Mason County,Washington Scale: 1"= 100' m —t c� .v 1n J � A ,r z m VROPEKT7 LINE i M 12� .T7 8