Biologist and North Olympic Salmon Coalition (NOSC) senior project manager Kevin Long was awarded the 2023 Eleanor Stopps Environmental Leadership Award, announced at the annual PT Marine Science Center Stewardship Breakfast last week.   

Long has designed, permitted and managed numerous salmon habitat restoration projects in Jefferson and Clallam counties like the Kilisut Harbor replacement of a causeway and small culverts with a 440-foot bridge on SR116 between Indian and Marrowstone Islands. The project restored natural processes and biological responses to 27 acres of marine intertidal habitat and tidal-fringe salt marsh that have been severely impacted by the construction of the earthen causeway. Many species benefit from this project including salmon, shorebirds, waterfowl, shellfish and eelgrass.  

Another example of Long’s work is the 3 Crabs Nearshore and Estuarine Restoration Project which removed infrastructure, fill and armoring at the site of the former 3 Crabs Restaurant in Sequim. This project restored historic landforms and created public access at a newly established WDFW Wildlife Area along Dungeness Bay and Meadowbrook Creek, the last freshwater tributary to the Dungeness River, providing essential rearing habitat for out-migrating Dungeness River salmon.  

“The most meaningful part of my work is unbuilding things. Whether it is a bad culvert that needs a bridge so fish can pass upstream or an old, abandoned railroad grade impacting a shoreline, I find great pleasure in setting the clock back by removing or replacing these environmentally damaging relics of the past,” says Long. 

He explains that measuring impacts of habitat restoration is one of the challenges of his work since population numbers are influenced across a vast landscape by so many factors like ocean conditions, fishing pressure and fresh and saltwater habitat conditions. The aim is to provide restored stream, estuary and shoreline conditions that support spawning and juvenile rearing, sending more fish out to the sea. The more you send out, the better the chances they will make it back to keep the cycle going.  

“Salmon cross so many landscapes in their journey and so many of those landscapes have been altered. This has had a real impact on the population for decades. We see glimmers of hope with some populations rebounding but there is still much work to do. It took a long time to deplete the salmon resource, and we can expect it will take a long time to recover a portion of that resource”, explains Long. 

 For the future, Long is working on an important culvert replacement in partnership with Clallam County and the Makah and Elwha tribes on Hoko Ozette Road. Other culvert projects in Sequim Bay and on the Hoko are getting ready to be designed and planting work is coming up on the stream restoration project on Snow Creek. 

Opportunities to volunteer and participate on planting on the Jefferson Land Trust property can be found at NOSC.org