Though technically not a ‘park’, the South Slough Reserve is an essential resource for Coos County and the entire South Coast. In addition to providing the public with education on and access to a beautiful, well-maintained natural space, the Reserve is necessary for protecting environments and species that are crucial to local industry and commerce.
I took the short trip down Seven Devils Road to speak with Deborah Rudd, the Public Involvement Coordinator for the Reserve, who gave us plenty of insight and access to the 7000-acre Reserve and its facilities.
“The mission of the Reserve is to improve the stewardship and the understanding of Pacific Northwest estuaries and coastal watersheds,” said Rudd on the Reserve’s goals, “All reserves are partnerships between NOAA and coastal states, and reserves have a three-pronged approach. We embrace that from an education vantage, from a stewardship vantage, and from a research vantage.”
This holistic approach enables the Reserve to achieve goals on multiple fronts. Though to many, the South Slough is a wonderfully well-kept park with accessible trails and stunning vistas, it is also an expansive open-air laboratory where crucial scientific study occurs every day.
“We are a living laboratory, so not only do we have our own people doing research, but we have other researchers that come here and use this as a space to conduct their research. So our nearly 7000 acres that we have are not only protected, but it's a place that we can test out different theories, different science programs,” said Rudd on the role of the Reserve, “That's kind of our overarching goal, because a lot of people in the community know that school kids come here, they know they can come for a hike here, or visit our exhibits, but a lot of people don't know that there's actual real science happening here too.”
Stewardship and Research
Stewardship, as it relates to the Reserve, can mean a lot of things. Though it may sound as simple as maintaining trails, picking weeds, and keeping nature undisturbed, the level of research and consideration that goes into each project and its impact is significant.
A major element of good stewardship for the Reserve is the way it manages the more vulnerable and essential species of flora and fauna native to the area. One great example is the Western Lily. Found on a piece of land acquired by the Reserve, this rare species of lily is normally hard to find in the area but has seen a steady increase in population thanks to monitoring and protection from Reserve scientists.
An essential piece of the estuary’s plant life is eelgrass. Crucial to the health of the waterways and their denizens, eelgrass provides food and protection to some of the South Coast’s cornerstone species. It also provides a great example of where the Reserve does more than just monitor and protect, they also work constantly on ways to revive and restore, like finding methods to transplant the aquatic plant.
“We had several years with unusually warm water, and the warmer waters were correlated with decline in eelgrass beds, and some of the replanting has been working in some areas… We currently have a graduate fellow that is learning how to take seeds of the eelgrass and grow from seed, which is really difficult to do. So we're always exploring new ways to protect, or enhance, or figure out how to encourage,” said Rudd.
This stewardship has purpose beyond the pursuit of environmental protection, as many of the species being protected or studied are essential to the local economy, salmon being an excellent example. The waterways being monitored and restored by the Reserve, especially in the uplands, are prime salmon habitats. South Slough works with ODFW to monitor the population and health of not only salmon and other fish, but of one of the South Coast’s most important and emblematic creatures, Dungeness Crab.
“We're also the nursery for a big industry we have here, Dungeness Crab. Little baby Dungeness Crabs live in the estuary. We're actually working to try to sleuth out the problem with the invasive green crab, because they could threaten our Dungeness species of crabs,” said Rudd about conservation efforts.
“Our Science Lead, Shon Schooler, is working with the Invasive Species Council and ODFW to figure out, first of all, why is the population of green crabs growing? Where is it coming from? And conducting different experiments to figure out ways to eradicate them or to limit the population, so they don't overtake native crab species and tear up eelgrass.”
These ties to the local economy run all the way back to the establishment of the reserve in 1974, when it became the very first of, what are now, 30 National Estuarine Research Reserves throughout the country. With the initial goal of monitoring water quality and making sure it was still safe for local farming and industry, the Reserve has since worked to convert defunct farmland back into its natural state and restore habitats that have been affected, all while still uploading widely-used water quality data every 15 minutes.
The Reserve is currently conducting research for its next major project, The Wasson Creek Restoration Project. After receiving $3.5 million in federal funding, the Reserve will be breaking ground in June for the project which seeks to restore the watershed in the 525-acre Wasson Creek area, after much of the natural habitat was destroyed when converted for agricultural use.
Through collaboration with the Tribal Historic Preservation Offices from the Coquille Indian Tribe and the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians (CTCLUSI), an archeological survey and report for the area was conducted. The subsequent plan seeks to restore waterways, remove invasive and foster native species, and improve public access and safety. Once development starts, this area will be off-limits to the public until it is complete.
Thankfully, Rudd was willing to show us the site, where we serendipitously bumped into the Reserve’s resident drone pilot Jennifer Kirkland. Using an advanced multi-spectral survey drone, Kirkland is able to track things like specific vegetation by reading light on parts of the spectrum unseeable to the human eye. This allows the Reserve to survey large and hard to reach areas with greater ease and as little human impact as possible. Though the Reserve would like to make it clear that private drone usage in the park is generally not allowed.
Education and Outreach
The Reserve’s constant education and outreach opportunities help locals connect with their environments in new and engaging ways. From a revolving door of school fieldtrips to community volunteer opportunities, the Reserve maintains that getting people to care about the health of their local ecosystems is just as important as the literal work of protecting them.
In addition to field trips and day camps for school-aged kids, and internship opportunities for high school and college students, the Reserve also provides loads of often free community classes for those looking to dive into hobbies like crabbing and kayaking. Fishing and permitted hunting, as well as berry and mushroom picking, is allowed on parts of the Reserve, as long as anything gathered is for personal use only, and those participating follow all Reserve and ODFW guidelines.
The Reserve also contributes to the local economy through training programs for members of local industry.
“We have a more formal coastal training program that works with people in natural resources, or people who have to make decisions based on Land Management and those kinds of things. Basically, that program brings in trainers to help them. Maybe they need some [Geographic Information System] skills, or maybe there's a community issue with figuring out mapping of an area, and they want a GIS person to come fly a drone or do specialized things like that,” said Rudd.
To coincide with their 50th Anniversary, the Reserve is making some upgrades to its visitor center, as well as conducting somewhat of an oral history project. For the visitor’s center, new displays will be installed in the coming months to provide deeper engagement through new educational exhibits and touch screen displays.
To further celebrate their 50th, the Reserve will be collecting videos from the community to compile a living history of the reserve and what it has meant to the locals that frequent it.
“As part of that celebration we're starting a community-wide video story collection effort. The first time members of the public can contribute stories will be May 17th from 1:00 to 3:00 at the Public Library. We basically just want 1 to 3 minute stories from people who want to share any interaction with the Reserve. Maybe they grew up on the Reserve or their ancestors grew up on the Reserve, or maybe they came out as a kid on a school program, or maybe they just like to come out here and hike! Whatever the relationship is, we want to hear their story and everybody's love for South Slough,” said Rudd on the oral history project.
In addition to seeking help for this project, the Reserve is always looking for volunteers to help with a wide variety of tasks. For those who want to participate in the stewardship side of the Reserve, there are opportunities for trail maintenance and even various research and restoration projects available. To those who may feel a little less inclined toward weeding, wading, and walking the trails, there is also a need for volunteers to do jobs like data entry, educational outreach, and tabling for events.
For more information on how to get involved, visit the South Sloughs webpage: https://www.oregon.gov/dsl/ss/Pages/default.aspx
For a trail report, detailing what to expect when hiking the reserve: https://theworldlink.com/news/local/trail-report-south-slough-estuary-loop/article_423ac792-f07f-11ee-be9e-3bea2998df92.html
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