On the Southern tip of Washington’s Puget Sound, where the freshwater of the Nisqually River meets the saltwater of the Sound, lies the Nisqually River Delta. Situated within the traditional homeland of the Nisqually Indian Tribe and the site of the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge), this estuary and its surrounding lands are full of diverse and unique habitats like freshwater and saltwater marshes, riparian woodlands, and grasslands, which are home to hundreds of fish and wildlife species. The Refuge is a sanctuary and stopover site for migratory birds of the Pacific Flyway and also provides important migration and rearing habitat for salmon. Established in 1974, the Refuge was renamed in 2015 to honor Nisqually Tribal member Billy Frank Jr., who fought for Tribal fishing rights and helped preserve the area as a refuge. Today, the Nisqually River Delta is co-managed by the Nisqually Indian Tribe and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

Located just off of Interstate 5 between Tacoma and Olympia, the Refuge not only provides critically important wildlife habitat, but also offers a place for people to connect with nature in one of the most densely populated areas of the Northwest. Over 350,000 people visit the Refuge each year to birdwatch, explore its many trails, and learn about the natural world. A new brochure about the Nisqually River Delta, co-developed by the Nisqually Indian Tribe, USFWS, NW CASC researcher Kristin Byrd, USGS biologist Isa Woo and USGS information specialist Shonté Jenkins, will help visitors learn about the area’s cultural history and the benefits the delta provides to wildlife and people. The brochure also reflects upon the challenges posed by climate impacts like sea level rise and what can be done to help protect this special place into the future — topics that Kristin has been exploring through a larger NW CASC study. We talked with NW CASC researcher Kristin Byrd to learn more about the project and the collaboration that made this brochure a reality: 

This brochure is part of a larger NW CASC study on ecosystem services in the Nisqually River Delta. What were the goals of this larger project?

Kristin: The goals of the project were to quantify a set of ecosystem services  — benefits that wildlife or ecosystems provide to people — that are priorities for the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, the Nisqually Indian Tribe and the surrounding communities. The Nisqually River Delta, located in South Puget Sound, contains a rich mosaic of different coastal habitat types. We modeled how change in these habitats from sea level rise or management activities like restoration could affect ecosystem services in the future. We focused on changes to soil carbon accumulation, birdwatching visitation, and juvenile Chinook salmon growth rates, which served a proxy for fishery production. 

In conversation with managers from USFWS, we identified practical ways in which ecosystem services may be incorporated into adaptive management frameworks such as Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) that support climate adaptation decision making. Our study illustrated how accounting for ecosystem services can help managers using RAD make decisions that have greater benefit for wildlife and people, communicate the societal value of decisions, and increase local engagement and participation. 

Which project partners did you engage with in developing the brochure? What did this look like at different stages of its development?

Kristin: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) biologist Isa Woo has been working with the Nisqually Indian Tribe (Tribe) and the Refuge for over 10 years, so a mature working relationship and research on juvenile Chinook had already been developed with our partners. A couple of years ago, we proposed an idea to the Tribe and the Refuge, to co-develop a brochure for visitors to the Refuge. We then worked together to figure out our shared goals for the brochure.

We wanted to highlight the benefits that the Nisqually River Delta provides to people, especially the importance of the Nisqually River Watershed as the ancestral homeland of the Nisqually Indian Tribe.  

We wanted to highlight the benefits that the Nisqually River Delta provides to people, especially the importance of the Nisqually River Watershed as the ancestral homeland of the Nisqually Indian Tribe. We also wanted to emphasize the importance of the salmon, which forms the Nisqually people’s culture, heritage, and way of life. The brochure was written with Tribe, Refuge, and USGS staff. Debbie Preston, Director of Communications and Media Services for the Nisqually Tribe, wrote the section on the history of the Nisqually people and provided the photos. The Tribe’s salmon recovery manager Chris Ellings provided information on the fishery, and the Refuge manager Glynnis Nakai provided text on Refuge activities and photos. We also brought on Shonté Jenkins, Information Specialist for the USGS Science and Decisions Center, to design the layout for the brochure. Isa and I wrote the remaining sections, and together, we went through many iterations of the brochure before we arrived at the final version. 

What do you hope people will take away from reading this brochure?

Kristin: We hope that people learn about the many ways people can value the Nisqually River Delta and its fish and wildlife, and form a relationship with this special place. We also hope people learn about some of the challenges it faces and ways that we can build resilience to support the future of the Nisqually River Delta. 

The brochures will be available at the visitor’s center within the next couple of months, so be sure to pick one up next time you visit! In the meantime, you can explore an online version of the brochure here!