Reading the Dec. 14 story, “East Fork restoration takes long-term approach,” I applaud the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership for its efforts on the East Fork of the Lewis River and anywhere they work to restore habitat, especially for salmonids.
I do have a major concern with reed canary grass, and that is post settlement alluvium. Natural flooding of wetlands normally results in large areas of pre-settlement alluvium that supports the native plant populations. When logging or leveling for farming and development occurred historically, post-settlement alluvium was deposited. Unlike pre-settlement alluvium the kind we have created has more topsoil and is a perfect seedbed for reed canary grass.
Reed canary grass is in a flood plain where wet pasture “thatch” can eventually get two feet deep or more. Often this means that the seed bed of native species has been blanketed by our activities. Native seed can and does stay alive (viable) for decades, just waiting for sun and fresh air. Two feet or more of thatch also means flood plain restorations are technically no longer wetlands, and salmonids need thousands of acres of wetlands for rearing, not just a few side channels and uplands.
If the focus is thatch removal to original wetland depths, planting and maintenance costs are offset and we are also restoring wetlands.
