People For Puget Sound is recruiting and training local volunteer kayakers to help locate infestations of invasive Spartina grass along San Juan County shorelines.
The free training sessions will be held the weekend of Sept. 13 on Lopez and San Juan Islands. Trainings are open to experienced kayakers who are qualified to paddle safely in local waters. Following these classes, paddlers will be able to conduct surveys to identify and record any new infestations of this nasty salt-tolerant grass.
The training sessions will be led by program coordinator Rachel Benbrook, who lived on Orcas for almost a decade. Rachel worked for the kayak tour company Shearwater Adventures on Orcas for several seasons and is well connected to the paddling community on Orcas.
Spartina is most abundant in Island, Skagit and Snohomish counties, but has also been found in San Juan, King, Kitsap and Jefferson counties. An historical infestation at Buck Bay on Orcas Island has been controlled and is being monitored. Last year, surveys conducted by state and county officials located a surprising number of previously unknown Spartina plants on Lopez and San Juan Island. These plants represent seed sources for new infestations all over the islands.
Spartina anglica was introduced to the Puget Sound in the 1960s for dike stabilization. It aggressively displaces native vegetation, disrupts shorebird and juvenile salmon foraging areas, and impacts shellfish habitat.
It is adapted to grow in a variety of tide-influenced locations, such as mud flats, salt marshes, sand or cobble beaches. The seeds are known to disperse widely by the active currents of Puget Sound. Surveying and removing this grass is a high priority, because the roots become very deep and difficult to dig if allowed to get established.
People For Puget Sound’s Spartina Survey Program is currently coordinating survey efforts in Whatcom, Skagit, Island and Clallam Counties. Kayak surveyors have already located over 100 previously unknown Spartina patches.
For more information or to sign up for the trainings, contact Rachel Benbrook at (360)336-1931 or email spartina@pugetsound.org.