When funding shortfalls and staffing cuts caused by the Trump administration threatened to derail a vital restoration project in Muir Woods National Monument earlier this year, SPAWN stepped in to help complete the work to improve Coho salmon and steelhead trout habitat in Redwood Creek.
We are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with the National Park Service on this important project, supported by Turtle Island Restoration Network supporters, including a grant from Woodard & Curran, an environmental engineering firm whose motto—“Leave the World a Better Place”—perfectly captures the spirit of this effort.
We were happy and eager to jump in and help with funds and staff to ensure the salmon restoration project was completed this year. The project builds on years of creek habitat restoration in Muir Woods, from work at Muir Beach in 2002 to large woody debris installations and riprap removal in 2015.
This year’s effort introduced an innovative technique called Post-Assisted Log Structures (PALS)—a first for both the Redwood and Lagunitas watersheds. PALS are hand-built structures that use locally collected small to medium sized wood, secured with posts driven into the creek bed, to mimic natural log jams. These increase habitat complexity and provide critical shelter for young salmon during their early 1 ½ year freshwater life before they migrate to the ocean.
Because PALS can be installed without heavy machinery, they are ideal for sensitive stream reaches near trails and boardwalks within the park.
Carolyn Shoulders, recently retired project manager at Muir Woods National Monument with decades of experience in Redwood Creek chose the sites located between large woody debris structures placed years earlier to provide more shelter and refuge for juvenile salmon that spend 1 ½ years in the creek before migrating to the Ocean to mature into adulthood.
The wood was harvested and the PALS were installed by Symbiotic Restoration, National Park Service staff and SPAWN interns and volunteers, providing learning opportunities for many, and keeping the costs low. An added ecological benefit came from sourcing materials from nearby oak woodlands and meadow areas being prepared for future controlled burns, helping restore those habitats as well.
National Parks hold a special place in my heart and are one of the greatest concepts the US has imparted to the world. I began my conservation career in my 20s at Everglades National Park, and now more than 40 years later, it’s fantastic to be working again under Muir Woods.
I am so happy we could come in and mend the hole in funding and staff Muir Woods was facing because of Trump administration’s attacks on our National Parks and National Parks Service.
