Bringing communities together to save the last salmon in Port Angeles

February 10, 2020 Share with others who may care and visit Ennis Friends on Facebook
Notice the new heading! Thank professional artist Kelsey
Redlin who was inspired to donate it after participating
in an Ennis Creek walk experience. Thank you, Kelsey
(third from right)!
Fellow walkers are from left: Robbie Mantooth, Bob
Larsen, Kathe Smith, Karen Larsen, Kelsey, Margo
Brendel and Jim Mantooth

Featured in this newsletter:

Webinar Feb. 19 and Rayonier cleanup plus poster
Ennis – a Creek Worth Saving filming, funding
Kelsey Redlin donates Friends of Ennis Creek logo
Comment deadline for western PA Harbor cleanup
Award for Ennis Creek restoration leader McHenry
Stream walk schedule still open: ennis@olypen.com
Recommended reading for information, inspiration
Facts and how they define our priorities

Free program to explore cleanup options

Thanks again to Darlene Schanfald for letting us
know about another opportunity to gain more
understanding about Washington State Department of
Ecology alternatives that could be related to the former
Rayonier mill site cleanup.
“Institutional Controls 101: Hazard warnings and access
restrictions vs. active cleanups of hazardous
wastes. What you need to know” is a webinar sponsored by the Northwest Toxic
Communities Coalition and University of Washington Superfund Research
Program. Register online at https://bit.ly/2ReMZnY so you can be prepared to stream
the program at noon Wednesday, Feb. 19.
 Institutional controls at hazardous waste sites have been described as fencing and signs and
covering up toxic soils and sediments rather than removing them, an option the Washington State
Department of Ecology recommended for the Rayonier Mill site.
Darlene Schanfald, a representative of Olympic Environmental Council, the local organization
that works with the webinar sponsors, said governments frequently recommend institutional controls
instead of cleaning up the pollution.
Presenters will be Dr. Peter deFur (left photo above), featured at fall webinars before the last
Ecology deadline for comments on the Rayonier property and adjacent harbor, and Dr. Cliff Villa.
The two presenters will offer examples of how this approach has been applied to different sites
around the U.S., she said, noting that studies have included seafood consumption in such sites as the
Lower Duwamish River, in Seattle.
Dr. deFur is president of the consulting firm Environmental Stewardship Concepts, LLC. He is
science consultant to the local Olympic Environmental Council and other communities working on
contaminated sites around the U.S. such as the Delaware River and Oregon’s Portland Harbor, as well as
the Duwamish. He was a postdoctoral fellow in neurophysiology in the University of Calgary’s
Department of Medicine, in Canada, and has held university faculty positions, most recently as Affiliate
Associate Professor in the Center for Environmental Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond,
Virginia. He has served on numerous state and federal advisory committees.
Dr. Villa joined the University of New Mexico Law School faculty after 22 years as legal counsel
for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – first with its headquarters in the nation’s capital and then
in Denver and Seattle regional offices. His experience includes administrative, civil and criminal
enforcement of the Clean Air and Clean Water acts and other federal laws. He also provided legal
assistance for federal actions related to hazardous waste sites, oil spills, natural disasters, and other
situations. He taught courses in environmental law at Seattle University School of Law and has spoken at
conferences throughout the U.S. and in Spain and Latin America. His research has appeared in Harvard
Environmental Law Review and Columbia Journal of Environmental Law and other publications.
After registering, be sure you’ve got all the right moves for reaching the site at the right time.
You should get a registration confirmation and instructions.
We were only able to include the abive excerpt from the sponsors’ wonderful webinar flyer. It’s
attached so you should be able to forward it electronically or print it to post in some strategic spots.
Friends of Ennis Creek joined Olympic Environmental Council and the Peninsula College
Associated Student Council in sponsoring the webinar that helped stimulate more than 100 submissions
during the last Ecology public comment period. Comment excerpts appeared in the January newsletter. If
you missed it, write ennis@olypen.com and we’ll send one to your email from ours.
Ecology is processing those comments before releasing recommendations and announcing next
public comment opportunities on them. That could happen this year. Stay tuned!

Harbor Cleanup study available, comments due by March 16

Ecology’s documents related to cleanup of the Western Port Angeles Harbor are available
for review at https://apps.ecology.wa.gov/gsp/Sitepage.aspx?csid=11907 and the Port Angeles library.
Darlene Schanfald said Olympic Environmental Council consultant Dr. Peter deFur is reviewing materials and will
provide comments.
 Restoration leader to receive award
Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Fisheries Habitat Biologist/Manager Mike
McHenry will receive this year’s conservation award from The Daughters of the
American Revolution, in recognition of environmental awareness.
The Tribe’s official representative to Friends of Ennis Creek, Mike led the
team creating a model of stream restoration on the stream that is a feature of frequent
guided walks contrasting good habitat with habitat that needs help. Always giving
credit to his team for any recognition, Mike has received such honors as the Society for
Ecological Restoration – Full Circle Award, a U.S. Interior Department award for
Excellence of Service, and the NOAA Environmental Hero American Fisheries Society
Conservation Organization of the Year in 2010 and 2005.
With his staff, McHenry has restored 42 miles of stream in seven watersheds across the Olympic
Peninsula over the last 12 years with more than $4 million in funding from local, state, federal and private
organizations.
The film Ennis – A Creek Worth Saving will feature a filmed interview with him about the restoration the
Tribe’s team completed in the stream.
Mike’s presentation about the Elwha River five years after dams were removed has been rescheduled to
May 28 after snow caused its cancellation in January. Peninsula College Little Theater, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
While celebrating Mike’s much deserved honors, we regrettably note the coming departure from our area
of Ann Chang, who will present the award to Mike in late February. Ann starts seeking candidates many months
before the annual awards event and makes careful selections to bring attention to people who have helped take care
of our local environment. Highly regarded as a nurse at Olympic Medical Center and for countless community
volunteer activities, Ann is moving to Arizona to be closer to family members. Thank you, Ann, for your many
contributions to the community. It’s time for you to be honored with a listing on a North Olympic Land Trust plaque
at the Clallam County Courthouse. Come back and see the next update, in 2021.

Ennis Creek film account at North Olympic Land Trust nears $1,000

Bobbie Lowe-Kreider became the first donor to the Ennis Creek film
project when she asked Robbie Mantooth to put whatever she planned
to pay for her haircut into the film account.

Donors are helping with expenses for the film Ennis – A Creek Worth Saving. Those coming through
northolympiclandtrust.org were nearing $1,000 by early February.
Filmmaker John Gussman, who has made many other films including Return of the River – about Elwha
dam removal, is donating his time but has expenses, including almost daily trips from his home on Palo Alto Road
for filming and interviewing. We’re still considering possible benefits of a Kickstarter campaign, which might
attract more donors but would take 5 percent. North Olympic Land Trust sets aside all donations specified for the
film project, as part of its support for Ennis Creek, where landowners have protected more than 50 acres of the
watershed through its conservation easement agreements.
Goals for the film include enabling everyone to experience Ennis Creek even without walking down to it –
and back up. We hope it will provide a greater understanding of what it takes to restore and protect a salmon stream
and why so many people agree Ennis Creek – known as our last best hope among all the streams flowing through
Port Angeles – is indeed “a creek worth saving.”
 At least 20 interviews have been completed or scheduled by early February. More are coming. Let us know
at ennis@olypen.com if you have recommendations for filmed interviews.
Olympic National Park fisheries specialists – Park’s watershed protections
Jeff Bohman, president, Peninsula Trails Coalition – Ennis Creek and the Discovery Trail
John Brewer, 2020 History Center president and retired newspaper editor/publisher, City Pier murals
Ed Chadd, recently retired Clallam County Streamkeepers coordinator – bugs as measure of habitat health
Frances Charles, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe chairperson; cultural resources staff – Tribal connections
Dr. Elizabeth Christian, retired physician, church and interfaith leader –physical and spiritual health
Suzanne DeBey, Peninsula Daily News columnist – Judaism and the environment
Kathy Estes, Clallam County Historical Society Executive Director – historic highlights
Jessica Hernandez, Waterfront Center Development Director – community enhancements from Center to creek
Randy Johnson, Clallam County Commissioner – How Ennis Creek fits with his other goals
Cathy Lear, Clallam County natural resources/salmon recovery, avid bicyclist – benefits beyond biking
Jim and Robbie Mantooth, Friends of Ennis Creek volunteers – inspirations for volunteer work
Colleen McAleer, Economic Development Executive Director, Port Commissioner – economy essentials
David Mattern, environmental consultant, Land Trust volunteer, interfaith leader – vital connections
Mike McHenry, LEKT Habitat Biologist/Manager – Stream restoration achievements, needs
Tim McNulty, author; longtime Olympic Park Associates leader – a poet’s vision
Tom Sanford, North Olympic Land Trust Executive Director – Ennis Creek conservation easements
Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin, Port Angeles City Council member – governmental responsibilities
Jim Walton, College fisheries head, Fish/Wildlife commissioner, college president – historical perspectives
Jim, Karen Halberg Weaver, children, owners Wild Edge Farm on Elwha River – why save Ennis Creek
Nathan West, Port Angeles City Manager – importance of Ennis Creek in city planning
Melissa Williams, Executive Director Feiro Marine Life Center – Ennis Creek and the Center’s mission

Ennis Creek experiences continue popular

Participants are enjoying getting to know each other as well Ennis Creek.

From left: fairly recent retiree and active

volunteer Rita Canada, Feiro Marine Life
Center Executive Director Melissa Williams,
Port Angeles Mayor Kate Dexter, property co-
owner and guide Jim Mantooth, North
Olympic Healthcare Network outreach leader
Lynn Kennan, former County Commissioner
and commercial fisherman Ron Richards,
happy retiree and Rita’s husband Larry
Mikolajczyk and whale/orca researcher Dr.
Fred Sharpe.

Email ennis@olypen with preferred and possible dates and times for walks explaining habitat restoration.

Reading adds insights

North Olympic Library System offers a treasure trove of books relevant to Ennis Creek. Recent good reads
have included: Conquering the Last Frontier, by Thomas T. Aldwell, the entrepreneur behind the Elwha dams and
much more early day Port Angeles history; Myron Eells and the Puget Sound Indians, by Robert H. Ruby and John
A. Brown; The Story of Port Angeles and Clallam County, by G.M. Lauridsen (as in Lauridsen Boulevard) and other
early day civic leaders; Breaking Ground: Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and the Unearthing of Tse-whit-zen Village
by Lynda V. Mapes, Seattle Times writer and author of other books on our area, and Stronghold: One Man’s Quest
to Save the World’s Wild Salmon.
Insights, information and inspiration. Here’s just one quote to help keep us going in our efforts to honor the
streams’ first stewards and do everything we can to save our last best chance of a Port Angeles salmon stream.
From Breaking Ground:
 “We don’t want the generations behind us to go through what we did. We want to be able to stand and say
we did the best we could, and to carry on and educate the community and whoever its leaders might be. To look at
the partnerships and the collaborations that everyone needs to work things out.” – Tribal chairperson Frances
Charles, speaking of moving ahead despite disrespect for the ancient village where her ancestors lived as early as
750 B.C. and until the 1930s. They also lived at I’n’is, along the banks of the stream we call Ennis Creek until the
Puget Sound Cooperative Colony displaced them.

Did you know?

According to Patrick Crain, Chief Fisheries Biologist at Olympic National Park, the mapped distance of
Ennis Creek shows that about 3 miles of the 8.65-mile stream are in the Park and a little over 2 miles are either on
Department of Natural Resources land or DNR is on its east bank.
About a half mile of the stream is protected through conservation easement agreements with North
Olympic Land Trust. That leaves only about 3 miles under other private property ownership. Rayonier has
responsibility for significant stretch of the stream. A priority for Friends of Ennis Creek is helping property owners
know how they can restore and protect habitat for their neighboring fish.

Reaching out to complementary groups

We’ve applied for a tree planting
project with One Tree Planted and
Protect the Pods (as in orca
families).

North Olympic Land Trust’s

stewardship volunteers will be
scheduling a cleanup where illegal
campers have left tents, sleeping
bags, bicycle parts and other messes
near Ennis Creek. Email ennis@olypen.com if you’d like to help.

Let us hear from YOU!

Currents, the Friends of Ennis Creek newsletter, and Ennis Friends,
our Facebook page, welcome your letters and comments. Why is Ennis a creek
worth saving? What experiences have you enjoyed along the stream? Share
your observations at ennis@olypen.com and attach your photos. This image
from Lee Strucker, graduate of Washington State University’s Stream
Stewards program and frequent Ennis Creek experience guide, shows one of
some 40 logs the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe team anchored in Ennis Creek
during its 2004 restoration project. Walks emphasize how such work has
enhanced habitat and why its important for degraded parts of the stream to
benefit from similar improvements.

Friends of Ennis Creek appreciates North Olympic Land Trust’s many contributions to this special stream,
including protecting more than 50 acres of the stream’s riparian corridor in perpetuity, providing
stewardship assistance and guidance and handling donations to Ennis – A Stream Worth Saving.