in early summer

The salt marsh in the Carpenter Creek estuary displays a subtle pattern of colors and textures. The brown pointy tips of Baltic rush (Juncus balticus) mix with the reddish purple stems and green leaves of Douglas aster (Aster subspicatus) in broad swaths of upland, interrupted by crop circle-like swirls of bright green blades of salt grass sticking up among prone stems of the saltmarsh reed (Juncus gerardii) with shiny brown seeds at their tips.

[Click on photo to see the gallery full sized with captions]

Purplish spikes of meadow barley (Hordeum brachyanterum) and clumps of silvery tufted hair grass (Deschampsia cespitosa) stand tall between marsh channels, while dark green blades of Lyngby sedge (Carex lyngbyei) form a standing wave at the channel edge.

On the periphery of the upper marsh, soft-stemmed bulrush (Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani), single stems five feet high and thick as a child’s pinkie finger, appear to be leading a stealthy advance away from the forest edge with broadleaf cattails (Typha latifolia) following more cautiously behind. These vegetation patterns reveal the complex interplay of tidal influence and freshwater input that characterize a natural estuary in the Pacific Northwest, where salt and freshwater meet to generate one of the world’s most productive habitats and where terrestrial plants must be able to adapt to fluctuating water and salinity levels that can differ widely across the landscape.

Water backed up behind West Kingston Road culvert in December 2014

Photo by John F. Williams

Stillwaters Environmental Center

In 1999, inspired by the Salmon Recovery Act, two landowners at the head of the salt marsh, Joleen Palmer and Naomi Maasberg, founded Stillwaters Environmental Center with the objective of restoring natural conditions to the lower Carpenter Creek watershed to enhance and restore habitat for salmonids.

With the guidance of county, state and tribal scientists, Stillwaters’ volunteers collected data and lobbied throughout the 2000s in support of the Army Corps of Engineers’ 2006 plan to remove both the South and West Kingston Road culverts. This mission has only recently been realized.  In 2012, the ten-foot box culvert under South Kingston Road was replaced with a 90-foot bridge, and in 2018, the five foot diameter pipe at West Kingston Road was replaced with a 150-foot bridge.  

Stillwaters was tasked with ten years of post-construction monitoring after each bridge, giving us the opportunity to document the recovery of the lower watershed with a team composed of a few staff members, dozens of volunteers and college interns, and hundreds of supporters in North Kitsap and beyond.  By annually mapping the distribution of plant species and the salinity of the water around their roots, we hope to document how unrestricted tidal exchange and unimpeded creek flow simultaneously affect these plant communities over time.

salt marsh plants

To be successful in a salt marsh, plants must be able to tolerate being all or partially submerged in water once or twice a day for minutes or hours at a time when the tide comes in, as well as being fully exposed to drying in the open air when the tide goes out.  This is a very different challenge than what freshwater marsh plants typically experience: water levels that change gradually over longer periods of time (e.g., seasonally), if at all.  Salt marsh plants must also tolerate higher levels of salt, not just while inundated by tides, but even after the tide recedes. 

Particularly during the summer, water remaining in the soil evaporates leaving salt behind.  Over time, this can cause more salt to build up in the soil higher in the marsh than in lower lying regions where tidal exchange flushes the soil more frequently.  However, in pocket estuaries like Carpenter Creek’s, multiple freshwater inputs contribute additional complexity to the ecosystem by diluting some higher elevation soils (for example, along the creek and along the marsh edges) via direct run-off and seepage from surrounding hillsides.  Wide variations in pore water salinity and duration of inundation across the Carpenter Creek salt marsh create an intricate pattern of color and texture in the marsh.

how to get there

In normal times, Stillwaters would be welcoming volunteers to come learn about the lower Carpenter Creek ecosystem firsthand and participate in all of our monitoring and studies. But these are not normal times.  We hope to welcome volunteers back in small numbers soon.  Meanwhile, you can visit the estuary and salt marsh via Arness Park on Appletree Cove in Kingston.  At low tide (less than five feet), people can walk up the creek channel through the mudflats, and at high tide (greater than 10 feet) you can take a kayak all the way up into the salt marsh.  There are two good viewpoints. From the South Kingston Bridge you can see the eastern lobe of the the lower estuary. From the West Kingston Bridge you can view the salt marsh to the north and western lobe of the lower estuary to the south.  Herons, eagles, osprey, waterfowl, otters, and deer may be present throughout the year, and coho salmon may be seen in the fall at the appropriate tide heights.

PLEASE HELP SUPPORT

SALISH MAGAZINE

Salish Magazine contains no advertising and is free. Your donation is one big way you can help us inspire people with stories about things that they can see outdoors in our Salish Sea region.

We also don't advertise Salish Magazine, so please spread the word of this online resource to your friends and colleagues.

Thanks so much for your interest and your support. 

 We also don't advertise Salish Magazine, so please spread the word of this online resource to your friends and colleagues.

Thanks so much for your interest and your support. 

Riverine, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control