North Bay Wetlands Preserve

The North Bay Wetlands Preserve conserves prime wetlands and associated uplands along the north shore of Grays Harbor and in and around the Humptulips river and estuary. The goal of the Preserve is to protect traditional native wetland ecosystems and wildlife habitat within the coastal lowland eco-region. Wetlands and associated uplands were acquired by fee-title, and where necessary, will be restored to healthy and native conditions. The Grays Harbor Audubon Society (GHAS) feels that because of the sheer diversity of habitats and species, this area needed to be given the highest priority for preservation.

GHAS land acquisitions complement the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) recreation area along the east bank of the Humptulips, as well as WDFW holdings in the estuary itself. Thus, approximately two miles of Grays Harbor shoreline on both sides of the Humptulips river, together with our 793 acres of associated wetlands, uplands, and river bank, are now protected.

WETLANDS VALUES: The Preserve lies at the interface of marine, terrestrial, and freshwater systems. A series of long, winding sloughs and branching tributaries extend from the estuary and the trunk of the Humptulips River, ensuring that most of the area remains inundated for at least some part of the year. Of the 742 acres of wetlands in the Preserve, more than half are palustrine forested wetlands surrounding and abutting shrub/scrub and emergent open wetlands. The bay area is within the Sitka Spruce zone, with local variations in vegetative composition based upon soil type and drainage patterns. Dominant tree species are Sitka Spruce, Western Hemlock, Red Alder, and Western Red Cedar. The forest stands range in age from roughly 30 to 100 years, with many snags and downed trees. They vary from young stands of Red Alder to young and mature stands of deciduous/coniferous and coniferous forest. The deciduous tree species are predominantly Red Alder and Big Leaf Maple. Some small stands of very large Sitka Spruce remain scattered throughout the area. The understory in the younger forest stands is extremely dense, consisting of Pacific Crabapple, Black Twinberry, Salmonberry, Wild Gooseberry, Cascara, Willow, Red Alder, Evergreen Huckleberry, Salal and Red Elderberry, among other species. The shrub/scrub and high salt marsh habitats are dominated by crab-apple, stunted cedars, willow, osier dogwood and other woody species, with native sedges and rushes dominant in the open, wetter areas.

The Preserve wetlands and associated uplands are currently in good to prime condition, with little encroachment by non-native plant species. The Preserve area encompasses many wetland types that were once common to this region, but have since been lost to conversion for agricultural use, timber production, or residential development. These include marine and fresh water tidal wetlands, salt marshes, emergent freshwater wetlands, scrub/shrub wetlands, forested wetlands, and riverine wetlands. Such habitats provide flood water containment and ground water recharge, as well as habitat for large numbers of wildlife species. Wetlands functions are protected by forested uplands and meadows that buffer against human encroachment, farm and road runoff, and offer supplemental habitat for many wetland-dependent bird species. The forest stands along the North Bay will eventually provide for the recovery of some of the rarest habitat in the state of Washington: the lowland old-growth forest.

The Preserve conserves important feeding, breeding and resting habitat for a wide variety of wetland-dependent and migratory birds, including significant populations of waterfowl, such as Mallard and Northern Pintail; shorebirds, such as Dunlin and Dowitchers; and neotropic migrants, such as the Rufous Hummingbird and Pacific-slope and Willow Flycatchers. Canada GooseHealthy and genetically unique runs of Chinook, Coho and Chum salmon, and fall and summer Steelhead, spawn in upstream tributaries of the Humptulips River. Smolts and young fish use the sloughs surrounding the Humptulips estuary as resting and feeding areas. Mammal species living in the Preserve include Black-tail Deer, Black Bear, Elk, Cougar, Mink, Otter, and Beaver. It also provides habitat for several State and Federal endangered, threatened and candidate species, including Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, and Olympic Mudminnow. Shorebirds and waterfowl seasonally concentrate along the shoreline and at the mouth of the Humptulips River, and depend upon the estuary and the surrounding salt and freshwater wetlands for feeding and resting areas. According to Audubon Christmas Bird Count records, 87 bird species winter on and around the Preserve. By including Audubon bird data for other times of the year, a total of 138 different bird species have been identified here.