Identifying opportunities to restore shoreline habitat vital to surf smelt, herring, sand lance, juvenile salmon, seabirds and marine mammals is the goal of the county-wide shoreline modification inventory project which starts collecting field data this week.

The inventory will map major habitat modifications throughout the 400 miles of saltwater shoreline in San Juan County. Results will be used to prioritze potential restoration sites and identify interested landowners to participate in voluntary habitat improvement projects. Friends of the San Juans is coordinating the project, which was funded by the Salmon Recovery Funding Board in 2008.

Field surveys will be conducted this spring and summer by Friends of the San Juans and Beach Watcher volunteers who will provide hundreds of hours of field assistance. “Like the successful forage fish project a few years back, which documented 12 miles of surf smelt and Pacific sand lance spawning beaches across the county, trained volunteers allow us to accomplish large habitat mapping projects in a cost-effective way,” says Tina Whitman, Friends of the San Juans Science Director and Project Manager.

In addition to the community volunteers, Friends of the San Juans 2009 Science Intern, University of Washington undergraduate student Tiffany Stephens, will assist with field surveys, aerial photo interpretation and mapping elements of the project.

“We are fortunate to be in a community with so many skilled community members committed to marine ecosystem recovery,” stated Stephanie Buffum, Executive Director at Friends of the San Juans.

For more information on this inventory and how results will be used to identify top salmon recovery projects, please contact Friends of the San Juans at 378-2319.