Under Construction

This website provides a clearinghouse for information on a number of projects that I have been involved with over the last few years in the Lake Ozette region.  Please explore this website which has many images of the area, and descriptions of a number of projects investigating the natural history of the region.  All data are provisional, please do not reference/cite this web page without contacting me.  I might have more current data or analysis completed.  The research has been carried out in cooperation with Olympic National Park, and with several colleagues.  However, all the information on this website is my responsibility.

The Lake Ozette region is located about 30 kilometers south of Cape Flattery, WA, on the northwest tip of the Olympic Peninsula.  The lake and lands west of the lake are administered by Olympic National Park, land to the north, east and south of the lake are private and state owned (map of land ownership).  The regional environment is heavily influenced by its proximity to the Pacific Ocean, which produces in excess of 250 cm (100 inches) of rain annually and contributes to dense forest vegetation.  The forested areas are considered by some to be temperate rainforest.  Within the dense forest are several meadows (locally called prairies) with unique ecosystems, and several rare and endangered species. Some of the prairies are located along the Cape Alava Trail, about 2 km inland from the site of the Makah Ozette Village.  Over the last few decades the prairies have been undergoing an invasion by trees.  In order to understand why the tree invasion is occurring, we are approaching the problem from three research directions, in hopes of identifying the relationships between vegetation, climate, soils, and land-use at the geologic, pre-historic, and historical time scales.  This area, which has never been logged, is rich in paleoenvironmental data that will aid us in determining the environmental history of the area and the influence of humans in burning to maintain the prairies.

Lake Ozette is habitat for 13 species of fish, of which, only the sockeye salmon are experiencing population declines.  The Ozette sockeye is considered an evolutionary significant unit, and was listed as a federally threatened species in 1999.  Several of the usual factors which cause fish populations to decline are absent from the watershed, such as dams, urbanization, pollution.  However, much of the lake watershed is privately held, and managed for timber harvest.  We have investigated some of the possible impacts to salmon habitat by logging-induced changes to the hydrologic system and soil erosion.  Both these changes could negatively impact the sockeye spawning habitat that is located along the lakeshore.

If you have any comments, or have any information or photographs of the area that you would like to share, please contact me.  I am particularly interested in photographs that might document any changes, especially of the prairies. Andy.Bach@wwu.edu    Thank you.