Cottonwood, Maple Seedlings Already Thick On Ground Behind Remnants Of Elwha Dams

OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Nature already has provided a few surprises for workers tasked with replanting the wastelands where lakes Aldwell and Mills once drowned the forest, Olympic National Park restoration biologist Joshua Chenoweth said.

The biggest surprise is thousands of big leaf maple and cottonwood seedlings that are colonizing parts of the newly exposed lake bed and silt terraces that line the Elwha River, Chenoweth told about 30 audience members at a forum last week at the Port Angeles Library.

Chenoweth said he doesn't know yet how many of those tiny seedlings will last longer than a year or two, but their very presence is a welcome, hopeful sign.

The cool summer has been helpful, but Chenoweth said a survey of plants at the end of August will be telling. “If even 10 percent make it, that's awesome,” he said Wednesday. Chenoweth is the head of a seven-year program to bring green life back to the drowned forest valley. It is part of the $325 million Elwha River Restoration Project, which includes the removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams.

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