The overarching goals for these properties are to maintain and restore native biodiversity and ecosystem function and to facilitate education and research that is consistent with these goals; a secondary goal is to maintain important parts of the cultural landscape.
(vision statement agreed upon and adopted by the University of Washington Biological Preserves Management Committee)
The ecological goal for this property
is the preservation of intact native ecosystems, maintenance of
natural ecosystem processes, maintenance of species diversity,
and restoration of damaged areas and areas invaded by non-native
species. This property should be managed for value as a educational
and research natural area and as a source of wildlife and plant
populations for areas outside the boundaries of this large, contiguous,
largely-undeveloped parcel. In order to protect native wildlife,
pets including dogs and cats are not allowed on the property.
Proposed implementation in brief:
THE FORESTED PORTION of the Friday
Harbor Laboratories Preserve will be managed for the goal of creating
a multi-age stand of native species with diverse structure, species
composition, and old-growth attributes. All large healthy trees
will be left standing; some standing snags and fallen rotting
logs are also valuable wildlife habitat and should remain. Tree
removal for firewood used on the property should be carried out
in a manner specified by, and concordant with, a forest management
plan developed to further enhance the goal of a multi-age stand
with old-growth attributes. Appropriate practices may include
removal of some, but not all, fallen trees, or thinning of severely
crowded stands, or tree removal in other locations as specified
by a management plan. Non-native invasive species in the forest
such as English holly, English ivy, and Himalayan blackberry will
be removed to the extent practical. In the event of severe damage
due to high winds, fire or disease, active replanting of native
species should be attempted, as specified in the forest management
plan, again with the goal of retaining diversified structure,
age, and species composition.
THE UNDEVELOPED, NON-FORESTED PORTIONS
of the Friday Harbor Laboratories Preserve are primarily rocky
knolls, (once) dominated by mosses, native grasses, and a diversity
of spring and summer wildflowers, and now increasingly invaded
by non-native grasses and other plants. To the extent that it
is practical, these open knolls should be restored to native species
with natural levels of species diversity. Non-native invaders
including grasses, teasel, thistle, tansy ragwort, mullein, St.
John's wort, foxglove, non-native blackberries, Scotch broom,
and others should be removed.
THE DEVELOPED "CAMPUS"
PORTION of the property will continue to see site renovations
and new construction in the future; non-native invasive plants
should be controlled so as not to become a source of exotic species
to the rest of the property. Construction projects should preserve
all possible topsoil, native trees and brush, and minimize damage
to adjacent tree roots and bark. Topsoil should be sequestered on campus
(to avoid importation of topsoil from elsewhere with an unwanted
seed bank) at the beginning of the project for use in restoring
grounds at the end of the project; soil should not be mounded
up on the bases and trunks of adjacent trees during construction
projects, as this can lead to unnecessary soil compaction around
trees not otherwise damaged. Revegetation should be accomplished
with native plants ("native" may include species that
occur in northwestern Washington, but are not normally found on
San Juan Island, such as vine maple or evergreen huckleberry);
use of commercial "wildflower" seed and/or grass mixes
is prohibited during restoration projects; both are likely to
include non-native and invasive species. Any new culverts installed
should be black to minimize their visual impact.
THE MARINE MARGINS of the Friday Harbor Laboratories Preserve have been closed to all shellfish and bottomfish harvesting activity since 1990 as listed in the Washington State Fishing Regulations as San Juan Islands Marine Preserve #4-2 ("Those tidelands and bedlands adjacent to San Juan Island within a line beginning on the shore 500 yards west of Point Caution, then 500 yards offshore, then south and east following the shoreline to the intersection with a line projected from a UW marker located 100' north of the north entrance of the floating breakwater of the Port of Friday Harbor and projected toward Reid Rock Buoy, then along the line to shore on San Juan Island.") The Friday Harbor Laboratories Preserve offers a rare opportunity to protect nearshore marine waters by management practices in adjacent protected uplands.
* This draft plan was written by an ad hoc committee of interested users of the Friday Harbor Labs property including Claudia Mills, Richard Strathmann, Terrie Klinger, Gretchen Lambert, Charles Lambert, Dianna Padilla, Joann Otto, and David Fluharty, with advice from Peter Dunwiddie of The Nature Conservancy, and has not yet been adopted as a management plan by the University of Washington.