Management
Willapa NWR faces many unique challenges. While it includes many
pristine areas, it also includes many recent acquisitions where
considerable restoration effort is needed. It includes an amazing
diversity of habitats from ocean sand dune beaches to the sheltered
mudflats of the bay, from pristine old growth forests to open saltgrass
meadows. The refuge is home to several threatened and endangered
species and is trying to restore habitat for many others. Like many
places, Willapa NWR is also coping with the threat of invasive species.
Western Snowy Plover
Western Snowy Plovers are small shorebirds, about 6 inches long,
that nest on the Leadbetter Unit of Willapa National Wildlife Refuge.
They are part of the Pacific Coast population that breed from Washington
to Mexico and are listed as a threatened species by the U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Service. This is one of the two main nesting sites
in Washington. Their numbers have declined due to habitat loss and
degradation of habitat by invasive American and European beachgrasses.
Human disturbance and expanding recreational use of beaches have
also contributed to their decline.
Snowy Plovers will lay their nests anywhere on a dry sand beach,
from just above the high tide line to the foredune. Typically, 3
eggs are laid in a nest and take about 1 month to hatch. The chicks
are about the size of a cotton ball at hatching and amazingly chicks
leave the nest within hours to search for food. Chicks are unable
to fly for about a month, which makes them vulnerable to predators,
being crushed by people and escaping bad weather.
In 2001, we began habitat restoration efforts for the western
Snowy Plover at the Leadbetter Unit. Non-native, invasive beach
grass has been cleared, using a bull dozer, and as of the 2008 nesting
season, approximately 120 acres have been restored to open sand
beach habitat that plovers traditionally use. Oyster shell has been
added to the area to provide camouflaging for nests and plovers.
Oyster shell hides the eggs not only from predators, but from humans.
Would you notice the eggs in the nest at right before you stepped
on them?
The Snowy Plover nesting season is from mid March through September
and it is during this critical time that plovers are easily disturbed.
Adults are frightened off a nest by people and their dogs coming
too close, which makes them vulnerable to being crushed or eaten
by predators. If disturbances are lengthy or frequent, the eggs
in the nest get buried by sand and will not hatch. For this reason,
the active plover nesting area of upper dry sand beach is closed
off to public use during the nesting season and no dogs are allowed
on the beach of the Leadbetter Unit.
Forest Management
Forest lands in the Willapa Bay area are dominated by commercial
timberlands. In fact, most of the forested acreage within either
the refuge or Willapa Bay watersheds is second or third growth timber.
Very little old growth or late-successional forest exists. One estimate
states that less than one percent of the original coasta
l old growth
remains. The largest old growth parcel in the refuge is the 274
acre Cedar Grove located on Long Island. Many of the 7000 forested
acres on the refuge are comprised of monotypic, even-aged forest
stands lacking in biological diversity, with limited species composition
and poor forest structure.
A variety of wildlife are dependent on old growth and late-successional
forests. Black bear, black-tailed deer, Roosevelt elk, salamanders,
forest-dwelling bats and other small mammals, marbled murrelets,
pileated woodpeckers and other forest birds and a host of rare fungi
and gastropods can be found in some refuge forests. Forest streams
also provide habitat for anadromous fish such as chinook, coho and
chum salmon and sea-run cutthroat trout.
Due to the degraded nature of refuge forests as well as those of
the surrounding areas, a major effort is needed to restore these
forests to a semblance of their natural state. The refuge has embarked
on a landscape-based forest management program in cooperation with
the Nature Conservancy, which manages the 7000 acre Ellsworth Creek
Preserve which is located adjacent to the refuge. Forest inventories
on both properties have been completed and a forest management plan
is being developed. Activities to restore forests will include manipulation
of degraded forest stands through such techniques as variable density
thinning, direct reestablishment of under-represented tree and other
plant species, removal of non-native species and elimination of
unnecessary and deteriorating forest roads.
Invasive Plants-Spartina alterniflora 
Willapa Bay is one of the top biologically pristine estuaries
remaining in the lower 48 states. Thousands of people depend on
the bay's renewable natural resources for their livelihoods. Thousands
more visit the bay each year to enjoy the natural beauty and recreational
opportunities found here throughout the year.
In recent years, spartina grass--accidentally introduced from the
eastern United States--has exploded in Willapa Bay, threatening
the survival of both wildlife and the aquaculture industry in Willapa
Bay. Willapa National Wildlife Refuge has entered into a ground-breaking
partnership with a variety of groups including Washington State
University and University of Washington, Washington State Departments
of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Wildlife, private landowners,
oyster growers, the 
Nature Conservancy, and other private interest
groups to eradicate spartina from Willapa Bay.
Willapa
NWR, along with its partners, is using every available means in its
goal to eradicate spartina from Willapa Bay before it does irreversible
damage. Where the spartina had formed large meadows, the refuge used large amphibious machines with precision sprayers. These machines
are equipped with sensors on their spray head which detect whether
the spray nozzles are over water/mud or spartina, releasing chemical
only when over spartina. Helicopters are also used to aerially spray
large meadows and large clone fields. Spartina occurs mostly as isolated pathces and hand-crews on airboats attack
the seedlings, individual plants, and small clones. Airboats can maneuver to difficult access areas. Rototilling
was also used, but was too slow to keep pace with spartina's rapid
expansion. Rototilling is, however, very useful in rehabilitating
selected areas for immediate use by shorebirds. The University of
Washington in cooperation with Willapa NWR and state agencies is continuing
the introduction of Prokelisia marginata (an insect) for
biological control as an additional weapon in the war to preserve
Willapa Bay for both wildlife and people.
Comprehensive Conservation Planning
Comprehensive Conservation Plans (CCPs) describe the desired future conditions of a refuge and provide long-range guidance and management direction to achieve refuge purposes; help fulfill the National Wildlife Refuge System (Refuge System) mission; maintain and, where appropriate, restore the ecological integrity of each refuge and the Refuge System; help achieve the goals of the National Wilderness Preservation System; and meet other mandates.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must manage all national wildlife refuges according to an approved CCP. We will prepare a CCP by October 2012. We will continue to manage each refuge with existing plans effective prior to October 9, 1997, to the extent these plans are consistent with the Refuge Administration Act, until we revise such plans or new CCPs supersede them. Upon completion of a CCP, we will manage the refuge or planning unit in a manner consistent with the CCP. We will revise the CCP every 15 years thereafter, or earlier if monitoring and evaluation determine that we need changes to achieve planning unit purpose(s), vision, goals, or objectives.
Willapa National Wildlife Refuge is in the early stages of the CCP. For more specific information on the planning process at Willapa NWR please visit our CCP Website.
