Maury Island Aquatic Reserve

The Maury Island Aquatic Reserve consists mostly of subtidal areas owned by the state. The state also owns approximately 12 percent of the intertidal areas of Quartermaster Harbor and the east side of Maury Island, which are also included within the reserve. The remainder of the tidelands adjacent to the reserve are not owned by the state and, therefore, are not included within the boundaries of the reserve.

Harbors and bays the size of Quartermaster Harbor in this reserve are relatively uncommon in Puget Sound, and most have been heavily influenced by human development. The herring stock spawning grounds in Quartermaster Harbor represent one of only 18 distinct Pacific herring spawning areas in Puget Sound. The reserve includes a small portion of the herring stock’s pre-spawning holding area and also contains Chinook salmon migratory corridors and rearing areas, bottom fish rearing habitat, and possibly bull trout migratory corridors.

On November 8, 2004, Commissioner Doug Sutherland formally established the Maury Island Aquatic Reserve.

Commissioner of Public Lands' Withdrawal and Designation Order for the Maury Island Environmental Aquatic Reserve  (263KB PDF)

Maps and Photographs of the Site

●	The WA Department of Ecology has a collection of shoreline aerial photos of Maury Island.
●	Maury Island Vicinity Map  (4,517KB PDF), shown below.

 

Geographic Location

This reserve, located in central Puget Sound and southwest King County, includes approximately 5,530 acres of state-owned aquatic bedlands and tidelands in Quartermaster Harbor and along the east and south shore of Maury Island, extending from Neill Point to the shores between Point Robinson and Luana Beach. The reserve boundary extends waterward to one-half mile from the line of extreme low tide.

 

Site Ownership

Approximately 88 percent of the tidelands in Quartermaster Harbor and the east shore of
Maury Island are not owned by the state. Private property ownership makes up most of the aquatic lands and uplands adjacent to the aquatic reserve.

 

The Vashon Park District owns and manages the Point Robinson Light House, which is on the National Historic Register, and the Burton Acres Park Northeast.

 

King County owns and manages the Maury Island Marine Park, Dockton Park, and an undeveloped site (of about 50 acres, including about 600 feet of shoreline) along the lower western shore of Quartermaster Harbor. King County also has regulatory jurisdiction over land-use in and adjacent to the aquatic reserve.

 

Ecological Characteristics

The reserve is unique within the central Puget Sound sub-basin because it has a
diverse set of habitats and species that include extensive eelgrass beds, kelp beds, sand and mudflats, and spawning grounds for herring, surf smelt, and sand lance. Quartermaster Harbor was identified by the Audubon Society as an Important Bird Area and, in particular, an important area for wintering marine birds, especially western grebes.

 

While fish and wildlife populations have not been thoroughly inventoried, the reserve appears to support a high level of biodiversity. Quartermaster Harbor supports a larger diversity of fish and invertebrates than urban bays in central Puget Sound. Fish species found in Quartermaster Harbor that are less abundant in urban bays include: spiny dogfish, spotted ratfish, longnose skate, rock sole, starry flounder, speckled sanddab, pile surfperch, striped surfperch, bay goby, blackbelly eelpout, bay pipefish, and plainfin midshipman. Marine mammals that visit the reserve include river otters, harbor seals, and less frequently killer whales, harbor porpoises, and California sea lions.

 

The reserve also includes the eastern shore of Maury Island, which supports a
unique, uninterrupted drift cell (area of mud, sand, or gravel material moved in the
nearshore zone by waves and currents) that converges at Point Robinson with another drift cell along the northern shore of Maury Island. This convergence zone provides sediment to a sand spit located at Point Robinson. Such long, relatively uninterrupted drift cells are becoming rare in central Puget Sound. These physical features are critical for the development and maintenance of shore features such as the sand spit found at Point Robinson.

Historic clam middens were excavated on the north shore of the Burton Peninsula within Quartermaster Harbor in 1996 by University of Washington’s Department of Archaeology.

Reserve Management

●	Maury Island Final Supplemental EIS  (4,337KB PDF)
●	Maury Island Aquatic Reserve Final Management Plan, October 2004 (1,079KB PDF)

●	Buoys (map of locations to be added)
●	Water Quality Monitoring Strategy (to be added)

 

Allowable Uses

Use authorizations for activities that were granted prior to establishing the reserve will be honored throughout the duration of their current authorized periods. In addition, pending uses of state-owned aquatic lands that were proposed prior to reserve establishment will be evaluated in the same manner as existing uses.

 

Existing uses may be re-authorized, expanded, or upgrading if planned operations make use of available and reasonable technologies and result in fewer impacts to the natural environment than under existing conditions. DNR staff will work with lessees to develop site plans that will identify measures to reduce ongoing site-specific environmental impacts related to existing facilities and implement these over the course of the 90-year term of the reserve.

 

Issues of Concern

Approximately 60 percent of the shoreline surrounding the reserve has been modified in some manner. Shoreline modification can lead to cumulative impacts to the reserve by interfering with natural erosion processes, scouring the beach, and the removal of shoreline vegetation. These impacts can lead to long-term effects on the physical structure and biological composition of the beaches. DNR will rely on King County and WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife to properly manage and permit activities on lands adjacent to the reserve to conserve these habitats and ecological processes.

 

Information Used to Evaluate Site for Aquatic Reserve Designation

.....(I'm unclear what to add here. I've already referenced all docs that were included in the original web page.)

Collaborative Process

Guidance for implementing a citizen-based monitoring program was developed to provide direction for implementing elements of the Maury Island Management Plan.

●	Citizen-Based Monitoring: An Opportunity for the Maury Island Aquatic Reserve  (141KB PDF)