{"id":4,"date":"2015-02-18T19:53:49","date_gmt":"2015-02-18T19:53:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/puyallup.wsu.edu\/agbuffers\/?page_id=4"},"modified":"2018-05-30T17:47:32","modified_gmt":"2018-05-30T17:47:32","slug":"agbuffers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/puyallup.wsu.edu\/agbuffers\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Overview"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Riparian Buffers: Project Overview<\/h1>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Function, Management & Economic Implications for Agriculture<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n
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\"Aerial
Skagit River, Brown’s Slough<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Several Pacific Northwest (PNW) salmonid runs are currently listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This listing has already had dramatic effects throughout the PNW with the potential for more in the future. Much concern and scientific research has focused on the impacts of commercial forestry in upland, mountainous areas on river health and salmon survival. However, research is lacking on how to manage floodplain riparian areas, where agriculture is practiced in the PNW. Because of this lack of data, and the immediacy of action required by the ESA listing, regulatory agencies are considering the use of upland riparian data to guide rule-making decisions for downstream agricultural riparian areas. If wide buffers currently being discussed are applied to all fish-bearing or potentially fish-bearing streams and ditches, the economic viability of PNW agriculture could be at risk. Much of the productive land could be lost to the buffer outright or impacted by field fragmentation, shading and biotic influences (e.g., harboring insect pests\/disease).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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