Re-Green the Green

SUMMARY: Over the last 150 years, the amount of streamside, or riparian, forest cover has been dramatically decreased along the Green/Duwamish River due to human activity and land use. The lack of tall native trees along the banks of the river and its tributaries results in unhealthy and sometimes lethal water temperatures for Chinook and other salmon. The lack of trees along the Green River results in fewer insects that feed birds, salmon, and other wildlife; and a lack of supply of wood to fall into the river to create a complex of deep and shallow, slow and fast water habitats where fish can hide from predators, feed, take refuge from high flows, and rest. Re-Green the Green is the strategy to reverse this and re-create habitat along the river. 

BIO: Doug Osterman is the Salmon Recovery Manager for WRIA 9, the Green/Duwamish and Central Puget Sound Watershed, a position he has held for 20 years.  As manager, Doug works with the 17 local governments of the watershed, many other agencies, and business and environmental interests to plan and implement for the recovery of the threatened Chinook salmon population of the watershed.  He staffs the Watershed Ecosystem Forum, the decision-making group for prioritizing and funding salmon recovery capital projects and programs throughout the watershed.  Doug holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Fish and Wildlife Management and Agricultural Land Resources from Montana State University and a Master of Regional Planning from Washington State University.