west Coastal Region is one of the investigations 

 that is being conducted to meet these responsibili- 

 ties. 



The study area, extending from Cape Flattery, 

 Washington, to Cape Mendocino, California, and 

 from the crest of the coast range to the 200-m con- 

 tour line of the Pacific Ocean is an area of high fish 

 and wildlife values. To help maintain these values 

 the Sei"vice operates eight wildlife refuges along the 

 California, Oregon, and Washington coast. These 

 National Wildlife Refuges, including Oregon Island, 

 Three Arch Rocks, Lewis and Clark, Columbia 

 White-tailed Deer, Willapa, Copalis, Quillayute Nee- 

 dles, and Flattery Rocks, provide habitat for water- 

 fowl, shorebirds, endangered species, and seabirds. 

 In addition, the FWS is active in reviewing and 

 commenting upon proposed activities that could 

 cause adverse impacts upon fish and wildlife and 

 their habitats in the coastal region. The FWS is also 

 concerned about the possible impacts of energy 

 development projects upon the area. These projects 

 include foreign oil imports, Alaskan oil tranship- 

 ment, liquified natural gas import, petrochemical 

 industry development, and Outer Continental Shelf 

 activities. The Coos Bay Unit was selected as a 

 Pilot Study because it is representative of the area 

 in habitat diversity, resources, and development. 



The Coos Bay Unit includes all of the major 

 components that were included in the first product 

 of study, the conceptual model. The unit contains 

 agricultural, recreational and commercial develop- 

 ments, logging, light industry, shipping, fisheries, 

 and undeveloped areas. It was the opinion of the 

 FWS and our contractor that the Coos Bay Unit 

 would provide the kind of information and prob- 

 lems necessary to test the characterization process. 

 The point of conducting the Pilot Study was to pro- 

 vide an example of the framework, data collection 

 and coverage, map resolution, and synthesis of in- 

 formation that the contractor proposes to use in 

 the final products. The success of this effort will 

 probably not be fully apparent until the entire 

 characterization is complete. 



METHODS 



The Ecological Characterization o{ the Pacific 

 Northwest Coastal Region is being conducted 

 under contract by Ryckman, Edgcrley, Tomlinson, 

 and Associates, a St. Louis, Missouri, consulting 

 firm with offices in Bellevuc, Washington, and San 

 Jose, California. They are being aided in the study 

 by two subcontractors and several consultants. Dr. 



Charles Proctor is the Project Manager, Mr. John 

 Garcia is Technical Director, and Dr. Robert Holton 

 is the Technical Coordinator for the Oregon area of 

 the characterization. Dr. Jay Watson is Project 

 Officer for the FWS. 



For the Pilot Study, basic guidelines have been 

 developed for the preparation of products. First, 

 we have defined our user. It was stated early in the 

 project that our target user was an FWS - Ecological 

 Services field biologist. 



Although we want the characterization to be 

 aimed primarily at FWS biologists, the characteri- 

 zation must also be acceptable to a wide range of 

 users. In an attempt to meet this guideline we have 

 included and are continuing to include several Fed- 

 eral, State, and local agencies in the review process. 

 In addition, we are attempting to provide enough 

 information in the text so that anyone, given the 

 time and interest, can understand all aspects of the 

 characterization. For example, if we take a concep- 

 tual model of the external factors important in 

 understanding an eelgrass (Zostera spp.) communi- 

 ty, and present it without clearly developing an un- 

 derstanding of the energy-mass flow symbols used 

 in the model, it is not of a great deal of use to our 

 field biologists or other people who may wish to 

 use the conceptual model. However, if we take the 

 user through an exercise in using the various sym- 

 bols, developing the vocabulary and syntax of this 

 new language in a structured manner, then the con- 

 ceptual mt)del becomes a useful product. That is, if 

 we move progressively through our conceptual 

 model from a pictoral representation of a simplified 

 hydrologic cycle to a general energy-mass flow dia- 

 gram to a more detailed energy-mass flow diagram, 

 we think the user can more easily understand the 

 special language of the diagrammatic models of the 

 ecosystems processes. 



The conceptual model is used as a template or 

 guide for data collection. The conceptual model 

 was completed with the intention that it would 

 lead to a structured collection and synthesis of ex- 

 isting information for the pilot study and the rest 

 of the characterization. For example, there is a 

 great deal of information available concerning the 

 distribution of zinc in the lower Columbia River and 

 Willapa Bay, Washington. However, all of the mod- 

 els to date seem to indicate that zinc distribution 

 data are not a key factor in our understanding of 

 the structure and function of coastal ecosystems. If 

 we were not careful, however, we could have spent 

 a great deal of time trying to work the zinc infor- 

 mation into our analysis. 



16 



