U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District

You: USACE only has engineers. Us: We can't begin to explain how wrong that is. Actually, it'll bother us if we don't!

Meet Jacqui Bergner, an acquatic biologist with Seattle District’s Planning, Environmental and Cultural Resources Branch. She's part of diverse group of biologists, archaeologists, historians and environmental scientists providing technical expertise to ensure USACE projects comply with the nation’s most important environmental laws, such as the Endangered Speciest Act.

For one week in early May, she called the massive hopper dredge Essayons her home, working 12-hour shifts sifting through thousands of pounds of sand and mud. Her mission: to monitor for the accidental “take” of threatened green sturgeon during dredging operations in Grays Harbor, Washington.

It was an exhausting but temporary assignment where USACE’s civil works and environmental stewardship missions merged to protect green sturgeon, a historic species that has swum among dinosaurs.

Let us know in the comments which Seattle District job we should highlight next.

📝 The entire story: www.army.mil/article/293071

📸 (Top left): Jacqui Bergner, a USACE aquatic biologist, poses for a picture holding a Dungeness crab. Bergner and her colleague were responsible for cataloging various aquatic life that came aboard the vessel via the “crab catcher” and deposited into the vessel’s hopper.

📸 (Top right): Seen in the background, the gray drag arm overhangs off the Essayons starboard side and is used to dredge material from a channel. Dredging in Washington state's Grays Harbor is done to keep that channel clear and safe for navigation. Once sediments are dredged from the waterway, they are referred to as "dredged material."

📸 (Bottom left): Jacqui Bergner, a USACE Seattle District aquatic biologist sprays the “crab catcher" aboard the dredging vessel Essayons. The crab catcher gathers a portion of dredged material and is sprayed before biologists process the sample and record their findings.

📸 (Bottom right): Tissue samples are cleaned, measured and photographed prior to sending to USACE's Engineer Research and the Development Center for DNA testing.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Headquarters | Portland District, US Army Corps of Engineers | NOAA Fisheries West Coast | | | | |

Libby Dam's dark, cavernous spaces aren't just great for generating hydropower—they’re also a prime hangout spot for local bat populations!

In fact, did you know that Libby Dam provides critical habitat for this district’s ONLY known bat maternity colony and the largest known in Montana? Holy Smokes, Batman!

Our Libby Dam natural resource team recently paired up with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks to check in on our nocturnal neighborsfor during a late-night field session, May 21, to safely capture and monitor local bat species.

The main mission? Checking the bats for White-Nose Syndrome, a devastating fungal disease that has severely impacted bat populations across North America. Catching it early and tracking its footprint is critical for keeping local colonies healthy.

While the image of scientists and rangers wrangling bats in the dark sounds like comic book plot, the work is vital to the regional ecosystem.

Bats are the unsung heroes of Montana’s wildlife network. As primary predators of night-flying insects, a single brown bat can eat its own body weight in bugs every night. By keeping pest populations in check, they act as a natural shield for our forests and surrounding agricultural lands.

This joint partnership keeps a watchful eye on our winged allies, ensuring they can keep doing their vital work under the cover of darkness.

DYK: Beyond pest control, bats play a massive role in nutrient cycling across Pacific Northwest forests, making their health a direct indicator of overall ecosystem resilience.

To recap: Healthy Bats ➡️ Control Insects ➡️ Protect Forests & Agriculture aka Stable Ecosystem. Got it? Good!

Here are a few photos of that field session.

📸 USACE/Libby Dam

Hey you! Yeah you!! You should go outside and touch some grass for National Outdoors Month.

Here in Seattle District, we've got it all: lush botanical gardens, roaring dams and pristine lakeside campgrounds. And they're all waiting for you!

Take a relaxing stroll among rare Dawn Redwoods at the Carl S Jr. Botanical Garden at our Hiram M. Chittenden Locks - Ballard Locks.

Looking for a weekend escape during all the World Cup activity starting soon? Reserve a picnic shelter and hike the foothills at Mud Mountain Dam near Buckley, Wash.

Anglers can chase trophy walleye in the glacier-carved canyons of Chief Joseph Dam and Rufus Woods Lake in central Washington.

For a longer getaway, enjoy diverse lakeside camping at Springy Point Campground, not fair from our Albeni Falls Dam in northern Idaho.

And we can't forget our friends at Libby Dam, where folks can play disc golf nearby at the Kooky Noosa disc gold course or watch for bald eagles. Camping, fishing, boating and wildlife watching are popular in the recreation areas below the dam.

Beyond providing fun, our recreation programs actively manage natural resources, offer vital public education, and improve the quality of life for our communities.

Plan your next adventure today and help us celebrate the great outdoors! Visit https://www.recreation.gov/ to reserve a picnic shelter or campground spot.

📸 (Top): Carl S. English Jr. Botanical Garden at the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks.
📸 (Bottom): Sunset at Springy Point Campground, near Sandpoint, Idaho.

No one got bounced out the club this weekend, because it was a party.

Kudos to our hardworking colleagues at Hiram M. Chittenden Locks - Ballard Locks for managing the kayaker traffic!

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What do online pizza ordering and permitting have to do with each other?

We know it sounds odd, USACE took that "pizza order tracking" concept and applied it to permit paperwork.

Our U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Headquarters colleagues heard the concerns: too much paperwork and confusion for tracking a permit’s status.

The answer to that problem is a new Regulatory Request System, known as RRS. It’s USACE’s version of a food delivery tracker, but for your permits!

The RRS web platform lets you submit applications and track your status in real time on a user-friendly dashboard. It is all about delivering faster decisions for projects.

The RRS rollout supports Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Mr. Adam Telle's "Building Infrastructure, Not Working" initative. The transformative initative is designed to cut red tape and accelerate project delivery.

USACE Seattle District’s regulatory division will host outreach events this summer to demonstrate how to use RRS and to answer questions about the new system before RRS becomes our primary permitting system on Oct. 1, 2026.

There are three opportunities to RSVP to attend in-person or virtually:
June 16, 2026 - Vancouver, Washington
July 28, 2026 - Spokane, Washington
August 11, 2026 - Seattle, Washington

Folks can RSVP by contacting [email protected] no later than one week before the event using the email subject line: 2026 RRS Public Outreach Events.

Include your name (or company/organization), emails of those attending (if different than sender), preferred date/location and whether you want to participate in-person or virtually.

More info on how to RSVP is in our news story 👇

New USACE Regulatory Request System improves permit process nationwide The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Seattle District Regulatory Division reviews thousands of permit applications each year. From infrastructure improvements to shoreline work, USACE regulators

It’s been 46 years since Mount St. Helens erupted and changed the Pacific Northwest landscape forever.

While our friends at Portland District, US Army Corps of Engineers led the immediate response to restore river navigation, the Seattle and WallaWallaUSACE teams hit the ground to assess damage and help hundreds of our neighbors apply for disaster relief.

The map below shows the area of devastation, including the debris structures on the Lower Toutle and Spirit Lake.

Over the decades, we’ve responded to everything from hurricanes to wildfires alongside our partners like FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency (only a year old when the volcano erupted).

We are always ready to respond when called upon for the Pacific Northwest and nation.

| | | | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Headquarters

Does your family bond over pepper spray and self-defense drills? Because ours do.

For International Family Day, we are celebrating our Seattle District park rangers, who truly operate as one big, adventurous family.

Recently, our Natural Resources staff gathered at Chief Joseph Dam and Rufus Woods Lake for their annual refresher training.

Our NRM crew prepared for the upcoming recreation season with hands-on practice in visitor assistance, water safety, and ticket writing. They also collaborated on field trips with the Colville Confederated Tribes and learned specialized radio and dispatch training from the Washington State Patrol.

Through team-building and preperation, our work family is ready for a safe and busy summer out on the water. And of course they'll have fun doing it!

, , , Libby Dam, Albeni Falls Dam, Hiram M. Chittenden Locks - Ballard Locks