May 27, 2010 - Seventy-seven acres of riverfront, forests and wetlands have been conserved along the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River leading to the restoration and protection of critical salmon habitat in the Stillaguamish Watershed.

The property, owned by Bryson Investment Group LLC, includes about two-thirds of a mile of riverfront.  The surrounding forest consists of Douglas fir, red alder, red cedar and hemlock.  There are wetlands in the central and southern portions of the site and it is surrounded by undeveloped forestland.

The Cascade Land Conservancy and the Stillaguamish Tribe secured a Salmon Recovery Funding Board grant to restore and protect this site.  The Conservancy facilitated the acquisition on behalf of the Stillaguamish Tribe. Purchase price was $325,000.

Riparian and in-stream restoration will begin this summer.

“This is a critical piece of conservation for Snohomish County,” said Nick Harper, Snohomish County Conservation Director for the Conservancy.  “The Stillaguamish is the fifth largest river draining into Puget Sound so this conservation is an important element in helping with the Puget Sound Partnership’s efforts to restore and protect the Sound.”

"We are pleased to take on the responsibility of conserving this property," said Shawn Yanity, fisheries manager for the Stillaguamish Tribe. "This is a major step toward protecting the habitat we need for strong salmon runs.  For the tribe, this is about preserving our way of life and protecting our treaty-reserved right to fish."

   
“We must work to conserve the uplands of the region around Puget Sound,” said Gene Duvernoy, President, Cascade Land Conservancy.  “By combining that kind of effort with the community goals of The Cascade Agenda, the region can have a restored Sound alongside livable towns and cities."

The Stillaguamish River Watershed is nearly 448,000 acres in size with about 43 percent, more than 192,000 acres, comprised of working forest land managed by federal, state and industrial resource managers as well as small forest landowners.

The historic and continued management of these lands for harvesting timber has impacted salmon habitat since the mid-1800s, altering the shape of the river’s channels and tributaries, increasing sediment loads and increasing peak flows.  These factors continue to be a concern for the recovery of viable populations of Chinook and other salmon.

Also impacting salmon recovery and habitat protection has been the conversion of working forest land to non-forest uses.  With its proximity to the urban centers of Puget Sound and transportation corridors, forest land in Snohomish and Skagit County is a higher risk for conversion to other uses than other areas in Washington State.

A near-term action item of the Puget Sound Partnership is to protect high value habitat at risk of conversion or impacts from other human activities and to use tools that keep working farms and forests in production.

Conserving working forest land in the Stillaguamish Watershed and working with willing landowners and resource managers to implement management practices that maintain forest cover and enhance habitat quality are consistent with the Partnership’s near term action plan. The Cascade Land Conservancy is working with the Stillaguamish Lead Entity and the Partnership to develop a prioritization of working forest lands along the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River and identify conservation tools that can be used to conserve working forest land and protect the ecosystem processes that support salmon habitat.

The conservation in Snohomish County is one of several such efforts on the part of the Conservancy over the past six months.  Other conservation includes:

King County

• Marckworth Forest Inholding - 55 acres of key wetland pond, riparian and forested uplands in the headwater area of Stossel Creek in the Snohomish River Watershed.
• 
  Bass/Beaver Lake - 4.76-acre addition to King County's Bass Lake Complex Natural Area complementing the existing 3,500 acres preserved by State Parks and King County along the Green River,

• North River- 590 acres of high quality riparian habitat, emergent and forested marsh along the North River of Willapa Bay.

About the Cascade Land Conservancy: The Cascade Land Conservancy is the largest land conservation, stewardship and community building organization operating in Washington State with headquarters in Seattle and principal offices in King, Kittitas, Mason, Pierce and Snohomish Counties.  Founded in 1989, the Conservancy has protected 158,000 acres of working forests, farmlands and natural areas as well as estuary lands on the Olympic Peninsula and along the Washington Coast.  It provides stewardship services, caring for more than 12,000 acres of land.  Since 2005 it has been the host organization of The Cascade Agenda, which links conserving great lands with creating great communities. For more information, please visit www.cascadeland.org.