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Six
Salmon Recovery Grants Awarded to Capitol Land Trust
Dec.
20, 2007
Governor Christine Gregoire today announced that more
than $60 million in grants to protect and restore salmon
populations and their habitats have been awarded to
communities across Washington. Capitol Land Trust was
awarded six grants, totaling $1.79 million and
conserving almost 300 acres in Mason and Thurston
Counties. The grants are for the following projects:
1.
East
Hammersley Inlet, Mason County
2. Goldsborough
Creek, Mason County
3. Goldsborough
Creek Salmon Corridor, Mason County
4. Gull Harbor,
Thurston County
5. Lower Eld
Inlet, Thurston County
6. Twin
Rivers Ranch (Oakland Bay), Mason County
1.
East
Hammersley Inlet, Mason County
This project will conserve about 16.25 acres and 700
feet of forested shorelines and nearshore habitat along
east Hammersley Inlet, including habitat used for forage
fish spawning, portions of a salmon-bearing stream,
feeder bluffs and forests. The pocket estuary and
nearshore areas provide habitat for migrating smolts
originating from salmon spawning streams in Oakland Bay
and Hammersley Inlet, including coho, steelhead,
Chinook, chum and cutthroat. The site also contains
about 1,000 feet of freshwater stream that provides
spawning and rearing habitat for salmon. The project
will provide the highest level of protection for a
highly functional habitat system. The land is threatened
by imminent sale.
2.
Goldsborough
Creek, Mason County
This project will conserve a 40-acre river-wetland
complex containing high quality habitat on Goldsborough
Creek, a stream of regional importance in South Puget
Sound for salmon production. The property, located just
below the confluence of the north and south forks
provides quality summer rearing habitat for coho,
steelhead and cutthroat in a 2,000-foot channel of deep,
cool, slow-moving stream with overhanging vegetation.
Removal of the Goldsborough Creek dam in 2001 resulted
in increased use of habitat in the upper watershed by
coho salmon. This project adds to 20 acres of similar
habitat already conserved by the project partners ¼
mile upstream on the south fork.
3.
Goldsborough
Creek Salmon Corridor, Mason County
This project will conserve 9.4 acres of forested
creek-side buffer along 1,100 feet of Goldsborough
Creek, a stream of regional importance for salmon
production. The property is threatened by commercial
development. Purchasing the land will ensure continued
access to spawning and rearing habitat for coho,
cutthroat, steelhead and rainbow trout. The project
builds upon the 2001 removal of the adjacent
Goldsborough Creek dam, which restored access to more
than 40 square miles of habitat upstream. Acquisition
will prevent removal of natural vegetation, introduction
of paved surfaces and other adverse impacts to salmon
habitat that would occur with development.
4.
Gull Harbor,
Thurston County
This project will conserve highly functional estuarine
and nearshore habitat at the mouth of Gull Harbor, a
30-acre estuary containing 2.2 miles of forested
shorelines in Olympia. Gull Harbor is one of southern
Puget Sound’s most intact estuarine environments,
providing high quality habitat for coho, steelhead,
chum, sea-run cutthroat and Chinook salmon as well as
important prey species such as sand lance, surf smelt
and Pacific herring. The project will connect the open
shoreline environment of Budd Inlet to the sheltered
habitat of Gull Harbor, including the entire estuary
mouth, bay mouth spit and protected lagoon. The site is
threatened by residential development and impacted by
livestock grazing in nearshore areas. The current
project site is adjacent to about 2 miles of marine
shorelines and 150 acres of upland habitat already
protected with conservation easements through previous
projects.
5.
Lower Eld
Inlet, Thurston County
This project will conserve 55 acres and 1.25 miles of
highly functional estuarine and marine nearshore habitat
in lower Eld Inlet in Olympia. Lower Eld Inlet is a
shallow, relatively undisturbed, estuarine complex
consisting of extensive tidal marshes and mudflats. The
project builds upon successful Eld Inlet conservation
efforts that have protected more than 4 miles of marine
shorelines and 500 acres of coastal wetland, nearshore
and surrounding upland areas within the watershed. The
property’s rich tidal mudflats, vegetated shorelines
and associated uplands provide habitat for multiple
salmon species. Not surprisingly, the estuarine habitats
are important for Pacific sandlance, Pacific herring and
surf smelt, as well as for bald eagles and large
populations of shorebirds and waterfowl. The land
proposed for acquisition contains no bulkheads, docks or
other modifications and is an outstanding example of an
intact, natural estuarine and coastal wetland habitat
once characteristic of the region.
6.
Twin Rivers
Ranch (Oakland Bay), Mason County
This project will conserve just under 1 mile of
freshwater shoreline along Deer and Cranberry Creeks, .6
mile of estuarine shoreline and 127 acres of highly
functional coastal wetland habitat at the uppermost end
of Oakland Bay in deep South Puget Sound. These habitats
provide feeding, resting and transitioning habitat for
coho, native winter steelhead, Chinook, coastal
cutthroat and native summer chum. The property is an
intact, natural estuarine and coastal wetland area once
characteristic of the region. The owners wish to see the
site conserved, and are working closely with project
partners.
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