Targeted Big Buffers in the Stillaguamish

Snohomish Conservation District will work with three property owners to control invasive plants and reforest at least 10 acres (0.30 river miles) of second priority riparian habitat in the Stillaguamish watershed to improve riparian forest habitat cover and function in the watershed to benefit Chinook salmon and other salmonids that are impacted by degraded riparian forest and elevated water temperatures. Additionally, Snohomish Conservation District (SCD) will complete site stewardship on four previously-funded riparian restoration project sites (restoration completed during project 18-1509) to support riparian forest site establishment on 14.86 acres of riparian habitat for a total of 1.13 river miles and 24.86 acres of riparian forest treated. Summer water temperatures in the North Fork Stillaguamish River, mainstem Stillaguamish River, and Pilchuck Creek exceeds standards and limits salmon productivity. The reforested riparian buffers (ranging from 100 feet to 300+ feet in width) will contribute to improvements in edge habitat conditions and summer water temperature conditions for juvenile and adult Chinook salmon and other salmonid, and will help build watershed resilience to fluctuating water temperature.

Primary project goal: Increase the amount of fully functioning riparian forest habitat in the North Fork Stillaguamish floodplain, Portage Creek, and the Lower Pilchuck River sub-basin to support Stillaguamish Chinook salmon recovery. This project will increase forest cover and enhance connectivity and ecological function of the riparian corridor along priority reaches of salmonid habitat in the Stillaguamish watershed to benefit Chinook salmon and other salmonid species. Project locations were selected with the following goals in mind: protect and enhance cold water inflow that refugia for juvenile fish, provide shade to streams and rivers that will reduce the impacts of elevated water temperatures that create a barrier to fish movement, and improve the riparian corridor’s capacity to retain water to increase surface water storage and groundwater recharge.