Piner Point on Maury Island

King County Water and Land Resources has successfully completed the acquisition of 10 parcels, totaling 7.64 acres of marine nearshore, identified as the Piner Pt Natural Area on Maury Island, WA. SRFB grant dollars were leveraged with local King County Conservation Futures Tax funds and other local dollars to add an additional 5 parcels / 1.59 acres to the original 5 parcel / 6.05 acre area identified for preservation.

The Piner Pt Natural Area contains over 1,500 lineal feet of ecologically valuable shoreline which lies adjacent the Maury Island Aquatic Reserve. Natural habitat features include a forested backshore with mature riparian vegetation and large wood deposits fronted by broad intertidal beach. This preserve contains the only stretch of shoreline in King County known to host habitat for all three primary forage fish species, i.e., Pacific sand lance, surf smelt, and Pacific herring. The feeder bluff that backs the Piner Point shoreline provides sediment supply for longshore drift processes that extend over seven miles downshore to Pt Robinson at the eastern tip of Maury Island.

With the exception of the northern most parcel, all parcels in the Piner Point Natural Area are undisturbed. The northern most parcel, 1.08 acres in size, received native vegetation restoration on a disturbed area (0.4 acre) that formerly contained a cabin and garage (deconstructed and removed in June, 2009). The 225 ft. wooden bulkhead that fronts the beach at this site was also removed.

The King County Parks Department will provide long term maintenance and management of the preserve. The Piner Pt Natural Area will be accessible to passive water sports enthusiasts with limited oppportunity for access by land for special interest groups / individuals. It is hoped that the preserve may provide educational opportunities for natural science and natural history studies. Also, the Natural Area will serve as a baseline, representing an intact divergence zone of longshore drift processes

The goal of the project is to protect intact habitat from degradation. The objective of the project is to protect salmon refugia and habitat that is part of a key ecological process.