FY23 Stillaguamish Tribe Habitat Acquisitions

The Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians will use PCSRF monies to assist with the purchase and protection of two properties (Kazen and Kuhlman) encompassing 89.5 acres of floodplain/riparian land along 0.89 miles of North Fork Stillaguamish River (both sides).

The FY23 prorated metrics for this funding are 35.8 acres protected on 0.36 miles of channel. This proration was done in consultation with RCO to avoid duplication of reported benefit. These parcels are in a priority restoration/protection reach listed in the 2005 Stillaguamish Chinook Recovery Plan and Associated Acquisition Strategy. The acquisition will not only protect the parcels from degradation/development (deed restriction placed on both), but provide locations for future instream and riparian restoration projects. The remainder of funding needed to complete the acquisitions will come from a Salmon Recovery Funding Board Grant (22-1069 NF Stillaguamish Floodplain Acquisitions 2022). The proposed project will primarily benefit Puget Sound (Stillaguamish) Chinook, but the reaches are also home to threatened Steelhead and Bull trout populations, in addition to Chum, Coho, Sockeye, and Pink salmon populations.

Purchasing, protecting, and restoring (eventually) the parcels will reverse the continued decline of instream habitat conditions for Stillaguamish Chinook and other salmonids. Depressed Chinook returns to the Stillaguamish have excluded direct tribal harvest for several decades, and limit harvest opportunities across the Pacific Northwest. This has severely restricted the Treaty Rights of the Stillaguamish and other treaty tribes.