Cicero Floodplain Acquisition

The Stillaguamish Tribe acquired approximately 143 acres on the North Fork Stillaguamish River, northeast of Arlington, in the highest priority tier of the acquisition strategy that accompanies the Stillaguamish Chinook Recovery Plan chapter. The eight parcels border over 1.2 miles of the North Fork and include slopes of mature second growth timber and a relict side channel. This reach is used by ESA listed populations of Chinook, steelhead, and bull trout. The property is in priority reaches for large wood, riparian, and floodplain restoration as defined in the Stillaguamish chapter of the 2005 Puget Sound Chinook Salmon Recovery Plan and the Tribe is actively working to complete design for the upcoming restoration project (21-1051).

Purchased and protected Chinook salmon spawning and rearing habitat, along with habitat-forming natural processes along the North Fork of the Stillaguamish. This acquisition provides a location for a major floodplain restoration project in the Stillaguamish to support riparian, floodplain, and instream restoration goals (3 of 6 limiting factors) as identified in the 2005 Stillaguamish Chinook Recovery Plan. This project is currently in design and will include riparian planting, side channel excavation, infrastructure removal, and engineered log jam installation. This acquisition and subsequent restoration will benefit all salmonid species (listed and otherwise) and life stages in the Stillaguamish. watershed.