Port Susan Restoration Effectiveness Monitoring

The Nature Conservancys (TNC) Port Susan Bay Restoration Effectiveness Monitoring project spans the Stillaguamish Delta near Stanwood; WA. It provides an unprecedented opportunity to learn from the cumulative effects of multiple large-scale changes in this estuarine system. The goal of the project is to quantify the ecological response to increasing levels of restored channel connectivity-particularly distributary channels-in order to assess the efficacy of these interventions. This project has broad applicability for recovery practitioners, as we seek to evaluate how specific restoration actions influence fish communities, resilience of marsh vegetation, and other long-term changes in estuary habitat and biota.The project benefits from a rare chance to use TNCs first two phases of restoration data collection as pre-project data for two future Stillaguamish Delta restoration projects on more than 700 acres next-door, led by the Stillaguamish Tribe. This is more than triple the restored footprint of the TNC site; placing us at an exceptional juncture to learn how an estuarine system responds to successive increases in marsh extent and channel connections. We can therefore uniquely quantify the relationship between level of connectivity and key ecological processes related to marsh habitat resilience and Chinook recovery. This will provide insights to salmon recovery managers for future restoration planning, particularly for making site location and design decisions.

This project will quantify fish response to restored estuaries in the Port Susan Bay area.