DeBay's Reach Riparian Restoration 2024

Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group (SFEG) will work with landowners including the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Seattle City Light  to address priority riparian restoration needs in Tier 1 Mixed Stock - Large River Floodplain priority areas as defined in the Skagit Watershed Councils 2022 Strategic Approach. The primary restoration goal at all sites is to protect and restore functional riparian and floodplain forests through the removal of invasive vegetation and the planting of native trees and shrubs.  Through this project, SFEG will install 12,800 native trees and shrubs over 22.5 riparian floodplain acres and replant an additional 2,000 plants on 15.5 acres. SFEG will also control invasive vegetation over 38 acres.  This project is expected to benefit Chinook, coho, chum, pink salmon, steelhead, bull trout, and cutthroat trout.

The goal of this project is to restore ecologically functioning native riparian and floodplain forests and improve habitat and water quality for Chinook salmon and other salmonid species with in the DeBays reach of the Lower Skagit River. This goal will be accomplished by planting native plant species including long-lived conifers, hardwoods, and deciduous shrubs, and through the removal of invasive vegetation where necessary. This work will help improve future contributions of large woody debris to the lower Skagit River and side channels. Large woody debris provides habitat complexity and refuge for juvenile salmon. Functioning riparian zones and floodplains also provide nutrients, shade, and edge habitat complexity for Chinook salmon and other salmonid species that utilize the lower Skagit River at all life stages.