Habitat
Successful Projects Help Recover and Protect Habitat
Habitat restoration and protection is paramount for salmon recovery. While challenges remain (development, marine survival, climate change, etc.), significant progress is being made throughout the region including the following projects:
- Lower Dungeness and River’s Edge Floodplain Restoration projects: Clallam County and the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe are cooperatively restoring floodplain habitat in the Dungeness River watershed.
- Lones Levee Setback and Floodplain Restoration project on the Green River: completed in 2021, crews created two side channels to provide juvenile salmon rearing habitat. This project also protects farmland, homes, and roads from flooding and erosion.
- Pilchuck River Diversion Dam: in collaboration with the City of Snohomish, the Tulalip Tribes removed the dam in 2020, reconnecting more than 37 miles of priority salmon habitat.
- 1,563 miles of stream made accessible
- 1,154 blockages, impediments, and barriers impeding passage
- 5,577 estuarine/near-shore acres treated*
- 10,436 riparian acres treated*
- 731 riparian stream miles treated*
*Riparian areas are streamside forests, wetlands, and vegetated areas. ”Treated” usually means fenced to exclude cattle, planted with native trees and shrubs, removed invasive plants, or a combination of them.
Marine Survival in the Salish Sea
The Salish Sea Marine Survival Project is an international research effort to understand and address causes of low juvenile salmon and steelhead trout survival in Puget Sound. The 2021 Synthesis Report noted that degradation of estuary and nearshore habitats may be limiting salmon survival, reducing diversity, and impacting salmon food such as herring and larval crab. Read more about the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project.
For more information about habitat project actions, visit the Recreation and Conservation Office’s Salmon Recovery Portal and Project Search public databases.
View data on Habitat statewide. Visit the Salmon Data Hub for more of the data behind the indicator charts and graphs used throughout this site.