Wood placement on a restoration site located on the East Fork of Chimacum Creek.

*****

Healthy salmonid habitat.

*****

Former staff member Kevin Long heads out on Hood Canal to collect sand samples - and hopefully forage fish eggs!

*****

Chimacum Beach Project, prior to excavation (see bulkhead extending along beach front)

*****

Following excavation, soft wood bulkhead installed farther back towards bluff, allowing much more expansive beach and connection to Chimacum Estuary.

Riparian Habitat Restoration

Restoration activities increase quality and quantity of spawning and rearing habitat for Chinook, Coho, Chum, Steelhead, and Cutthroat Trout on the rivers, streams, and tributaries of the Olympic Peninsula.

Habitat improvements include remeandering channelized streams, strategic placement of large woody debris, riparian tree planting, fish passage barrier removal, gravel nourishment, and livestock fencing.

North Olympic Salmon Coalition volunteers, staff and board members work with landowners, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Conservation Districts and Tribal biologists to identify and develop projects. Restoration crews and volunteers complete in-stream work during the low flow days of summer.

Volunteers plant trees in the winter and care for them throughout the year. Community groups are encouraged to adopt restoration project sites and become active stewards of their riparian community.

Private landowners make it possible by allowing projects on their land. NOSC works together with landowners to develop riparian conservation plans, establish conservation easements, and acquisition of critical habitat.

*****

Forage Fish

Estuaries and nearshore habitats are essential to salmon recovery in the Puget Sound and Hood Canal.

NOSC supports efforts to protect and acquire estuarine habitat, and participates in cooperative projects with Tribes, WDFW, Marine Science Centers, and Marine Resource Committees to assess the health of these areas and identify and implement restoration projects. NOSC Forage Fish Spawning Site Investigation for East Jefferson, Northwestern Kitsap, and North Mason Counties is now available.

Download the Forage Fish Brochure

*****

Chimacum Beach Fill Removal
- Spring 2006 -

Chimacum Beach Restoration has reached its final stages - tons of fill were removed from the Chimacum Beach and Estuary site, leaving 5.7 acres of open beach available for birds, fish and other wildlife. A known forage fish spawning beach, these site improvement will hopefully make the habitat more attractive to sand lance and surf smelt looking for a place to lay their eggs...

*****

Project Support

As a Regional Fisheries Enhancement Group, NOSC provides financial support to a variety of restoration project partners and sponsors. If you would like to know more, apply for funding or know of an interested landowner, call us at (360) 379-8051. We provide technical support, landowner consultation and project funding on private and public lands.