~Iron Mountain Ranch Project~
Iron Mountain Habitat Restoration
Project Partners: Skagit Land Trust, Seattle City Light, Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Project Summary: The Iron Mountain project, also known as the Hoy property, will protect 2 miles of intact shoreline and wildlife habitat along the middle of the Skagit River. Seattle City Light purchased the 236 acre property with grant funds and approved plans for a permanent conservation easement to the Skagit Land Trust. Obtaining this invaluable piece of land was complex and if not for the dedication and perseverance by all involved, including the original landowner, Richard Hoy and his heirs, the acquisition and wildlife significance would have been lost. If sold on the real estate market, the ranch would have been divided into 6 private lots resulting in excessive disturbance and destruction to the productive ecosystem.
The Iron Mountain Ranch is settled on the south bank of the Skagit River just west of Concrete and is prime spawning habitat for the threatened Chinook salmon. In order to decrease premature erosion from destroying essential spawning beds and increasing turbidity, native vegetation will be planted in the riparian zone to stabilize the bank. The trees and shrubs will be planted by volunteers in the fall of 2005. The fence that prevents people and large animals from speeding up the erosion process along the bank has begun to fall off the edge. That fence will be repaired and moved further back an average of 200 feet in order to have greater influence as well.
 As you can see, not much is preventing this steep bank from eroding into the Skagit River. |
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 Students from Skagit River Schoolhouse (SRSH) planted trees to stabilize the bank. |
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 A few other benefits the trees planted by SRSH provide are shade to keep water temperatures cool, food for insects that juvenile salmon feed on, filtering pollutants in ground water before it enters the river, and habitat for other wildlife. |
