A Refuge for Swans and More, Close to Home| Project 3 of 30
Just a quick jaunt outside of the bustling metropolis of Mount Vernon and you’re at DeBay’s Slough, a side channel of the Skagit River. The property, now 629 acres, was dedicated by WDFW in 2001 as a place for the public to view overwintering trumpeter swans and other wildlife. A swan flying over the area in 1900 would’ve seen a large S-curve in the river at this location. Straightening the river at the S-curve to improve navigation about a century ago created DeBay’s Island and the corresponding Hart Island to the north of the river.
A large field ringed ¾ of the way around by forest, this site provides habitat for many creatures in addition to swans. On a recent mid-February morning red-winged blackbirds were calling, as they so often are near water. In a stand of dead trees the “peek peek” of a downy woodpecker could be heard. The ubiquitous Stellar’s jay was cackling, and trumpeter swans could be heard softly trumpeting from the slough as well as in the air. A small flock of mourning doves took up residence in a cottonwood tree, and a pair of bald eagles perched in a tree high above it all, surveying their breakfast and lunch options.
SFEG has been working in partnership with WDFW to assist with riparian restoration on multiple sections of DeBay’s Slough. Restoration plans for the property call for partially reforesting a small portion of the property along the water. Restoring this site will improve function of floodplain and riparian forest, while protecting side channel habitat for salmonids. Several plant species already onsite such as wild roses, Oregon grape, and Douglas spirea provide food for many insects, birds, and mammals.
Additional planting efforts will add deciduous and evergreen trees to the mix. In partnership with WDFW, SFEG will hold volunteer planting parties here on Saturday, February 27, and March 6, 2021. Small volunteer groups of 5 will be spread throughout the property in morning and afternoon shifts in order to comply with state-mandated Covid-19 safety guidelines. Sign up here!
More information about the DeBay’s Slough Swan Reserve can be found Here
*Detail of a section map originally prepared by Department of the Interior, General Land Office, Surveyor General’s Office, Olympia, Washington Territory. Surveyors began on Fir Island in 1866 and finished with the Sauk River Valley in 1885. This detail was taken from a compilation of the GLO’s work and was researched and developed by Skagit County Residents Larry Kunzler and Leonard Halverson, May 1994.
