Dateline – 1995, Bakerview Park Creek, eastside Mount Vernon, WA
Wasteland to Wilderness
Stream may one day teem with salmon
So said the Lead Headline in the Skagit Valley Herald newspaper, Oct. 21, 1995. Page A1, above the fold. Definitely where you want to have your restoration group’s story, maximum coverage and pictures on the front page of Skagit County’s largest circulation newspaper. Everyone reads it, then, including mayors, city council people, county commissioners; farmers, landowners big and small, everyone. No useful on-line news sources, or social media, or recognizable modern cell phones, then, – 26 years ago.
And another headline:
Governor comes to ‘listen and learn’
Locke checks out salmon project (he saw hundreds of juvenile coho in the creek while he shoveled gravel)
He says, “If we can do it here, we can do it all across the state”
-Lead headline in Skagit Valley Herald July 3, 1997, Page A1 above the fold.
And yet again:
Fish Restoration Group praised by Governor
“A Skagit County fish restoration group (SFEG) so impressed Gov. Gary Locke last summer that he decided to single out its members during his annual legislative address yesterday” (Those of us who were there, at his invitation, remember what a big deal that was! TV, a packed state capitol chamber, and the food at the governor’s mansion was tasty, too.)
1997 – Project named Wash. Dept. Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Project of the Year
1997 – John Hocking (owner of project site) named WDFW Landowner of the Year
He donated the 12-acre wetland/stream restoration site to be added to the adjacent Bakerview Park. He also donated project engineering, permitting, and major funding for construction costs. All free. He sought no compensation.
SFEG was 4,5,6 years old at those times. So, who was this fledgling, little known local group, and what were they trying to do anyway? And why were people saying “Hmmm, how do I get a hold of these guys to come take a look at this problem I have on my place, so maybe they can help me out?” Those are exactly the kinds of questions and intense local interest generated by this project. Never underestimate the importance, and value, of good press reports. This kind of reporting – detailed, accurate, and enthusiastic was “cultivated” by SFEG and has paid dividends for years and years. This and many other early projects generated community good will and helped a lot with landowner acceptance countywide. SFEG was becoming trusted, and not instantly suspect. The crew was learning how to restore creeks, and salmon. Fast.
So what was everyone getting so excited about anyway?
SFEG Board President Arn Thoreen (left) and Project Manager Harry Taggart (right) helping Governor Locke move rocks into the creek
Bakerview Creek, so named by Kevik (a long-time SFEG restoration tech), had been thoroughly beaten up before SFEG stepped in. This small tributary of Nookachamps Creek, itself a tributary of the lower Skagit River, flows through a small part of east Mount Vernon. It now flows through the City’s Bakerview Park. It didn’t always. Some time in the last 125 years the land was cleared, leveled, and drained to support local farming, the last being a chicken farm, I hear. Bakerview Creek had been reduced to one of these farm drainage ditches. Very typical. The lower creek section also had become a ditch alongside Waugh Road. Also typical. For maybe 150 feet of the upper reaches of the creek north of Fir Street, there were still a few coho salmon and cutthroat trout spawning in what little gravel was left. Things were in sad shape. Then along came an out-of-town real estate development company and made it worse. They totally tore up the 12 acres of wetlands and creek in a week of hard work with heavy equipment, big crews, and long hours. They did it to build 54 homes, by filling the wetland. By knowingly flaunting federal wetland Regulations (yes, even way back then there were such things, and they knew it, being lawyers), the out-of-towners got shut down by the Army Corps of Engineers, permanently. After awhile, John Hocking, a local home-builder, bought the land knowing its status and moonscape condition. It could not be made worse. Now the fun begins.
Gary Locke with coho fry
Very few companies were doing stream or wetland restoration then. Few do now. Fewer groups like SFEG were doing major stream relocations, or total stream and wetland makeovers. But that is exactly what SFEG did at Bakerview, with some help. The brand new SFEG crew, and project manager (all newly hired displaced timber workers) were able to relocate and totally build a new creek channel, one half miles worth, a rearing pond, and to regrade and restore the bombed wetland. With some templates, alignments and grades provided by the engineer, guidance by WDFW, and funding from both Mr. Hocking and the new state funding program – Jobs for the Environment, – SFEG went to work. It was a seat of the pants, get a lot done on a shoestring budget, scrounging most materials, design and build as you go, totally fun kind of project to build. SFEG did a few of these major creek makeovers back then; a half mile here, a mile plus over there….very willing and enthusiastic landowners let this kind of work happen. This kind of project is not even contemplated anymore. And certainly not for $150K.
It is worth hearing from the men who built Bakerview Creek:
John Hocking – landowner – (then) – “It just made sense (doing the project). Either that, or it would just grow up to be thistles” He considered the creek and wetland as an amenity to his development. And it is.
Doug Schwind – engineer – (then) “When playing with Mother Nature, you make your best guess.” (now) “I had no experience designing creeks, but we all worked well together and it came out fine.”
Harry Taggart – SFEG project manager – (then) “I hope this new healthy habitat draws salmon like bees to honey.”
Dave Holt – SFEG crew boss – (now) “I love to fish and hunt. This project needed to be done; it was the right thing to do. It was in town, and kids and others would have easy access to it and could learn about creeks and salmon.”
Kevik Rensink – SFEG environmental tech – the greenhorn new kid (now) – “We were busy back then! It was fun work, really fun! It was not so much the paycheck, it was the pride we took in what we were doing. And we did it on a shoestring.”
Rick Harkness – private contractor/excavator operator extraordinaire, having built many SFEG projects over the years – (now) “I enjoy the challenge of that kind of work, it makes me a better operator, and it’s good for the fish. On Bakerview, I had the freedom to build it the way I wanted to, build it until you’re happy with how it looks. Make it fishy. We were the only ones doing this kind of work, so others learned from us. And we got to use ugly wood, twisted, bent, lots of nooks and crannies, sometimes a little punky. And stumps. Lots of stumps.”
Kurt Buchanan – WDFW fish bio – (then) “ It’s trained a lot of people in how to do this right.” (and now) “I told them to go build a creek they could be proud of. And we did.”
Now, 25 years later, the creek still has maybe 1/3 mile of suitable (for an urban creek) coho and cutthroat spawning area. Generations of fish have now used the “new” Bakerview Cr. for spawning and rearing, and they still do. The zillion trees and bushes planted by SFEG volunteers and others are now big, totally shading the creek. This was the first major SFEG project. They were learning by doing, learning fast, and they did it well.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
You should go see it.
Project partners (including Kurt Buchanan, left) at the Governor’s State of the State address
Blog post contributed by Kurt Buchanan
Retired WDFW fish biologist
former Skagit Fisheries Board Member
Deception Pass | Project 11 of 30
30/30 Projects, From the FieldAs you look out from the Deception Pass bridge linking Fidalgo to Whidbey Island, plunging rock faces and forests jut into the vibrantly blue coastline waters of the Salish Sea. The variety of recreation and visual appeal makes Deception Pass one of Washington’s top parks to visit. Over the past 5 years, Skagit Fisheries has been working side by side with Northwest Straits Foundation and Skagit County Marine Resource Committee (MRC) to make this place more than just bountiful to the human eye and body, but to enhance the landscapes for the many plant and animal species that rely on this habitat.
Cornet Bay Pre-Project 2012
Cornet Bay Post-Planting 2019
When visiting Deception Pass you’re likely to see salmon, bull trout, marine birds, crabs, and countless other critters. Over the past decade groups of volunteers have sifted through the sand for a particularly special species. The brackish water on the park’s beaches serves as a home for salmon forage fish, such as surf smelt. These fish provide important nutrients for salmon as they prepare their bodies in the estuary to transition into the ocean. This period in a salmon’s life cycle can determine their survival out at sea, where they also serve as a main energy source for our beloved orcas. However, these beaches were not providing the proper habitat for forage fish, and thus salmon, to survive.
Prior to 2015, Deception Pass’s Bowman Bay contained large boulders and logs, referred to as riprap, that were piled up along the shore to protect the once standing fish hatchery on site.
Volunteers weeding Bowman Bay
This infrastructure caused huge problems to the shoreline ecosystems, preventing forage fish eggs from surviving as they are usually nestled in the sand and pebbles along the shore. As Island County MRC and volunteers surveyed the beach for the little fish eggs for almost 10 years, they received alarming results of limited populations of forage fish.
The same problem was occurring just a few minutes down the road at Cornet Bay. The site is a perfect spot for salmon fry migrants as its estuary habitat provides protection and food for the growing fish. However, this fish sanctuary wasn’t being utilized to its full potential due to the creosoted bulkheads and fill backing that covered a majority of the shoreline. In 2015, the restoration process,spear-headed by Northwest Straits Foundation, took off. The shore armor and bulkheads were removed, the beaches were re-graded to match the natural beach slope, and native vegetation was restored to the shore area. The project was completed in November in 2016, just a year after it began. But the work to bring back forage fish populations had only just begun.
Cornet Bay Beach January 2014
After a grand total of nearly 2,400 volunteer hours at both sites (not including the many hours SFEG volunteers have contributed to planting and maintenance), conducting pre/post construction monitoring to survey the physical and biological changes after the riprap was removed, and 5 years later, forage fish eggs were found once again on the shorelines of both of these sites.
The restoration of these sites undoubtedly has a cascade effect on the ecosystems in the surrounding area and far beyond the Salish Sea. As the forage fish populations rise, the salmon will thrive, providing more nutrients to all of the Pacific Northwest species that rely on their bounty.
Bowman Bay Panorama
Further reading and resources:
Bowman Bay Restoration-Northwest Straits Foundation Video
Bowman Bay Restoration-Puget Sound Partnership Video
Cornet Bay Restoration
Bakerview Park | Project 10 of 30
30/30 Projects, From the FieldDateline – 1995, Bakerview Park Creek, eastside Mount Vernon, WA
Wasteland to Wilderness
Stream may one day teem with salmon
So said the Lead Headline in the Skagit Valley Herald newspaper, Oct. 21, 1995. Page A1, above the fold. Definitely where you want to have your restoration group’s story, maximum coverage and pictures on the front page of Skagit County’s largest circulation newspaper. Everyone reads it, then, including mayors, city council people, county commissioners; farmers, landowners big and small, everyone. No useful on-line news sources, or social media, or recognizable modern cell phones, then, – 26 years ago.
And another headline:
Governor comes to ‘listen and learn’
Locke checks out salmon project (he saw hundreds of juvenile coho in the creek while he shoveled gravel)
He says, “If we can do it here, we can do it all across the state”
-Lead headline in Skagit Valley Herald July 3, 1997, Page A1 above the fold.
And yet again:
Fish Restoration Group praised by Governor
“A Skagit County fish restoration group (SFEG) so impressed Gov. Gary Locke last summer that he decided to single out its members during his annual legislative address yesterday” (Those of us who were there, at his invitation, remember what a big deal that was! TV, a packed state capitol chamber, and the food at the governor’s mansion was tasty, too.)
1997 – Project named Wash. Dept. Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Project of the Year
1997 – John Hocking (owner of project site) named WDFW Landowner of the Year
He donated the 12-acre wetland/stream restoration site to be added to the adjacent Bakerview Park. He also donated project engineering, permitting, and major funding for construction costs. All free. He sought no compensation.
SFEG was 4,5,6 years old at those times. So, who was this fledgling, little known local group, and what were they trying to do anyway? And why were people saying “Hmmm, how do I get a hold of these guys to come take a look at this problem I have on my place, so maybe they can help me out?” Those are exactly the kinds of questions and intense local interest generated by this project. Never underestimate the importance, and value, of good press reports. This kind of reporting – detailed, accurate, and enthusiastic was “cultivated” by SFEG and has paid dividends for years and years. This and many other early projects generated community good will and helped a lot with landowner acceptance countywide. SFEG was becoming trusted, and not instantly suspect. The crew was learning how to restore creeks, and salmon. Fast.
So what was everyone getting so excited about anyway?
SFEG Board President Arn Thoreen (left) and Project Manager Harry Taggart (right) helping Governor Locke move rocks into the creek
Bakerview Creek, so named by Kevik (a long-time SFEG restoration tech), had been thoroughly beaten up before SFEG stepped in. This small tributary of Nookachamps Creek, itself a tributary of the lower Skagit River, flows through a small part of east Mount Vernon. It now flows through the City’s Bakerview Park. It didn’t always. Some time in the last 125 years the land was cleared, leveled, and drained to support local farming, the last being a chicken farm, I hear. Bakerview Creek had been reduced to one of these farm drainage ditches. Very typical. The lower creek section also had become a ditch alongside Waugh Road. Also typical. For maybe 150 feet of the upper reaches of the creek north of Fir Street, there were still a few coho salmon and cutthroat trout spawning in what little gravel was left. Things were in sad shape. Then along came an out-of-town real estate development company and made it worse. They totally tore up the 12 acres of wetlands and creek in a week of hard work with heavy equipment, big crews, and long hours. They did it to build 54 homes, by filling the wetland. By knowingly flaunting federal wetland Regulations (yes, even way back then there were such things, and they knew it, being lawyers), the out-of-towners got shut down by the Army Corps of Engineers, permanently. After awhile, John Hocking, a local home-builder, bought the land knowing its status and moonscape condition. It could not be made worse. Now the fun begins.
Gary Locke with coho fry
Very few companies were doing stream or wetland restoration then. Few do now. Fewer groups like SFEG were doing major stream relocations, or total stream and wetland makeovers. But that is exactly what SFEG did at Bakerview, with some help. The brand new SFEG crew, and project manager (all newly hired displaced timber workers) were able to relocate and totally build a new creek channel, one half miles worth, a rearing pond, and to regrade and restore the bombed wetland. With some templates, alignments and grades provided by the engineer, guidance by WDFW, and funding from both Mr. Hocking and the new state funding program – Jobs for the Environment, – SFEG went to work. It was a seat of the pants, get a lot done on a shoestring budget, scrounging most materials, design and build as you go, totally fun kind of project to build. SFEG did a few of these major creek makeovers back then; a half mile here, a mile plus over there….very willing and enthusiastic landowners let this kind of work happen. This kind of project is not even contemplated anymore. And certainly not for $150K.
It is worth hearing from the men who built Bakerview Creek:
John Hocking – landowner – (then) – “It just made sense (doing the project). Either that, or it would just grow up to be thistles” He considered the creek and wetland as an amenity to his development. And it is.
Doug Schwind – engineer – (then) “When playing with Mother Nature, you make your best guess.” (now) “I had no experience designing creeks, but we all worked well together and it came out fine.”
Harry Taggart – SFEG project manager – (then) “I hope this new healthy habitat draws salmon like bees to honey.”
Dave Holt – SFEG crew boss – (now) “I love to fish and hunt. This project needed to be done; it was the right thing to do. It was in town, and kids and others would have easy access to it and could learn about creeks and salmon.”
Kevik Rensink – SFEG environmental tech – the greenhorn new kid (now) – “We were busy back then! It was fun work, really fun! It was not so much the paycheck, it was the pride we took in what we were doing. And we did it on a shoestring.”
Rick Harkness – private contractor/excavator operator extraordinaire, having built many SFEG projects over the years – (now) “I enjoy the challenge of that kind of work, it makes me a better operator, and it’s good for the fish. On Bakerview, I had the freedom to build it the way I wanted to, build it until you’re happy with how it looks. Make it fishy. We were the only ones doing this kind of work, so others learned from us. And we got to use ugly wood, twisted, bent, lots of nooks and crannies, sometimes a little punky. And stumps. Lots of stumps.”
Kurt Buchanan – WDFW fish bio – (then) “ It’s trained a lot of people in how to do this right.” (and now) “I told them to go build a creek they could be proud of. And we did.”
Now, 25 years later, the creek still has maybe 1/3 mile of suitable (for an urban creek) coho and cutthroat spawning area. Generations of fish have now used the “new” Bakerview Cr. for spawning and rearing, and they still do. The zillion trees and bushes planted by SFEG volunteers and others are now big, totally shading the creek. This was the first major SFEG project. They were learning by doing, learning fast, and they did it well.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
You should go see it.
Project partners (including Kurt Buchanan, left) at the Governor’s State of the State address
Blog post contributed by Kurt Buchanan
Retired WDFW fish biologist
former Skagit Fisheries Board Member
Orca Observation and Photography Showcase: Spring Speaker Series
Upcoming EventsJoin us for the final lecture of our spring speaker series!
We are so thrilled to invite wildlife photographer Bart Rulon to share his insights about orcas with us.
Thursday, June 10th, 6-7:30 RSVP
Orca Observation and Photography Showcase
Join wildlife photographer Bart Rulon to learn more about the spectacular orcas we see here in the Salish Sea through the lens of his camera. Bart will show us amazing photos, and talk about some of the challenges involved in photographing killer whales and some of the techniques he’s learned along the way. He will also talk about the orcas’ connection to salmon, the differences between the southern resident and transient whales we see here, and how things have changed in the 21 years since he started focusing on whales. Bart will share stories of some of his favorite experiences illustrated through his award winning photography.
Bart Rulon
Bart Rulon’s love of wildlife started at a very young age, and after graduating from the University of Kentucky in a self-made biological illustration major he moved to Washington State to start a career making images of wildlife and never looked back. During that time Rulon’s travels have taken him on long photography trips to Africa, India, South America, Alaska, and Costa Rica, and he has traveled all over the contiguous United States and Canada. After a life changing kayak trip in the San Juan Islands where he came across J-pod killer whales, Bart realized that he should also be spending more time with the amazing animals that were right in his backyard! As a result he has spent thousands of days on the water over the last 21 years photographing and studying the whales of the Pacific Northwest. He’s inspired to share these wildlife adventures with the rest of the world through his photography, and art. Bart has always enjoyed going the extra mile to photograph something unique and he often uses a sea kayak, camouflaged floating blind, or a custom made photography boat in order to get closer to his subjects for a more intimate view. Bart’s award winning art and photographs have been shown in over 60 museums in North America and abroad. He teaches at the University of Washington and was awarded their “Teaching Excellence Award” in 2009. After overwhelming demand from fellow photographers, Bart started leading wildlife photography tours to some of his favorite spots both local and exotic! You can see his photography, art, and books at www.BartRulon.com
Thursday, June 10th 6-7:30 RSVP
Thank you to the Skagit River Salmon Festival for donating funds, making this event possible.
This is event is FREE to attend, however, it does take funding to put on high quality virtual events such as these and donations are appreciated.
If you like having events like this delivered to the comfort of your own home, please consider a donation.