Restoration

Habitat Restoration

Healthy salmon begin with healthy watersheds. At Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group, habitat restoration is at the heart of everything we do — because when we protect and restore the cold, clean water salmon depend on, the entire ecosystem thrives.

What We Do

Decades of habitat loss and environmental degradation have taken a toll on the Skagit watershed. Our restoration projects directly address these challenges by:

  • Restoring native riparian forests and marine shorelines to stabilize banks, filter runoff, and provide vital shade
  • Improving fish passage so salmon can reach the spawning grounds their survival depends on
  • Reconnecting and enhancing off-channel habitats that serve as critical rearing areas for juvenile fish
  • Stewarding conservation lands to protect the gains we’ve worked hard to achieve

It Takes a Community

None of this work happens alone. SFEG partners with dedicated volunteers to operate our native plant nursery, support project implementation, and carry out ongoing habitat monitoring.

We also work directly with local landowners, offering practical solutions that work for both people and the land.

More Than Just Salmon

A restored watershed doesn’t just bring back salmon — it brings back the full richness of the Pacific Northwest. Eagles, otters, bears, amphibians, and songbirds all depend on the same healthy rivers and forests we’re working to protect. When the watershed wins, we all win.

Request for Bid – Carpenter and English Creeks Fish Passage Project

PROJECT SPOTLIGHTS

Project Spotlight: Starbird Creek Fish Passage Improvement

In 2022, Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group worked with a private…

Project Spotlight: Cold Creek Tributary Fish Passage Improvement

This project, completed in 2022, removed an undersized culvert…
swede creek fish passage

Project Spotlight: Swede Creek Fish Passage Improvement

This project worked with a private landowner to complete a fish passage barrier removal project on Swede Creek; a tributary to the Samish River north of Sedro-Woolley.

Project Spotlight: Britt Slough Skagit Forks Wetland Reconnection

Where the Skagit River forks to create Fir Island, Skagit Fisheries implemented a restoration project to reconnect the outlet of Britt Slough and a large wetland complex to the South Fork of the Skagit River.