Riparian Restoration Projects

The word “riparian” can be simply defined as an area of land adjacent to a body of water, yet is anything but simple. A healthy riparian area is essentially a complex nature-city, the setting for a great diversity of plants, animals, and fungi to go about the business of finding food, raising young, and carrying out their squabbles and struggles to survive. This waterside nature-city is not self-contained or disconnected; it provides countless goods and services within, while also supporting travelers and reciprocally interacting with the land and water.

It’s understandable that people needed to simplify the riparian to have any reasonable hope of efficient transportation, farming, construction, and recreation. We’ve invested about 100 years of effort into molding the Skagit ecosystem to accommodate our needs and purposes. Yet we now find ourselves having gone a bit too far, and missing some the many facets of the riparian and its inhabitants.

Riparian restoration efforts, in contrast, have been underway for about 25 years, so results are in early stages. Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group focuses on riparian restoration as a component of habitat restoration for the iconic salmon. (For them, the riparian provides:  a source of fallen trees where fry can shelter, a diversity of insect life to eat, shade to cool the streams, and filtration of pollutants from the water.)

To restore the riparian can be seen as a ludicrous endeavor; we don’t possess the omniscience/omnipotence required for the job description of ecosystem builder. This is a endeavor only undertaken by all life forms collectively. But we are a part of this collective, serving as stewards, scientists, laborers.  We enter into each project educated, but as learners. We have a plan, but the plan includes reliance on “adaptive management.”

Here is early life story of two riparian restoration efforts playing out at two current project sites: we call them Mount Vernon Wastewater Treatment and Upper Day Slough.

Mount Vernon Wastewater Treatment Plant (‘Skagit River West Mount Vernon’)

At Mt. Vernon Treatment Plant, a technician uses a mini skid steer to mow between rows of planted trees.

This site sits in the floodplain between (of course) the Mount Vernon wastewater treatment plant and the mainstem of the Skagit River, just downstream of downtown Mount Vernon, and just above where the Skagit diverges into the north and south forks. This is not far from where old growth trees once grew on a prodigious log jam within the Skagit River. The 12-acre site has been clear of trees, except for a small tree island, at least since 1937. In 2021, Skagit Fisheries began a restoration project to restore this field to a floodplain mixed conifer forest. About 9,000 plants were installed in the first planting. Between 2022 and 2025, as in a slow game of chess, SFEG restoration technicians and volunteers, and various elements of nature have been responding to each other’s actions. Rabbits and voles nibbled nutritious cambium— SFEG installed plant protectors. SFEG removed blackberry—poison hemlock took its place. SFEG pulled poison hemlock by hand—poison hemlock returned more numerous. SFEG used herbicide on poison hemlock—nettle is settling into those gaps. Western red cedar succumbed to drought—SFEG planted different species. The wind blew plant protectors out of place—the public let SFEG know to fix them. Beavers chewed down some of the larger cottonwood—SFEG sees this as a sign that efforts are beginning to bear “fruit.”

Upper Day Slough

The stage is set for the first frosty planting day at Upper Day Slough.

A few years of planning and weed control preparation led to the first ground-breaking actions in early 2025. This Seattle City Light-owned property required cleanup of derelict vehicles, housing, and trash. Volunteers entered the scene shortly after the cleanup was complete, kicking off the planting effort by installing several hundred trees and shrubs in the “upper terrace” field. Continuing down about 15 feet in elevation to the lower terrace field, SFEG staff and Washington Conservation Corps crews continued planting, approximately 4,000 plants across much of the 9 acres of field conversion area. Overall, between February and April, more than 25 people have contributed their time and energy to this effort, yet more planting remains for the 2025-2026 dormant season. This project, like other similar projects, demonstrates the labor intensive nature of restoration, but also that “labor intensive” can be enjoyable and satisfying.

Additional Past Projects

Cornet Bay and Bowman Bay

For about 5 years SFEG has worked with partners like Washington State Parks and Northwest Straits Foundation to help restore rearing beach habitat. Cornet Bay and Bowman Bay are two great examples of removing riprap, or stones placed along banks to prevent beach erosion, and replacing it with a natural pacific northwest beach. Both projects took out the riprap, restructured the beach, planted new native plants along the beach and are now monitoring the beaches progress through fish seining and vegetation monitoring. Although the project’s construction phase is near completion there will still be monitoring in the future. See a video about Bowman Bay here. The pictures above (Cornet Bay) and below (Bowman Bay) show the progress of our restoration of rearing beach habitat.

Utopia Road 

The Utopia Conservation Area protects over 87 acres of creeks, wetlands, and forested habitat within the Skagit River floodplain. It was acquired in 2012 and 2014 by the Skagit Land Trust primarily to protect the salmon habitat found in Wiseman Creek/Black Slough and the Skagit River which typically flows through and adjacent to the property.

In 2013 SLT began a restoration project in partnership with SFEG, with funding from Puget Sound Energy, across 45 acres of key habitat. Restoration actions on site will continue through 2017. To date approximately 12 acres of native plants have been installed the site. This has included field conversion and interplanting in the previously existing 100ft planting buffer along Black Slough. Multiple volunteer planting events have been held on site as part of the restoration process. The site provides suitable habitat for a variety of bird and wildlife species, and thus the plan has included the installation of 3-5 wood duck nest boxes in the riparian forest adjacent to Black Slough. Bird boxes are maintained annually by the volunteer land steward.

Skagit River Rural Community Riparian Stewardship

This project, funded by the Department of Ecology and the Rose Foundation, is intended to educate and involve citizens from small communities in the Skagit floodplain in riparian stewardship. As part of the project, SFEG is restoring 25 acres of riparian buffer by planting native floodplain vegetation and constructing over 4000 feet of livestock exclusion fencing at four sites. The sites include Riverfront Park in Sedro Wooley, The Skagit Land Trust’s Utopia Complex conservation site near Lyman, conservation lands acquired by the Town of Hamilton, and Seattle City Light’s Iron Mountain Ranch property near Concrete. Each site is located along a water quality impaired stream or Skagit River side channel that is impacted by livestock grazing and lack of shade. 
 
The project will educate community members from the Skagit and beyond about the importance of healthy riparian forests to water quality and fish habitat. SFEG hosts both school programs and community work parties to get people excited and involved with clean water and healthy ecosystems. The Department of Ecology also provides funds for our Junior Stream Stewards and Kids in Creek programs for children living in the middle Skagit.  

SFEG does utilize herbicide to control invasive weeds on project sites where that is the only effective means of control. For more information please read the SFEG Weed Control Policy.