Members of the Conservation Projects Committee on a visit to the protected property on Discovery Bay.
The Land Trust is thrilled to announce the permanent protection of a very special property on Discovery Bay, located within the estuary of Salmon and Snow Creeks. This area is critical for the recovery of Hood Canal summer chum, Puget Sound Chinook, and Puget Sound steelhead — all species listed as endangered by the Endangered Species Act.
The property contains 4.6 acres of tidelands in Discovery Bay.
Containing more than 1,000 feet of Discovery Bay shoreline, 1.1 acres of upland habitat, and 4.6 acres of tidelands, the property is surrounded by water on three sides, with Maynard nearshore estuary to the southwest. Salmon Creek runs approximately 120 feet offshore of the property.
The area surrounding the Maynard nearshore estuary provides an important transition zone for the Hood Canal summer chum, which are hatched in Salmon and Snow Creeks. As juveniles, the chum will pause on their journey to the ocean as their bodies make the physical transformation that allows them to move from a freshwater to a saltwater environment.
The estuary, saltmarsh, and shoreline here all provide critical habitat for salmon and a wide variety of forage fish, shellfish, and other marine life, as well as shorebirds and waterfowl. Planned restoration by our longtime partners the North Olympic Salmon Coalition (NOSC) will further increase the habitat value of the property.
Members of the Chumsortium during a July 2024 visit to the property.
Salmon Creek and Snow Creek flow from the Olympic Mountains, enter the head of Discovery Bay within a half mile of one another, and form the estuary complex that transitions to Discovery Bay. Over the past 140+ years, these streams, their estuaries, and associated shorelines have been significantly impacted by human activities. The two streams historically shared a mouth into the estuary, but were separated and relocated for agricultural purposes.
Meanwhile, the salt marsh, tidal channels, upper beach, and marine riparian habitats available to salmonids were greatly reduced by filling, clearing, and bulkheading for the construction of a railroad line and lumber mill operation that were located on top of the historic saltmarsh and nearshore land.
In this photo, taken from the recently protected property, you can see the abandoned raised railroad grade, now covered in trees and vegetation on the right side. Note where the railroad grade drops off in the background: that’s the result of NOSC’s successful work on the adjacent property, owned by WDFW, to dismantle it and restore salmon habitat at Maynard nearshore estuary.
Today, a portion of the abandoned Chicago-Milwaukee railroad grade (last used in 1984) rises parallel to the shoreline of the protected property. NOSC’s planned restoration will remove the decommissioned railroad grade, its associated fill, and the creosote shoreline armoring, which are currently barriers to natural tidal flow along the shoreline of Discovery Bay. This will allow a more natural salt marsh formation, further increasing the habitat value of the property and estuary for salmon and other wildlife.
This restoration project follows NOSC’s successful Maynard Nearshore Restoration Project on the property directly adjacent owned by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) which was completed in 2014. This entailed removing 1,700 feet of the abandoned railroad grade, including four creosoted railroad trestles, 1,200 lineal feet of bulkhead, and a defunct tide gate. Re-vegetation was completed by volunteers and the Washington Conservation Corps. The bulkhead removal restored a water migration corridor for juvenile summer chum as they swim out to sea, and created habitat for hard shell clams and forage fish — important food for threatened salmon and many other marine species and birds.
Due to their ecological significance, Discovery Bay and the greater Snow and Salmon Creeks watershed have long been the focus of land conservation and habitat restoration by Jefferson Land Trust and numerous other organizations.
“Other regions in the state don’t have a collaboration like the Chumsortium, where the partners meet regularly. It gives us the ability to make strategic decisions, instead of competing — like about who pursues what grant and why — so that we all have the best shot at achieving our shared goals. It’s really powerful and it’s really unique.” – Rebecca Benjamin, former/longtime NOSC Executive Director
“Other regions in the state don’t have a collaboration like the Chumsortium, where the partners meet regularly. It gives us the ability to make strategic decisions, instead of competing — like about who pursues what grant and why — so that we all have the best shot at achieving our shared goals. It’s really powerful and it’s really unique.”
– Rebecca Benjamin, former/longtime NOSC Executive Director
Since 2001, working with willing landowners and many partners including NOSC, WDFW, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, and others, Jefferson Land Trust has protected 552 acres of land and wildlife habitat in the Snow and Salmon Creeks watershed for the benefit of native wildlife and our community.
Members of the Chumsortium on a visit to the property in July 2024.
Our key partners in regional salmon habitat conservation efforts are members of the “Chumsortium”: a collection of local public and private entities (including the Land Trust) that collaborate to restore and protect the threatened summer chum population in the Hood Canal and the Strait of Juan De Fuca.
The success of the extensive work to protect and restore wildlife habitat in the Snow and Salmon Creeks watershed, said NOSC’s outgoing Executive Director Rebecca Benjamin, “doesn’t belong to any one organization or one leader, but to the Chumsortium — meeting every single month for decades, to collaborate. All of us working together to write grants that match each other, to train each other and support each other, to lend shoulders to cry on when things don’t go the way we want — and celebrate together.”
Rebecca continued, “Other regions in the state don’t have a collaboration like the Chumsortium, where the partners meet regularly. It gives us the ability to make strategic decisions, instead of competing — like about who pursues what grant and why — so that we all have the best shot at achieving our shared goals. It’s really powerful and it’s really unique, and it’s one of the things I’m most proud that NOSC is part of.”
“It’s been impressive to see the partnerships and collaborations that have led us to this point,” added Sarah Doyle, NOSC’s Interim Executive Director.
Jefferson Land Trust has successfully partnered with NOSC in the past to restore salmon habitat on lands we’ve protected with conservation easements and at our nature preserves, including Snow Creek Uncas Preserve (farther up the watershed), Snow Creek Estuary Preserve, and the former Lucky Deer trading post, which is also located along Discovery Bay shoreline. We’re excited to partner with the great team at NOSC to complete this exciting project to support local wildlife.
Another view of the protected property.
This property is a wonderful addition to the ongoing work to protect and restore salmon habitat in Discovery Bay and the Snow and Salmon Creeks watershed. Our thanks go out to the former owners who were willing to permanently protect their land with us; the Recreation and Conservation Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Washington Department of Ecology for providing grants to help fund the purchase of the property and restore its habitat values; and our Chumsortium partners for their collaboration and creativity in making this project possible, especially NOSC.
