WASHINGTON: MT. BAKER-SNOQUALMIE NATIONAL FOREST
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Site Description and Location
Washington's second largest river, the Skagit begins in British Columbia, flows south into Washington's North Cascades mountains, then arcs west before spilling into Puget Sound. Along the way, it creates one of the richest riparian corridors in the Pacific Northwest. The upper Skagit contains braided channel networks, gravel bars and backwater sloughs offering high quality habitat for some of Washington's most imperiled wild salmon runs. Scientists studying regional salmon declines consider the Skagit the most important salmon-producing river in all of Puget Sound and the best hope for recovery of the Federally Threatened Puget Sound Chinook salmon.
This LWCF request covers parcels in the middle reaches of the river between Diablo Dam and the city of Sedro-Woolley.
Ecological Values
The reaches of the Skagit River covered in this request comprise one of the four most important bald eagle wintering areas in the lower 48 states. As many as 500 bald eagles winter along the Skagit Wild and Scenic River corridor each year. The river's natural gravel bars provide places for eagles to feed on stranded salmon carcasses. Multi-acre stands of mature trees provide shelter, places to rest, observation perches, and night roosts near the Skagit and its major tributaries. It was this vital population of wintering eagles that prompted the designation of the Skagit River Bald Eagle Natural Area over 25 years ago.
The Skagit is the only river in Washington that supports all five Pacific salmon species (chinook, coho, sockeye, chum and pink), plus steelhead, bull trout, and cutthroat trout. Over 70% of the wild chinook salmon produced in the Skagit System spawn in the reaches of the river covered by this LWCF request. Contributing as much as a third of the freshwater entering Puget Sound, the river system is one of the largest on the west coast of the contiguous United States still supporting significant natural processes. Because of its vital habitat and recreation values, portions of the Skagit River, along with stretches of the major tributaries of the Cascade and Sauk Rivers, have been designated Wild and Scenic.
Other imperiled wildlife species in the Skagit watershed include Puget Sound Chinook salmon, black bear, cougar, Northern Spotted Owl, Peregrine Falcon, Marbled Murrelet, and Northern Goshawk.
Public Use and Benefits to the Community
The Skagit River Bald Eagle Natural Area and the Skagit Wild and Scenic River corridor attract many thousands of visitors annually. There is a thriving sport fishery. Commercial rafting outfitters offer river rafting trips all year, and especially for observation of Bald Eagles. The communities of Concrete and Rockport sponsor an annual Bald Eagle Festival, held in February. This site is a popular destination for birders. Area hiking trails offer dramatic views of the river and surrounding mountains.
Threats
Despite the essential role played by this limited area, the Skagit's future is not secure. Development activities continue to threaten valuable salmon spawning grounds. In the Skagit valley and throughout Washington, loss and degradation of salmon habitat is occurring more quickly than restoration can adequately address. Through this request, the Forest Service will be able to protect properties representing some of the best salmon habitat that remains, as well as critical habitat for a variety of other wildlife species.
Acquisition Status
This is part of a multi-year project to secure habitat for Bald Eagles, salmon and other riparian dependent wildlife. An FY 2006 LWCF appropriation of $500,000 would allow the Forest Service to acquire 184 key acres along Diobsud Creek, a vital tributary of the Skagit River used by coho, chinook, pink and chum salmon. This project would permanently protect 2000 feet of prime creek frontage, and would eliminate the threat of potential residential development within the National Forest and near the Skagit River. As the partners working in the Skagit River corridor continue to pursue positive conservation opportunities with willing landowners, it is highly likely that the Forest Service will have additional projects to pursue in 2006.
Public Support
A broad array of private and public partners have been working to conserve and restore the Skagit River for over twenty five years. Since the establishment of the Skagit River Bald Eagle Natural Area in the mid-1970s, local land trusts and private landowners have worked with public entities such as the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the National Resource Conservation Service, Skagit County Parks, the Washington Department of Natural Resources, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington State Parks, Washington's Salmon Recovery Funding Board and Seattle City Light. The result is a meaningful refuge where people can still enjoy salmon, eagles and a wealth of other native denizens.
Public support for this effort continues to be strong. Groups actively supporting Skagit River conservation include Audubon Washington, Skagit Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy of Washington, Skagit Land Trust, Skagit Watershed Council, Earth Ministry, and the North Cascades Conservation Council.
Habitat
River and stream mileage
Riparian cottonwood forest
Mature coniferous forest
Fields and agricultural land
Threatened Species
Puget Sound Chinook salmon
Bald Eagle
Marbled Murrelet
Northern Spotted Owl
Federal Species of Concern
Northern Goshawk
Peregrine Falcon
Audubon WatchList Species
Trumpeter Swan
Blue Grouse
Marbled Murrelet
Band-tailed Pigeon
Spotted Owl
Black Swift
Rufous Hummingbird
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher
Additional Partners in Flight Watchlist Species
Barrow's Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Vaux's Swift
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Pacific Slope Flycatcher
Cassin's Vireo
Black-throated Gray Wabler
MacGillivray's Warbler
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