This property acquisition permanently protects high value habitat along the Dungeness River from river mile 5.25 to 5.50. All fish species present in the lower river benefit from habitat protection of mainstem and side channel habitat. Through fee-simple purchase, 27 acres of riparian forest bordering 1400 feet of river channel and encompassing 4700 feet of side channel has been protected. The two parcels were designated high priority in Recommended Land Protection Strategies for the Dungeness Riparian Area, 2003 due to the intact side channels, fine riparian conditions and length of reach available for protection Within this reach Chinook, coho, steelhead and cutthroat spawn and rear, bull trout rear, and chum and pink salmon spawn. Long term conservation of this land will benefit spawning and incubation habitat for fall pink, chum and Chinook, and rearing habitat for all endemic salmonids with extended freshwater rearing life history strategies. Previously installed log jams in this reach are intended to stabilize the channel and promote complexity. Habitat protection of the Dungeness is ranked as priority 9 on the N.Olympic Lead Entity's 3-yr salmon recovery work plan. The entirety of these parcels is within the mapped channel migration zone (Rot and Edens, 2009), but the County mapped critical area is smaller and insufficient to fully protect the habitat values, especially given variances and exemptions. Development pressure will be severe with an estimated watershed growth rate of 2.5%/year (Entrix, 2005).