DESCRIPTION
The estuarine restoration program was developed in concert with Island County Public Works Department to provide County staff with information that can be used to protect and restore estuarine habitats on Whidbey and Camano Islands. The plan provided information that will be used to prioritize sites for acquisition and restoration. The plan provided baseline information on each site and conceptual plans that can provide the basis for developing the details for each project that is selected.17 sites were included in this assessment - 12 on Whidbey and 5 on CamanoCamano: Elger Bay, Triangle Cove, Livingston Bay, English Boom, Arrowhead PointWhidbey: Cultus Bay, Maxwelton Estuary, Deer Lagoon, Crockett Lake, Lake Hancock, Race Lagoon, Harrington Lagoon, Kennedy Lagoon, Grasser's Lagoon, Crescent Harbor Marsh, Swantown Lake, Dugualla Bay
Demonstrating 'net gains,' 'measurable increases' and 'net reductions' requires baseline data. Thus, a primary object of the Island County MRC is to acquire baseline information that describes the distribution of important habitats in the nearshore zone. Because the seagrass Zostera marina L. (eelgrass) provides critical habitat for outmigrating juvenile salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) as well as other valued species (e.g. Pacific herring, Clupea harengus pallasi; Dungeness Crab, Cancer magister; and black brant, Branta bernicla) (Phillips 1984; Simenstad 1994; Wilson and Atkinson 1995), this nearshore vegetation community was the primary target in the first year of habitat delineation. The Island County MRC sellected five priority sites for the first year study - Utsalady, Oak Harbor, Penn Cove, Holmes Harbor, and the Maxwelton Creek shoreline.
