DESCRIPTION
Great Peninsula Conservancy (GPC) seeks funding to purchase a conservation
easement on approximately 90 acres along upper Salmonberry Creek in Kitsap
County. GPC's goal is to protect riparian and wetland habitat from development to
support salmonid recovery within Puget Sound, and create wildlife movement
corridors in an increasingly urbanized region. The Salmonberry Creek and Wetland
Protection project will conserve approximately .8 miles of streambank, including
approximately 0.2 miles of streambank along main-stem Salmonberry Creek utilized
by coho salmon and cutthroat trout. In addition, this project will protect a significant
amount of riparian and wetland acreage used by deer, black bear, river otter, and a
variety of bird species.
In 2017, the Suquamish Tribe released its Curley Creek Watershed Assessment and
Protection and Restoration Plan, which identified the Salmonberry Creek sub-basin
as being a historically important spawning and rearing habitat for coho salmon. In
order to maintain the survival of coho salmon the Suquamish Tribe's plan identifies
the need to dedicate stream corridors for habitat protection as a top priority,
specifically recommending the conservation of additional stream corridor habitat
within the project site. Great Peninsula Conservancy will implement these
recommendations by protecting approximately 90 acres of habitat including flooded
wetlands, ponds, and low gradient stream channels.
Great Peninsula Conservancy (GPC) will protect 90 acres of upper Salmonberry Creek in Kitsap County through conservation easement acquisition, and 6.5 acres through fee-simple land donation. GPC’s goal is to protect riparian and wetland habitat from development to support salmonid recovery within Puget Sound, and create wildlife movement corridors in an increasingly urbanized region. The Salmonberry Creek and Wetland Protection project will conserve approximately 1.18 miles of stream bank, including significant stretches of main-stem Salmonberry Creek utilized by coho salmon and cutthroat trout. In addition, this project will protect approximately 60 acres of riparian and wetland acreage used by deer, black bear, river otter, and a variety of migratory bird species. Safeguarding these lands will build on previous federal, state, and local investments to protect and restore habitat in the watershed, and create a nearly continuous network of conservation lands spanning nearly 250 acres. The project area is located in close proximity to Kitsap County’s 83-acre Howe Farm County Park, is directly adjacent to an existing 22-acre block of conservation easement lands held by GPC, and borders 50 acres enrolled in the Natural Resource Conservation Service’s Wetlands Reserve Program. The Salmonberry Creek and Wetland Protection Project will build on previous habitat protection and restoration efforts to advance conservation outcomes in Salmonberry Creek and the Curley Creek Watershed.
