Nisqually Land Trust used this funding to purchase nearly 65 acres of high quality salmon habitat along the Mashel River immediately downstream of the Highway 7 Bridge. This stretch of the Mashel River provides important spawning and rearing habitat that is currently utilized by Chinook, pink, coho salmon and steelhead trout. The Mashel River is the largest tributary to the Nisqually River and the biggest salmon-producing tributary in the Nisqually watershed. There are a number of large western red cedar trees in the riparian zone of the project site that provide salmon habitat. The Nisqually Land Trust will be working with the neighboring landowner, Washington State Parks, to secure salmon habitat protection along the Mashel River downstream to the confluence with the Nisqually River.