Complete a feasibility study for the replacement of the culvert/tidegate through BNSF railroad to improve connectivity and fish passage between Titlow lagoon and Puget Sound, beach cleanup/ enhancement.

Puget Sound is one of the largest estuaries in the United States, and the diverse but highly threatened ecosystem it supports is the foundation for the economic and social identity of the region. Loss of natural shoreline habitats is a primary cause of marine, anadromous, and avian species’ population declines in Puget Sound, and restoration of nearshore habitats has been
identified as a critical component in the recovery of the Puget Sound ecosystem (Fresh et al. 2004). Public lands provide important opportunities for restoration projects and citizens will ultimately make decisions on the fate of Puget Sound. Ecosystem-level restoration efforts will be unsuccessful unless we recognize that human values are likely to dominate restoration goals and we work to understand and work with those values (Boyce and Haney 1997; Fresh et al. 2004; Gelfenbaum et al. 2006; Shared Strategy Development Committee 2007).

This project aims to address both the biological/ecological/physical and the social/cultural/economic aspects of restoration in a coordinated, highly visible and biologically beneficial project.

This phase of the project will complete feasibility and design work on a project that will lead to the restoration of a critical pocket estuary. In addition, we will educate and do outreach to the public and measure their attitudes toward and responses to restoration of Puget Sound shorelines. Both aspects of the project are critical for project success because decisions about this site and its restoration will ultimately be driven by public opinion expressed to and through elected officials.