The Smokehouse tidelands were historically part of a complex system of braided distributary and blind tidal channels serving as estuarine habitat for Skagit river salmon. Through settlement and development of the Skagit Valley, the tidelands were diked, drained, and isolated from tidal inundation with the construction of the Swinomish Channel navigation project. The proposed work will contribute to the long term vision of a restored Smokehouse tidelands landscape. Over the last decade, more than five miles of tidal channel habitat have been made available for fish use by replacing four top hinged “flap style” tide gates, which inhibit the movement of fish and water, with muted tidal regulator tide gates, which restore tidal flushing. Two new bridges were also installed to replace non-functioning culverts. At the same time, buffers along the newly accessible channels have been revegetated with a mosaic of native plant communities. This improves habitat function by lowering water temperature through shading, improving water quality through sediment and pollutant removal, and providing shelter and feeding opportunities. The next phase of restoration will breach the historic levee on the eastern border of the floodplain to create 120 acres of tidal wetland habitat. With funding from this grant, Skagit River Systems Cooperative restored 18.7 acres of estuarine wetland habitat by converting agricultural lands to functioning riparian buffer on 2.7 miles of intertidal channels and ditches on the Smokehouse tidelands. Furthermore, we completed feasibility and design work towards the next stage of restoration work that included hydrology and drainage analyses, water quality and soil salinity monitoring, a wetland delineation, a cultural and archeological resource consultation, a predictive vegetation model, and a preliminary geotechnical assessment .