The project continued an effective collaboration to protect, through acquisition, high quality Chinook habitat in the Skagit River system. The project area includes Tier 1 and Tier 2 floodplains of the Skagit River and major tributaries located in the upper Skagit River reach, upstream of Rockport, as identified in the Skagit Watershed Council’s (SWC’s) Year 2010 Strategic Approach. Priority parcels are determined by the guidelines identified in SWC’s Year 2010 Strategic Approach, previous and forthcoming assessments, and new site-specific information and/or further analytical work approved by SWC’s Protection Committee. The top four target properties are located along Sorenson Creek, O'Toole Creek, the Sauk River and the mainstem Skagit River. Critical freshwater rearing and spawning habitat is currently limiting the production of the six independent Skagit River Chinook populations identified in the Skagit Chinook Recovery Plan (2005) and by the Puget Sound Chinook TRT (Rucklehaus et al. 2006). This project was funded by the Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB) on December 8, 2011 as a $1,475,080 comprehensive acquisition and landowner outreach grant for both the "middle" and "upper" Skagit River reaches. For administration purposes, the project has been split into two separate grant agreements. This grant total of $737,540 is an acquisition only grant, administered by Seattle City Light. The companion grant (11-1683) for $737,540 is an acquisition and planning (landowner outreach) grant, administered by the Skagit Land Trust. The SRFB and Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration (PSAR) grant funds may be transferred between grants, if necessary. With this grant 17 properties were purchased, including those used as match for the grant, protecting 197 acres in the Skagit, Sauk, Suiattle, and Cascade Rivers.