WA Dept of Fish and Wildlife proposes to complete final designs and permits to restore the Island Unit of the Skagit Wildlife Area.  Island Unit is located on two mid-channel islands in a tidally influenced reach of the South Fork Skagit River within the Skagit River delta. The 270-acre site was historically diked and drained for farming and has been managed for waterfowl forage production and hunting by WDFW. In January 2021, WDFW decided to restore the site to estuary. The goal of the project is to restore natural estuarine processes that create and maintain habitats used by estuarine-dependent fish and wildlife, while limiting negative impacts to infrastructure on nearby properties and supporting recreational uses of the project site. The project is intended to restore ecosystem processes such as tidal exchange, riverine flooding, sediment transport, and the long-term sustainability of habitats on the site for Chinook and other estuarine-dependent species. Preliminary design is currently funded through RCO grant # 21-1187, which we anticipate will be completed by December 2022. In this final design and permitting phase, WDFW will work with consultants, tribes, stakeholders, and other community partners to advance from preliminary design to 90% and final design, prepare and submit permit applications and obtain permits. WDFW will also control weeds on the site in preparation for the future establishment of native vegetative communities.