BLUE HERON SLOUGH
CONSERVATION BANK

The Port of Everett, together with Wildlands of Washington, Inc is developing the Blue Heron Slough Conservation Bank ("Project") by preserving, enhancing and restoring tidal and riverine physical processes on 354 acres in Snohomish County, Washington. This Project was developed under guidance from the endangered species recovery planning efforts for Chinook salmon and bull trout in Puget Sound and the Snohomish River Estuary.

Ecological setting: The site lies in the lower Snohomish River Estuary, near the mouth of the Snohomish River, in what was historically part of an extensive estuary complex, supported by daily flooding from Possession Sound and intermittent flooding from the Snohomish River. In the late 1880's the area was cleared, diked and drained, with ditches and tide gates, and farmed in some manner. The general goal at this Site is to reconnect the former estuary to the Snohomish River sloughs and restore natural habitat-forming processes.

Restoration Activities: The project will preserve and restore 354 acres of former tidally-influenced habitat. Since the site was cut off from its natural hydrological processes long ago, the general restoration design involves constructing an interior slough network that traverses the entire site, re-sculpting site topography to create an array of tidal habitats, and removing sections of the existing dike system, as well as the tide gate. Before reestablishing tidal flow to the interior, "pilot channels" would be constructed to help initiate a dendritic channel network throughout the Project. Shoreline edge habitats along the outside of the two bordering sloughs would be "softened" by partially peeling back some sections of dike and possibly placing large woody debris. Native vegetation would be reestablished through natural re-colonization in the intertidal marsh. When complete, it is anticipated that the project will have restored approximately 100 acres of intertidal marsh, 8 acres of uplands, 230 acres of mudflat, 16 acres of subtidal slough, 18,400 linear feet of riverine habitat and 24,000 linear feet of off-channel habitat in the Snohomish River Estuary.

For more information, call Julie Maddox at 877-435-3555.