big beef creek
For 15 years, the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group has been working to restore salmon habitat at Big Beef Creek. Similar efforts date back to 1965 when the University of Washington established a fish research station at the site. Land as varied and healthy as lower Big Beef—with its estuary, tidelands, and creek buffered by abundant upland forest—presents a rare opportunity in the world of habitat conservation.
Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group (HCSEG), the Hood Canal Coordinating Council and UW approached Forterra in November 2017, seeking assistance to secure the site long enough for HCSEG to secure the grant funding necessary to acquire and permanently conserve the site. HCSEG secured partial funding in 2018 from the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Coastal Wetlands Program to only secure 13 of the 15 parcels.
Forterra stepped in to purchase and finance the remaining property, using a loan guaranteed by the Russell Family Foundation, ensuring that HCSEG would have time to secure the remaining grant funds from RCO.
Forterra and Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group (HCSEG) announced in January 2022, the buy, hold and transfer of 50 acres of critical salmon habitat along Big Beef Creek, a tributary to Hood Canal. The transfer of this property to HCSEG is the final step of a four-year strategy to keep this parcel from development, ensuring that the Big Beef Creek Forest and watershed remain intact and realize their full potential in salmon recovery.
protected for all of us
Orca, eagles, and humans depend on Hood Canal for salmon. And Hood Canal depends on controlled development and healthy tributaries like Big Beef Creek to keep its salmon population strong.
The land and water are in exceptionally good health, and under the stewardship of the HCSEG, the habitat will continue to flourish and support the migratory bald eagles and orca that feed on spawning salmon. With permanent protection of the property in hand, plans to further restore lower Big Beef’s estuary and creek are now underway. Big Beef Creek will offer opportunities for public access, imparting views of the Olympic Mountains and vast forestland for all to enjoy.
overview
Forterra and Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group (HCSEG) announced in January 2022, the buy, hold and transfer of 50 acres of critical salmon habitat along Big Beef Creek, a tributary to Hood Canal. Conserves in perpetuity the final piece to a 302-acre restoration project along Hood Canal.
program
- Conservation And Land Stewardship
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Forterra and Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group secure final 50 acres along hood canal’s big beef creek for restoration.
