Big Beef Creek
Hood Canal depends on controlled development and healthy tributaries like Big Beef Creek to keep its salmon population strong.
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A Conservation Opportunity Years in the Making
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.
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.
Forterra’s Involvement
The Salmon Enhancement Group successfully raised funds for the purchase of 13 of 15 parcels at Big Beef Creek. Through the use of a buy-and-hold real estate strategy, Forterra helps nonprofits like the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group take advantage of critical but time-sensitive conservation opportunities. With a low-interest loan guaranteed by The Russell Family Foundation, Forterra purchased the final two parcels, ensuring that the Big Beef Creek forest and watershed remain intact and realize their full potential in salmon recovery.
The Future of Big Beef Creek
We now are fundraising so the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group can purchase the remaining property from Forterra. This land will play a critical role in restoring the abundance and health of the region’s salmon population and sustaining the ecological diversity of the watershed. The land and water are in exceptionally good health, and under the stewardship of the Salmon Enhancement Group, the habitat will continue to flourish and support the migratory bald eagles and orca that feed on spawning salmon. Big Beef Creek will be open to the public who visit by foot, imparting views of the Olympic Mountains and opening its forest for exploration.
Support Big Beef Creek
In order to fully conserve this property, the Salmon Enhancement Group must raise funds to buy the two parcels from Forterra, and in doing so repay the loan. Help conserve this vibrant habitat by supporting work to place all of Big Beef Creek under the ownership of the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group.
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