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Page A-38 Shelton-Mason County Journal — Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021
EJIQEEJE Er’éa?"
isabe//a@masoncounty com
Seabeck Creek is flowing
and native fish are making
their way upstream again
thanks to Hood Canal Salmon
Enhancement Group’s vision.
“With this bridge and this
nice channel, when fish show
up here, they can just keep on
going their merry way,” Gus
Johnson, project manager and
fisheries biologist for Hood
Canal Salmon Enhancement
Group, said.
The Seabeck Creek Res—
toration project, in partner-
ship with Kitsap County, was
funded with a Brian Abbott
Fish Passage Barrier Removal
grant of about $2 million from
the Washington State Depart—
ment of Fish and Wildlife.
The grant provided for the
removal of an undersized fish
ladder and constrictive 7 2-inch
culvert under Seabeck Holly
Road and replacement with a
roughly 60-foot bridge. HCSEG
also added “large woody debris”
to the creek in aim to retain sed—
iment and create multi—thread
channels within the creek.
Seabeck Creek restoration
has been in the works for al-
most 15 years according to HC-
SEG, but the long-awaited re-
sults are gratifying.
“I think it was like the begin-
ning of November (2020), right
when like the fall chum, and
Q .
From left: Gus Johnson of Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group explains the
process of making Seabeck Creek
more fish-friendly; Seabeck Holly Road now crosses Seabeck Creek via a
bridge. Journal photos by Isabel/a Breda
the coho run was showing up...
within just a couple of weeks
of the creek being back in this
channel, we were already see-
ing hundreds of chum especial-
ly swimming up past the site,”
Johnson said. “It happened
right away. it was kind of in-
stant gratification.”
Seabeck Creek is home to
salmonid species including
coho, fall chum, and Endan—
gered Species Act listed Puget
Sound steelhead.
Johnson said WDFW will
continue to monitor salmo-
nid species through spawn-
ing ground surveys that track
where the fish have spawned in
the creek.
“They’ll be able to see how
many more fish are able to
get (upstream) than usual and
watch that trend as it goes on,”
he said.
The construction of the
I PLACED MY
ADS ON FACEBOOK
bridge ran ahead of schedule
and the road was able to open
three weeks early.
Next steps in the project
include planting more than
3,000 native plants along the
creek beds to help_ limit ero-
sion and provide shade to help
keep the creek cool.
HCSEG is seeking volun-
teers to participate in the
planting and sign—ups for up—
coming planting dates are
INSTEAD OF N THE LOCAL
PAPER- AND NOW MY
PROFITS SUCK
available at www.pnwsalmon-
center.org/get-inv01ved/
volunteer/.
“We really appreciate
our project partners, Kitsap
County, working with us to
make this happen,” Johnson
said. “We’re just really happy
that this finally all got taken ,
care of and we’re really excit-
ed that Seabeck Creek is now
a free-flowing creek through
this site.”
i l’ D SAYIYA
GET WHAT YA
n> SAY, THERE’S
A comet-non!