Duckabush Mid-Reach Preserve
Duckabush Mid-Reach Preserve
Acres Preserved:
141
Year Conserved:
2014
Category:
Conservation Easement
Natural Features:
I’ve come to know the river and the land that surrounds it very well, and feel as though a unique bond between us has developed, similar to one with a lifelong friend. I am so grateful to know that Jefferson Land Trust was there as an option to protect this magical place, and give me the peace of mind that my dear friend will be looked after with a kind heart and giving hands.
- Mark Fissler, former landowner
A Birds-Eye View
Duckabush Mid-Reach Preserve stretches over 13 acres and includes more than 1,300 feet of the winding Duckabush River.
Protected permanently in 2018, Duckabush Mid-Reach Preserve is an important piece of Jefferson Land Trust’s larger conservation focus on the Duckabush River.
Two other properties protected by Jefferson Land Trust — Duckabush Riparian Forest Preserve and Duckabush Oxbow and Wetlands Preserve — are just a stone’s-throw away. To the west lie the National Forest and Olympic National Park boundaries. With the other nearby preserves, Duckabush Mid-Reach Preserve contributes to a corridor of forested land, river, and riverside habitat that provides shelter and supports foraging and migration for many animal species.
The river and its side channels, the floodplain, and the forest at Duckabush Mid-Reach Preserve contain critical habitat for wildlife, including spawning grounds for many of our keystone salmon species, including coho, summer chum, pink, and winter steelhead.
Mature forest made up of western redcedar, yew, red alder, and other native trees and shrubs covers much of the preserve. Lining the Duckabush River, the forest provides cooling shade, erosion-preventing roots, and other elements necessary to maintaining a river’s viability as salmon habitat, while the upland forest provides habitat for local birds, mammals, and other wildlife.
The Preservation Story
Local sculptor Mark Fissler approached Jefferson Land Trust to protect this property along the Duckabush River after having it in the family for a generation. After nearly three decades of observing and interacting with the land — and accumulating treasured memories — Mark and his family had developed a personal relationship with the river — “like an old friend,” in Mark’s words. Because of this connection, he wanted to ensure the protection of the river and the land forever.
Jefferson Land Trust has been working to protect and restore important salmon habitat and working forestland along the Duckabush River in partnership with many local and regional partners including the Salmon Recovery Funding Board, the US Navy, the Hood Canal Coordinating Council, the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group, and others. The successful protection of Duckabush Mid-Reach Preserve is a result of our ongoing collaboration with these partner organizations.
The protection of this property was made possible by funding from Washington’s Salmon Recovery Funding Board in collaboration with the Navy’s Readiness Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) program.
The Protected Property Today and Tomorrow
Since its initial protection, Jefferson Land Trust has worked to maintain and improve this wildlife habitat so that it can better accomplish its numerous natural ecological functions. With continued monitoring and restoration work by Land Trust staff and community volunteers, Duckabush Mid-Reach Preserve continues to thrive.
Our stewardship activities have included removal of invasive vegetation that threatened to outcompete the native forest, removal of construction debris and old decking materials from previous development, and supporting seedling regeneration along former roads and building sites on the property.
Our stewardship staff, with the help of committed preserve stewards and other volunteers, regularly care for the land, monitor wildlife, and keep improving habitat conditions by removing harmful weeds.
Every 5-10 years, the Land Trust also conducts habitat health assessments on the property. These assessments, carried out with the help of volunteers, allow us to evaluate the ecological integrity and functions of forests and streams within the preserve and track the progress of our land management goals.
Thanks to these carefully planned actions, we’re seeing the forest become a structurally diverse, conifer-dominated forest of primarily native species. Streamside, these features contribute to water temperature regulation, in-stream habitat complexity, and nutrients to the Duckabush River.
Our care of the land also enhances the land’s natural resilience to withstanding potential fluctuations and events, such as climate change, flooding, and winter storms.
