Home / What We Do / Protecting Land / Our Focus on Fish and Wildlife Habitat

Our Focus on Fish and Wildlife Habitat

Quote

A landscape rich in wildlife habitat brings many benefits. Some of the benefits include the natural services these lands provide, like cleaning our air and water, absorbing carbon, and providing beautiful scenic vistas.

Our Local Wildlife Habitat

Protecting wildlife habitat has long been a central focus of Jefferson Land Trust’s conservation efforts. The wildness of the county is a defining characteristic that’s enjoyed and appreciated by all of us.

We stand at the edge of wetlands and watch the busy birds, the quiet newts and families of waterfowl; we walk along the streams cascading out of the hills and into the bays, with determined salmon splashing their way upstream; we crouch on the shoreline and inspect the colorful crabs, mussel beds, and sea stars; and as we hike along forested trails we discover signs of wildlife.

We live with wildlife all around us, and we want to keep it that way for ourselves — and for those who'll come after us. One way the Land Trust works to ensure that local wildlife continues to thrive is by creating and caring for local nature preserves throughout our region. Learn more about many of the preserves Jefferson Land Trust has protected on the Protected Properties page of our website.

Turning the Tides for Salmon

Grant Street Elementary School first and second graders come to Chimacum Creek with us every year. They release the coho salmon fry they have been raising in school and have a blast learning and playing out on the land! Photo by Wendy Feltham.
Grant Street Elementary School first and second graders come to Chimacum Creek with us every year. They release the coho salmon fry they've been raising in school and have a blast learning and playing out on the land! Photo by Wendy Feltham.

Habitat conservation throughout the county has historically been focused on the streams, creek and riverside forests, estuaries, and marine shorelines that have the greatest impact on the health and recovery of native salmon populations.

Jefferson Land Trust has been working to improve local salmon runs for a long time. In 1987, two years before the Land Trust was founded, a blown culvert filled lower Chimacum Creek with so much sediment that the summer chum run was completely wiped out.

This local tragedy galvanized community volunteers and conservation organizations to turn the tide for salmon in Chimacum Creek. Salmon were restocked from nearby streams, and Land Trust supporters powered the work to protect and restore land along the creek and create healthy habitat for the fish to survive and thrive.

At least 22 species are known to feed on salmon carcasses, including bald eagle, bear, bobcat, coyote, crow, deer mice, dipper, stellar and gray jay, mink, pacific wren, raccoon, river otter, red-tailed hawk, shrew, skunk and squirrel. Only mole, beaver, cougar and elk abstain. Even deer may nibble.

Waterways are also crucial habitat corridors for the majority of wildlife in our region. In fact, more than 85 percent of birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals in western Washington rely on stream zones at some point in their lives, or seasonally.

We All Benefit

 

Habitat conservation is not just for wildlife. A landscape rich in wildlife habitat brings many benefits. Some of the benefits include the natural ecosystem services these lands provide, like cleaning our air and water, absorbing carbon from the atmosphere, and providing beautiful scenic vistas.