Deepwater Slough restoration shows quick results for salmon, especially chinook
LA CONNER (July 2, 2003) — A decade-long tribal effort to restore wild salmon habitat in the Skagit basin is
paying rich dividends after just a few years.
The Skagit System Cooperative, the natural resources consortium of the Swinomish, Upper Skagit and Sauk-Suiattle tribes,
has been working tirelessly to restore crucially important estuaries. The Deepwater Slough project, one of the largest dike
removal programs in North America, saw SSC team with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers to remove more than two miles of structures to open up hundreds of acres of historic fish habitat.
When the project was completed in 2000, SSC took charge of monitoring its progress. Three years later, the results are
in: the Deepwater Slough restoration has been a great success for fish, wildlife and the ecosystem as a whole.
