Salmon populations are crucial to Puget Sound’s ecosystem around Snohomish County. A salmon egg hatches on a freshwater rocky stream bed, where a tiny fish emerges. The little fish travels through waterways and tributaries and out to Puget Sound and to the Pacific Ocean. If it survives, it lives happily there for its adult life before returning all the way to its birthplace. The adult salmon remembers exactly where to go. It lays and fertilizes the next generation of eggs. Then dies and returns its nutrient-dense carcasses to the earth, feeding trees, plants, birds, whales, bears, and humans.
Salmon sustain our planet’s natural life cycle. Their ability to make these cyclical swims of up to 2,000 miles is imperative for their own survival, as well as that of many other species, including our beloved orca whales.
Industrialization Affects Salmon Habitats
Over the last century, industrialized farming, home developments, and large factories dumping toxins into rivers and waterways have led to declining salmon populations.
Farming and logging practices deforested streams and riverbanks, allowing invasive and noxious weeds to grow in their place.
Invasive weeds destroy salmon‘s natural habitat, reduce water quality, and deplete food sources. These weeds cover waterways, making it impossible for salmon to cross. Their shallow roots don’t stabilize the soil and instead increase erosion. Creating silty water that smothers rocky spawning salmon grounds, depletes oxygen in the water, and raises water temperatures, making it difficult for salmon to survive.
Other farming and industrialization practices filled in streams and waterways for building sites and rerouted water to crops. This resulted in the destruction of migration paths and outlets to Puget Sound, lowering salmon populations and food for resident orca whales and birds.
Salmon Restoration in Snohomish County
Restoration projects restore native plants that create shade, cool the water, and support proper habitats for insects that salmon feed on. Native plants and trees have a strong root structure that deters erosion, keeping the water clear and free of silt. This allows salmon to lay their eggs on clean, rocky river bottoms. Oxygenated fresh river water, without invasive weeds, allows fish to migrate.
Restoration projects around Snohomish County are helping to restore salmon habitats and bring home salmon in fantastic numbers.
Over the last 30 years, dozens of large and small restoration efforts have been implemented successfully, restoring natural habitats throughout Snohomish County.
The Port of Everett’s Blue Heron Slough project covers 353 acres. It took 30 years to complete the project, which was concluded in 2022. The streams were dammed for agriculture in the 1900’s and later heavily polluted. Years of hard work and teams of engineers and environmental specialists completed nine miles of channel restoration. Coho have come back in droves, though chinook are still struggling to raise their numbers. The channel leads to the Puget Sound, feeding resident orcas, and has created a healthy wetland benefitting multiple animal species.
Dozens of non-profit past and current restoration projects, big and small, continue to make a difference in restoring the natural environmental order to the area.
Sound Salmon Solutions is a non-profit that rids stream beds and rivers of invasive weeds, replacing them with native species. They have projects all around the Snohomish County area, from twenty-acre wetlands to backyard projects. Volunteers plant native trees and bushes, preventing erosion along creeks and rivers, and carve out new channels to connect streams and rivers. Their volunteer page offers positions and events; everyone is welcome to join.
Stilly Snohomish Fisheries Enhancement Task Force is in charge of restoring the salmon population to the Snohomish and Stillaguamish Rivers. Their territory covers 2,400 square miles of land. An army of over 500 volunteers helps to cover this large area. They also provide educational opportunities to schools.
Willing landowners whose land borders eligible streams containing salmon or steelhead trout might be eligible for paid opportunities. The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) is funded by the state and federal governments to restore salmon habitat. Eligibility requirements are found here.
Between July and November, watch for running salmon returning home to spawn. Stay by the creek side to avoid stepping on eggs. Osprey Park is a good viewing location in Snohomish County; other locations can be found here. There is no way of knowing exactly when they’ll come through, so keep an eye out and try back after the rain for more chances of sightings.
Groundwater and stormwater runoff to Puget Sound. Everything we do affects the ecosystem. Even small changes made at home can have a big impact.
You Can Help Salmon
- Keep your soil healthy and nutrient-dense. This creates healthy organisms and nutrients to cycle throughout the ecosystem, helping soil with water retention.
- Plant native species in your yard. Non-native species need more fertilizers and pesticides to survive here, which end up in the groundwater.
- Use organic fertilizer in your garden and clean products in your home.
- Use Castile soap, vinegar, and baking soda instead of bleach and other toxic chemicals. They are non-toxic cleaners with hundreds of uses inside and outside your home.
Seemingly small things done at home make a huge impact on the environment and salmon. There are dozens of volunteering opportunities, whether you help one time only or make it a monthly event; every action helps.
