The objective of this project is to complete purchase of properties within the approved Kennedy Creek Natural Area Preserve (NAP) boundary by acquiring 47 acres in 4 parcels. The parcels include ecologically valuable privately owned salt marsh vegetation and Kennedy Creek riparian and upland habitat. Kennedy Creek NAP protects three high quality intertidal salt marsh ecosystems; two are listed as Priority 3 and one is listed as Priority 2 in the 2009 Natural Heritage Plan. High quality estuaries dominated by native species are considered rare in the Puget Trough Ecoregion. The estuary protected by Kennedy Creek NAP also provides critical resting, feeding and overwintering habitat for migrating and resident shorebirds and waterfowl including dunlin, greater yellowlegs, black-bellied plovers and sandpipers. Birds of prey including bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and merlin forage in the estuary. The site also supports a robust run of fall chum and other anadromous and resident fish species including coho, winter steelhead and coastal cutthroat, which utilize the creek and estuarine habitat for important life cycle phases. The Natural Heritage Advisory Council approved a management plan for the site in 2006 and, based on recommendations from the plan, an interpretive site and estuary viewing area was constructed in 2008. Local businesses, state agencies, the Squaxin Island Tribe, and non-profit organizations support the site for its conservation values.