WDFW’s Lynch Cove estuary project seeks to acquire 170 acres of wetland habitat on the Tahuya Peninsula near Belfair for protection of estuarine habitat for wildlife and marine fish resources, including five species of salmonids. With adjacent land owned by WDFW, Cascade and Great Peninsula Land Trusts, the project will protect more than 540 acres of quality estuarine and upland habitat. These combined properties compose nearly the entire Lynch Cove estuary. This project will benefit five species of Pacific salmon, including two federally listed salmon species. Hood Canal summer chum spawn in the Union River in good numbers and are considered the strong-hold in the lower canal for salmon recovery efforts. Chinook salmon, which also spawn in the lower river, are considered the most dependent on estuarine habitat during their early life history and inhabit the Hood Canal shorelines in high numbers during spring migration to ocean waters. Juvenile summer chum and Chinook salmon depend upon shallow protected nearshore waters such as estuaries for refuge from predators, while offering shelter, wide salinity gradients and abundant food sources. Over 15,000 ducks, geese and brant winter in Lynch Cove through the winter months. This is one of the most important winter waterfowl areas in Hood Canal and South Puget Sound. The parcels in this acquisition are smaller undeveloped parcels in the UGA that had been divided for home sites. The protection of these estuary parcels will complete the larger conservation of the estuary.