Category Overview
Urban Wildlife Habitat projects fund close-to-home places to play and explore nature. As our urban areas are increasingly expanding and densifying, these grants protect important fish and wildlife habitat within five miles of densely populated areas, creating green refuges that help keep our ecosystems healthy and provide places to enjoy nature right in our backyards.
Project Highlights
The Land Trust permanently protected, through fee acquisition, 32 acres along Ohop Creek, the third largest tributary to the Nisqually River. As one of the major tributaries to the Nisqually River, Ohop Creek provides spawning and rearing habitat for all of the salmonid species in the Nisqually Watershed, including Chinook salmon and steelhead trout, both of which are federally listed as threatened. The habitats protected include 0.19 miles of the Middle Reach of Ohop Creek, 20 acres of Ohop Creek floodplain, and 12 acres of forested valley bluff on the south side of the valley. All remaining farm structures were removed from the floodplain on the north side of the creek. A culvert across a ditched channel on the south edge of the floodplain and a derelict railcar bridge across Ohop Creek were removed from the old farm road. Invasive plant removal and planting of native trees and shrubs throughout 20 acres in the floodplain was also completed. Project end date extended to 3/15/2021 to allow for a second season of seedling release in spring of 2021.