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 Morgan Marsh Preservation Project purchased 291 acres of upland, wetlands and lakes at the headwaters of four important Hood Canal Salmon streams-Big Beef Creek, Tahuya River, Stavis Creek and Anderson Creek. This is the third step in a long-term effort to protect the best remaining habitat for Hood Canal salmonids on the Kitsap peninsula. The project is supported by the Hood Canal Salmon Sanctuary (HCSS), which consists of WDFW, University of Washington, DNR, Kitsap County, Point No Point Treaty Council, Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, Kitsap Land Trust and the Hood Canal Environmental Council. Over the past six years this group has purchased 340 acres of prime habitat in the Big Beef and Stavis Creek watersheds. The efforts focused on preserving the steep-sloped spawning and travel corridors in the lower reaches of Big Beef and Stavis Creeks. The second phase concentrated on preserving midstream wetlands. This acquisition focuses on permanently preserving a vast headwaters wetlands/lake complex that serves as a vital rearing area and helps maintain the hydrology of all four watershed.