State begins restoration of Skagit River estuary

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife kicked off this week restoration of 270 acres of Skagit River estuary that will take about two years to complete.

The restoration is on the department's Island Unit, just south of Conway.

The unit, which is only accessible by boat, will be closed until fall 2028.

The area being restored was historically an estuary that hosted juvenile Chinook salmon. It was diked in the early 1900s, cutting off access to fish.

The state bought the land that makes up the Island Unit in 1950 and 1953.

Since then, the area has been managed by the department largely to grow unharvested crops for visiting waterfowl, and for waterfowl hunters.

The restoration project, which has been in the works for about eight years, is intended to restore the area to its historic estuary status, increasing habitat for threatened young Chinook salmon.

The project is the largest of the department's Skagit Wildlife Area restorations on properties that surround the Island Unit.

The department completed restoration of the adjacent Milltown Unit in 2024.

The Island Unit is one of the last department-owned areas that is critical for recovering Chinook salmon, said Jenny Baker, project manager and department senior restoration specialist. This project will build onto the others, Baker said.

The project is estimated to support tens of thousands of juvenile salmon.

‘We know it's a habitat that there's not enough of, and so (the salmon) will definitely use it," said Baker.

Fish and Wildlife will knock down several miles of dikes and levees, and remove tide gates.

Contractor Brumfield Construction will excavate throughout the unit to create 22 acres of channels.

Low-angle landings for small boats and mounds with waterfowl hunting blinds will be built, and the area will be replanted.

"It's bringing complexity and diversity back to the site," said Fish and Wildlife Communications Manager Chase Gunnell.

The department looked at the restoration's potential impacts on nearby dikes.

The department is placing some of the mounds at locations that would reduce impacts of redirected waves hitting Skagit County Dike District 22's dikes, said Baker.

The department believes that full restoration may help reduce flooding upstream by spreading out water in the estuary.

This week, Brumfield Construction began to stage equipment.

The contractor will use the nearby Skagit Headquarters Unit to stage materials. The Headquarters Unit's parking lot and boat launch will be periodically closed during the project.

Everything needing to reach the unit will use boat or barge.

"It'll be an accomplishment to get this under our belts," said Baker.

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This story was originally published July 3, 2026 at 7:05 AM.