The Conservation Registry

Washington Department of Ecology was awarded $1 million to permanently protect a total of 705 acres of high quality wetlands including estuarine emergent salt marsh, eelgrass meadows, mud flats, marsh scrub-shrub and freshwater forested wetlands. These funds will leverage $559,000 in non-Federal cost share. As part of this project five miles of pristine estuarine shoreline in Southern Willapa Bay will also be permanently protected. Approximately 172 acres will be acquired in fee and 533 acres through conservation easements. Willapa Bay is one of the most productive areas for oyster cultivation in the Pacific Northwest and home to the largest commercial shellfish beds in Washington. The project area is adjacent to the 15,000-acre Willapa Bay National Wildlife Refuge and The Nature Conservancy’s 7,000-acre Ellsworth Creek Preserve. The project also supports the goals of the Pacific Region Partners and Fish and Wildlife and Coastal Program Strategic Plan.

Primary motivations:

Conservation Mission

Public Benefit

Primary goals:

The project will ensure that the critical estuarine habitat surrounding Stanley Point, Chetlo Harbor and the lower Naselle River will remain essentially undeveloped and free from incompatible land uses. The sensitive mud flats, eelgrass and saltwater marshes in Chetlo Harbor and the Naselle River estuary will retain their pristine qualities. Moreover, recreational and commercial fisheries will benefit from the project through the elimination of shoreline logging, development and habitat degradation. Willapa Bay contains some of the healthiest shellfish habitats in the country. Willapa is one of the five most productive areas in the world for oyster cultivation. Habitat for numerous birds, fish and other wildlife and plants will be preserved and enhanced, including marbled murrelet, bald eagle, brown pelicans and green sturgeon. More than five miles of estuarine shoreline will be protected, along with 705 acres of wetlands, tidelands and forested shoreline buffers. Perhaps most importantly, by conserving Chetlo Harbor and Stanley Point, we can tie together an extraordinary network of coastal, estuarine and riparian habitat protection, comprising more than 20,000 acres in all. The project area is in the middle of several existing preserves. The conservation called for in this project will go a long way toward ensuring preservation of virtually all of southern Willapa Bay. The project area is adjacent to the existing 15,000 acre Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, including the 5,400 acre Long Island which is immediately west of Stanley Point. Preserving the shoreline around Stanley Point and Chetlo Harbor will ensure that the sensitive ecosystem within the Wildlife Refuge will remain pristine. The project area is also adjacent to, and complements the conservation work of The Nature Conservancy in its spectacular Ellsworth Creek Preserve. That preserve, which sits at the mouth of the Naselle River adjacent to this Project Area, constitutes one of the most intact coastal forested watersheds on the West Coast. Several thousand acres of additional conserved lands will benefit from the protection of the centrally located properties which are the subject of this proposal.

Progress: underway

Consistent with plans:

State Wildlife Action Plan

Washington Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy

Watershed Plan

Willapa Bay Watershed Plan Willapa Basin Limiting Factors Analysis

Species Recovery Plan

Pacific County Strategic Plan for Salmon Recovery Willapa Bay Fisheries Recovery Strategy

Conservation Plan

Northern Pacific Coast Shorebird Conservation Plan USFWS Concept Plan for Wintering Waterfowl PCJV Strategic Plan

Land Trust Strategic Conservation Plan

The Nature Conservancy's Assessment of Freshwater Ecosystems in Washington (2006)

Targeted habitats:

• Aquatic
  • Estuarine
    • Bays
    • Salt Marshes
  • Marine
• Forests and Woodlands
  • Mixed Hardwoods and Conifer
• Wetlands and Riparian Habitats
  • Forested or Shrub Wetlands and Swamps
  • Marshes, Bogs and Emergent Wetlands

Targeted species:

• Marbled Murrelet Brachyramphus marmoratus
• Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus
• Chum Salmon Oncorhynchus keta
• Coho Salmon - Southwest Washington Coast Oncorhynchus kisutch pop. 8
• Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis
• Coastal Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii
• Willow Flycatcher Empidonax traillii
• Van Dyke's Salamander Plethodon vandykei
• Common Loon Gavia immer
• Western Grebe Aechmophorus occidentalis
• Common Murre Uria aalge
• Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
• Dusky Canada Goose Branta canadensis occidentalis
• American Wigeon Anas americana
• Lesser Scaup Aythya affinis
• Greater Scaup Aythya marila
• Sanderling Calidris alba
• Sanderling Calidris alba
• Western Sandpiper Calidris mauri
• Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias

Action	Status	Start Date	End Date
Land acquisition for conservation (fee simple, etc.)	In Progress	2010	2011

Is the success of this projects actions being monitored?  No