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Habitat
Restoration
 Lack
of functioning riparian (streamside) habitat is
a major factor limiting salmon
production. Mid Sound works cooperatively
with private landowners to identify, design and
implement projects that address factors limiting
salmon habitat.
While there are regulatory agencies protecting
sensitive areas, we offer a restoration
alternative the meets the needs of landowners
and salmon.
We use volunteers to carry out our
projects to involve the community
in restoring salmon populations and implement
projects in a cost-effective manner.
With the help of volunteers, Mid Sound
removes invasive vegetation
such as Himalayan blackberry, and plants
native trees and shrubs in riparian and
wetland areas. Native vegetation along
streambanks provides shade and cooler water for
salmon. Plant roots hold banks in place,
preventing erosion and keeping water cleaner by
filtering excess nutrients. In addition, plants
provide habitat for the insects that young
salmon eat.
Another cause for the decline of
salmon populations is the lack of large woody
debris (LWD). Mid Sound installs LWD in
creeks to slow stream flow and reduce the
erosion of banks and channel
bottoms. LWD creates pools that serve as
resting areas for salmon and it sorts out gravel
from fine sediments, leaving clean spawning
beds.
Mid Sound also implements
fencing projects to protect the riparian buffer
zones. Together with our landowners, we
find solutions that allow for for livestock
access to the creek, while keeping livestock's
negative impacts at bay.
Larger habitat
restoration projects, such as the removal
and replacement of fish passage barriers,
or side channel and pond construction,
are another aspect of our work.
MID
SOUND RESTORATION PROJECTS:
King County
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Kitsap County
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Newaukum Creek
North Fork Newaukum, Enumclaw
Main Stem Newaukum Creek,
Enumclaw
Mahler Park, Enumclaw
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Salmonberry
Creek
Salmonberry Creek, Port
Orchard
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May
Creek
May Valley, Renton
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Dogfish Creek
Dogfish Creek, Poulsbo
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Green River
Kanaskat
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Barker
Creek
Barker Creek, Silverdale
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Mullen Slough
Mullen
Slough, Kent
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Olalla
Creek
Olalla Creek, Olalla
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| Cool
Creek
Cool
Creek, Port Orchard |
Manitou
Creek
Beachcrest Drive, Bainbridge Island |
| Bryson
Dog fish Creek, Poulsbo
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Koontz
Dogfish
Creek, Poulsbo
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Enhancement
/ Carcass Distribution
Salmon
carcasses fly each year in fall as part of Mid
Sound's habitat restoration program in the Green
River Basin. The placement of
salmon carcasses in creeks and rivers has been
proven to play an important role in the
nutritional enhancement of salmonoid watersheds
and the
restoration of salmon populations.
Studies show that returning salmon transport
valuable marine derived nutrients, such as
phosphorous, nitrates and carbon, into the
freshwater systems of the Pacific Northwest. In
addition, salmon carcasses provide food for
invertebrates that juvenile salmon feed on, and
for other wildlife.
Fish
carcasses are distributed by hand, or with the
help of special fish spike tools. An adult Coho weighs in at about
4 to 8 pounds, adult Chinook at up to 18 pounds!
However, hungry inhabitants of streams and
creeks, such as aquatic bugs and critters, take good care that after a month, not
more than the bones are left.
The Carcass
Distribution Program - aka "Fish Flings" - is
one of our organization's most popular volunteer
events! It offers an extraordinary and different
experience to its participants and is an
excellent teaching tool. We fling fish each
fall, starting with Chinook salmon in September,
and ending with Coho in November, depending on
fish availability. If you'd like to join the
flinging fun, start checking our
Volunteer Calendar
for flinging dates in late summer. Be sure to
wear old clothes and raingear, and bring a nose
for stench.
To keep this
project safe, Mid Sound places information signs
at all distribution sites to notify the public,
advising everybody to avoid decomposing fish and
keep pets away from them.
For
more information on the Salmon Carcass
Distribution Program - Click Here
Visit our "Fish Fling" Photo Gallery |
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Outreach and
Education
General
outreach and education projects are an important
part of our work.
We work with
Girl and Boy Scout Groups, Middle or High
Schools, Community Colleges - and other groups
or organizations. Are you a teacher or troop
leader? Are you looking for an outdoor community
service project for your employees or
co-workers? Are you interested in having
us give a presentation about our organization
and the work we do, before getting some hands-on
experience in the field? Please contact
Mid Sound at (206) 529-9467 or e-mail
www@midsoundfisheries.org.
Each year in spring, we get together with
our directors, Advisory Board, members and
volunteers to review the past year's
accomplishments and to look forward together to
upcoming projects at our
 ANNUAL
MEETING AND GALA
Come and enjoy with us a nice dinner, satisfy
your sweet tooth at our dessert auction, bid on
a special prize during our silent auction, and
honor with us our award winners in five
categories: Best Partnering Landowner -
Best Partnering Business or Organization
- Best Youth Volunteer Group -
Volunteer of the Year - and the Senator
Slade Gorton Salmon Legacy Award.
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Nursery
Mid Sound's native
plant nursery is located outside Auburn, on the
Keta Creek Hatchery's property. It serves mainly
as a propagation and holding facility for trees
and shrubs that will be used in our restoration
projects.
Currently, our
nursery is unfortunately neither as organized
nor as efficient as it could be. In order to
upgrade its condition, we are going to conduct
an overall clean-up, transfer plants from high
beds into pots, re-organize the layout of the
nursery and create an inventory.
Once the state of our nursery is improved, it
will become not only an efficient holding
facility for plant material, but also a key
resource for native tree and shrub education.
With the help of our volunteers, we might be
hosting native planting workshops soon!
The nursery before....
... and after a clean-up party.
Check out our
volunteering schedule for a nursery party |
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