Nature Conservancy acquires 42 acres on Livingston Bay

A pocket estuary, full of brackish, standing water, is part of the Nature Conservancy's most recent purchase on Camano Island. Someday, the old dike that keeps wood from migrating from a pocket estuary in west Livingston Bay will be breached, allowing the built-up logs to enter the rest of the ecosystem.

The Nature Conservancy, an international conservation organization, recently purchased about 42 acres on Livingston Bay. The pocket estuary was part of the purchase, and is something the conservancy plans to restore.

The new land is adjacent to 7,000 acres of land held by the Whidbey Camano Land Trust and the Nature Conservancy. Most of those acres are mudflats and tidal marches, said Kat Morgan, Port Susan Bay Preserve program manager.

The Nature Conservancy was interested in the parcel of land at Livingston Bay because it is a convergence of several habitats, she said.

Part of the land is a mature marine riparian forest, she said. As a buffer, it helps keeps toxins out of the near shore environment. In addition, the forest adds plant matter, wood debris, insects and hydrology into the bay.

The parcel also includes a small feeder bluff, a sand bluff that provides sediment for the ecosystem, Morgan said.

The pocket estuary is important habitat for estuarydependent species, such as

Chinook salmon, which use estuaries as transition areas before entering the ocean, she said.

Once funding is obtained, the conservancy plans to open the pocket estuary at the north end to allow regular tidal access, Morgan said.

Originally, there was a natural sand spit. About 80 to 100 years ago, the area was diked and used for pasture. However, a natural breech in the dike from the 1990 flood allowed tides to access the estuary irregularly.

Opening up the estuary will allow logs currently trapped to follow the south to north drift, Morgan said. Wood helps collect sediment, and provides complexity in the ecosystem.

The Skagit Audubon will monitor birds prior to and after the restoration, and the Island County Washington State University Beachwatchers will monitor fish.

There are bald eagle nests on both side of the estuary, and the eagles hunt in the estuary, said Ron Pera, of Camano Island.

Ron and Sheila Pera, who live adjacent to the estuary, have noticed Cooper's, red-tail and sharp-shiner hawks, Sheila said. Migratory waterfowl also use the area.

In the last five years, a resident group of trumpeter swans visited the estuary. The population has grown from five birds to 67 this winter, Ron said.

The restoration will hopefully bring different shorebirds to the area, he said.

The Peras volunteer with the Nature Conservancy, and allowed the organization to use their property to access portions of the newly purchased area.

The Nature Conservancy's goal is to preserve and restore a healthy estuary ecosystem in Port Susan Bay, Morgan said.

The Whidbey Camano Land Trust and the Nature Conservancy partnered for the purchase. The land trust submitted the first grant application, and began the negotiations with landowner Elizabeth Nelson Melling in 2005.

Island County Commissioner John Dean also helped support the purchase during the process.

Grants from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, and donations from individuals, Boeing and the Doris Duke Northwest Wildlife Conservation Initiative paid for the purchase.

"This is one of those projects that really took a village," Morgan said.

Staff Reporter Kristi Pihl: 629-8066 ext. 125 or kpihl@ scnews.com.