Just a quick jaunt outside of the bustling metropolis of Mount Vernon and you’re at DeBay’s Slough, a side channel of the Skagit River. The property, now 629 acres, was dedicated by WDFW in 2001 as a place for the public to view overwintering trumpeter swans and other wildlife.
A Skagit Land Trust property, the Utopia Conservation Area protects over 87 acres of creeks, wetlands, and forested habitat within the Skagit River floodplain. It was acquired in 2012 and 2014 primarily to protect the salmon habitat found in Wiseman Creek/Black Slough and the Skagit River. Prior to the Land Trust’s purchase, the land had likely been used for grazing and hay production. Plans for the property include restoration of the lowland forest and understory as seen in the numerous plantings done over the years. Management of invasive species, both plant and animal, are also a necessary part of the stewardship of Utopia.
Beginning in about 2006, SFEG’s habitat restoration at Howard Miller Steelhead Park has consisted of stream channel restoration, installation of two footbridges, eradication of invasive plants, and thousands of native plants planted with the help of hundreds of volunteers. Wandering clockwise along the loop trail (the Wetland Wildlife Trail on the park map) on a recent sunny dawn, chickadees and spotted towhees could be seen and heard busily chattering in the dense thicket of native shrubs along the Skagit River.
