SFEG has helped a number of landowners replace fish passage barriers with new structures that provide fish unimpeded access to upstream habitat.  Landowners we work with include individual homeowners and farmers, neighborhood associations, small industrial forestland owners, and cities and counties.  We complete a site visit to evaluate the barrier, then work with the landowner to identify a funding program that best fits the situation.  Available funding sources include the Washington Department of Natural Resources Family Forest Fish Passage Program (FFFPP), local Conservation Districts or the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). In areas that are considered high priorities for Chinook salmon or steelhead trout, funds may be available from the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board.  On simple projects we work with volunteer groups, private foundations or other sources to get work done.  To set up a site visit contact us at 360-336-0172 or kyreiss @ skagitfisheries.org

Links to Potential Funding Sources:

• Family Forest Fish Passage Program (FFFPP)
  (watch this video for more info on FFFPP!)
• Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
• Salmon Recovery Funding Board

Our Fish Passage Projects

Steelhead culvert prioritization/Fish Passage Project Pre-Design
SFEG has been working closely with the Skagit River System Cooperative, Skagit County, and the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe to update our local database of fish passage barriers. The goal of this project is to develop a prioritized list of sites on county and private roads that could be improved to benefit ESA-listed steelhead trout.  Funding for the efforts is being provided by the Salmon Recovery Funding Board and Puget Sound Energy.

As part of these efforts SFEG has identified a number of private landowners who are interesting in undertaking projects to benefit steelhead and other species.  In 2018 we received financial support from the Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) and Fourth Corner Fly Fishers to begin development of project designs. We are currently working with 5 landowners to develop plans and secure funding for their projects. 

Therkelson – Homestead Creek Fish Passage barrier removal
The Therkelson barrier culvert is on Homestead creek (local name), a tributary to Friday Creek in the Samish river watershed. An undersized culvert blocked access to 0.33 miles of stream that flowed through a forested wetland.
Within the wetland, multiple channels provide an estimated 5.3 acres of excellent rearing habitat and small patches of gravel ideal for trout spawning. This stream provides excellent off-channel rearing habitat for juvenile Chinook, coho, steelhead and sea-run cutthroat trout; because it is fed by a wetland, the small stream is unique in that it stays wet in a very dry summer when other local streams are completely dry.

Left: Before image of undersized culvert and limited stream flow. Right: After image of new foot bridge and restored stream bed.

Numerous juvenile coho and resident cutthoat trout of all size ranges (from 2-8 inches in length) were removed from the work area prior to construction. Steelhead have been documented spawning immediately adjacent to the site in Friday Creek, and following the first major rainstorm after construction, adult coho salmon could be observed from the new bridge.

Chinook Engineering completed project designs for this FFFPP-funded Project. Big R Bridge supplied a 26-foot modular steel bridge and Harkness Contracting Inc. completed construction in July 2018.

Upper Day Slough Fish Passage Barrier
SFEG worked with Fisheries Engineers Inc., Moceri Construction, the Skagit Land Trust and a private landowner to remove a set of three damaged and undersized culverts that were impeding fish passage in Upper Day Slough. The culverts were replaced with a 50-foot bridge supplied by Big R Bridge in the summer of 2016.

The newly installed bridge with dropcloth depicting the size of the removed culverts.

This project restored natural hydrologic processes and allowed for unimpeded movement of large woody debris and sediment, and increased the existing cross-sectional area of the slough from a flow channel of 29 square feet to more than 236 square feet–a more than 800% increase!  The bridge substantially improves flood flow conveyance, wood transport during peak flows, and bedload movement through the side channel.

East Fork Walker Creek
SFEG worked with a private landowner and FFFPP to improve access for coho, steelhead and potentially juvenile Chinook by replacing an undersized 4-foot diameter culvert with a 60-foot steel bridge. This project opened one mile of high quality habitat for salmon and steelhead migration in Walker Creek!
Volunteers and EarthCorps also re-vegetated 2.5 acres of habitat along the stream in 2015.

Left: Before image of undersized culvert at East Fork Walker Creek Right: After image of new bridge and restored natural stream channel.

Cascade River Tributary
In 2015, staff and volunteers from SFEG, Skagit Land Trust, and Wildcat Steelhead Club removed a culvert from a tributary to the Cascade River.
Along with being undersized, the 36″ culvert was deteriorating, and supported an access road that was no longer needed after the Land Trust had purchased the property.  Amorterra Inc. donated time to work with students from Bellingham Technical College to complete surveys and develop permit drawings. The Skagit Watershed Council and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (WDFW) Aquatic Lands Enhancement Account program provided funding to complete the work.

Removal of this culvert opened more than 1.1 miles of stream to coho salmon and steelhead trout!  Spawner surveys conducted at the site in 2016 documented 54 spawning coho salmon in the half-mile survey reach upstream of the removed culvert.

Left: Before image of old culvert at Cascade tributary. Right: After image of opened stream bed during dry summer season.

Video of Cascade River tributary culvert removal

Parsons Creek
This FFFPP-funded project repaired a fish passage barrier on a logging road that crosses Parsons Creek, a tributary to the Samish River. Parsons Creek serves as habitat for Chinook, coho, chum, and pink salmon, as well as cutthroat, rainbow, and steelhead trout, and Dolly Varden.

The removed culvert was an undersized 4-foot diameter corrugated metal pipe that was perched 3.5 feet above the stream bed.  Correcting the Parson Creek barrier restored access to nearly 1,000 meters of high quality spawning habitat and 0.75 miles of stream to anadromous fish!

Left: Before image of narrow raised culvert. Right: After image of new culvert providing improved fish passage and water flow.

East Fork Walker Creek – Future project 

This project will remove a 4-foot wide, 30-foot long perched culvert that is restricting fish access on East Fork Walker Creek, and replace it with a 11’ span aluminum box culvert that allows salmonids and lamprey to access 1.8-miles of upstream habitat. East Fork Walker Creek, located in the Nookachamps sub-watershed, has documented spawning of ESA listed Chinook and steelhead, as well as fall chum, coho and cutthroat trout. In addition to increasing the area of salmon habitat, this project will support the return of natural processes to East Fork Walker Creek by reducing scour and channel constriction. This project builds on current habitat improvements via a riparian planting project adjacent to the culvert, implemented in 2023 by Skagit Fisheries. 

In 2015, SFEG completed a fish passage project downstream, replacing a barrier culvert with a 60’ bridge. Since this section of the creek has been made accessible to fish, SFEG spawner survey volunteers have been monitoring this creek yearly for spawning salmon in the months of October to January. Each year survey volunteers have observed a greater number of spawning salmon in the creek. Surveyors completed one year of pre-construction monitoring in 2014 and found 43 live coho salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) and since construction we have seen a positive trend of more fish returning to East Fork Walker Creek each year. In 2022, surveyors observed 404 live coho above the 2015 project site. 

Funders for East Fork Walker Creek includes: Seattle City Light (SCL) and the Natural Resource Stewardship Program (NRSP) through Skagit County. 

Culvert at East Fork Walker Creek to be replaced in summer of 2025

Carpenter Creek Full Passage Restoration Project – Future Project

Through various grants and other funding opportunities, SFEG is pursuing the ambitious goal of complete fish passage restoration in the Carpenter Creek watershed. SFEG worked with two private landowners in 2019 and 2020 to replace two fish passage barriers in the upstream portion of the creek. As of 2024, SFEG has continued working with private landowners, the City of Mount Vernon and Skagit County Public Works on all of the remaining fish passage barriers in the Carpenter System. There are currently funds for implementation on two culverts, design funds for an additional three culverts, and a submitted grant application for the last remaining culvert. 

Carpenter Creek is a large system that flows into Hill Ditch south of Mount Vernon and further downstream, the South Fork Skagit River delta. Carpenter Creek has documented use of winter steelhead, summer steelhead, kokanee , coho and coastal/resident cutthroat trout, and is gradient accessible to pink, chum and Chinook salmon. The upper reaches of this watershed are well-forested with cold water, flowing through wetlands and rural residences, and all areas of the creek support healthy riparian habitat. 

Funders (as of May 2024) for the Carpenter Creek culvert projects include the Brian Abbott Fish Barrier Removal Board (FBRB) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFWS). 

Barrier culvert on City of Mount Vernon road on Carpenter Creek

Barrier culvert upstream on private land on Carpenter Creek

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To set up a site visit contact us at 360-336-0172 or kyreiss @ skagitfisheries.org

Check out this video to learn more about how Washington State is solving fish passage issues:

To find out whether a stream on your property supports salmon or has a culvert known to be a passage barrier (not all sites have been mapped!) check out the online maps provided on WDFW’s Salmon Scape website http://apps.wdfw.wa.gov/salmonscape/