This in-stream project restored coastal estuarine wetlands that support culturally and economically significant species including salmon and shellfish, and ESA-listed Hood Canal summer chum, Puget Sound steelhead, cutthroat and Puget Sound Chinook salmon. It involved the restoration of the floodplain and wetland connectivity, further improvement of sediment processes and spawning and rearing habitat within the lower five miles of Lower Big Beef Creek.

During late summer 2017 installation of 8 engineered log jams (ELJ’s) occurred in the stream channel in key locations between river mile 1 and 5 continuing the addition of large wood from prior years to further increase stream complexity. Since 2016 HCSEG has installed 38 ELJ’s to improve habitat in Big Beef Creek and its estuary.

Additionally, a variety of monitoring data, including insect surveys and bird observations, were collected during summer 2017 as part of the Intensively Monitored Watershed (IMW) program to study the effects of our restoration treatments. IMW monitoring will continue over the next several years to ascertain if improved habitat conditions lead to increased survival and abundance of salmonid species in this stream.