The project, by the washington state department of ecology (wdoe) in partnership with capitol land trust as subrecipient, is to acquire a conservation easement over 227.89 acres of mostly…

The Washington State Department of Ecology was awarded a $1,423,333 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service under the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration program (CFDA 15.614). The grant will fund the acquisition of a conservation easement over 227.89 acres of undeveloped marine shoreline, pocket estuary, salt marsh and forested habitat on Steamboat Peninsula in Thurston County, Washington. This will permanently conserve over 2.5 miles of South Puget Sound shoreline, Hudson Cove pocket estuary and associated streams, providing important habitat for juvenile salmon, steelhead, and forage fish species. Capitol Land Trust serves as a sub-awardee to assist with the easement acquisition, which furthers the goals of the Coastal Wetlands program to protect and restore coastal wetland ecosystems. Performance is expected to be completed by December 31, 2026.

The project, by the washington state department of ecology (wdoe) in partnership with capitol land trust as subrecipient, is to acquire a conservation easement over 227.89 acres of mostly undeveloped marine shoreline, pocket estuary, salt marsh and forested habitat on the steamboat peninsula in thurston county, washington. The property hosts 8,500 feet of largely undeveloped, forested, totten inlet (south puget sound) shoreline, a 7.8 acre pocket estuary known locally as hudson cove, and 4,745 feet of perennial and seasonal streams, for a total of over 2.5 miles of marine and freshwater shoreline. Hudson cove provides important habitat for juvenile chinook, steelhead and coho salmon as they seek sheltered areas in their transition to the saltwater environment, as well as spawning habitat for forage fish. In addition to feeder bluffs along much of the marine shoreline within the project site, hudson cove hosts salt marsh and MUD flat habitat which provide important nesting and foraging habitat for shorebirds and waterfowl.