Grant Creek Large Woody Debris (LWD) Restoration

Grant Creek, like many tributaries in the Stillaguamish watershed, provides critical salmon and steelhead spawning and rearing habitat that has been impacted by over a century of timber harvesting and subsequent agricultural use. As a result, the lower reaches of Grant Creek contain several habitat limiting factors, including degraded and simplified stream conditions lacking the in-stream complexity and riparian habitat needed to support natural watershed processes and healthy salmon populations.

During this project WFC placed 115 pieces of large wood within a 0.3 mile long reach of Grant Creek between Grant Creek Road and Hillis Rd. The 17 large wood complexes will encourage the development of new scour pools and to improve overall channel complexity. Wood placements will also help to trap and sort sediment, encourage aggradation and localized deposition of spawning-sized gravel, and improve floodplain connectivity.

WFC is now exploring opportunities to partner with downstream landowners to extend the restoration actions there.