HOV lane deal to help salmon
State to restore prime spawning ground to offset construction damage
Car-pool lanes are designed to help commuters, but a project to add them on part of Interstate 5 in Pierce County also will benefit threatened Chinook salmon.
This month, the state Department of Transportation bought a 27-acre wetland site in Federal Way on the West Hylebos Creek. The state plans to restore the area, the best spawning ground for Chinook salmon on the creek, said Chris Carrel, executive director of Friends of the Hylebos Wetlands.
"I'm absolutely elated," Carrel said. "It will give us the ability to restore a significant amount of salmon productivity for the stream."
The state bought the Spring Valley Ranch for $1.75 million this month to offset the impact the HOV lane project will have on wetlands adjacent to the freeway. It bought the land from a private owner, who had lived on the site which includes two houses.
The state is required by law to carry out wetland mitigation for the highway project.
Carrel said the Spring Valley Ranch property has been his group's highest priority for land to restore in the West Hylebos Creek. The shallow stream grade and the presence of gravel make it the best spawning habitat for Chinook, chum and coho salmon in the entire Hylebos, he said. Of the three, Chinook is the only one labeled threatened by the National Marine Fisheries Service.
He's seen all three species spawn in that section this year, and restoring the creek will increase spawning. Once the eggs hatch, the fish develop and migrate to the Pacific Ocean through Commencement Bay.
The state plans to add HOV lanes from the King-Pierce County line to the Port of Tacoma Road. Road work for the $33 million project funded by gas tax money is scheduled to start in the summer of 2009, said DOT project manager Steve Fuchs.
His department might try to get legislative approval to start sooner because I-5 HOV lanes from South 320th Street in Federal Way to the King County line are expected to be completed in mid-2007.
Fuchs said the state also hopes to start restoring the 1,400 feet of West Hylebos Creek before actual road work begins in Pierce County.
Restoration would include returning that section of the creek to its natural state - a meandering shape with trees and plants for shade. The section now runs straight and the surrounding land is cleared with only grass for vegetation.
The site is several thousand feet south of the 115-acre West Hylebos Wetlands Park, which was transferred from state ownership to the city of Federal Way in the fall. Carrel said he doesn’t expect the Spring Valley Ranch property would become part of the park because of the distance between the two.
The transportation department would maintain the site for up to 10 years, Fuchs said, and then possibly turn it over to Federal Way.
The state didn't set out to help salmon; it needed a wetland mitigation site to buy, Fuchs said. Carrel suggested the site back in May, Fuchs said, and discussions continued with Federal Way.
The acquisition also will help the state and city address flooding problems along South 373rd Street, Fuchs said.
"It's definitely one of those projects I think everyone is going to be happy about in the long run," he said. Steve Maynard: 253-597-8647.
this story courtesy of the Tacoma News Tribune:
HOV lane deal to help salmon