The Nature Conservancy Celebrates 30 years in the Skagit
Reflections from the Conservancy' Skagit River program manager, Bob Carey
When The Nature Conservancy bought its first piece of land in the Skagit River valley some 30 years ago, people generally had a simple picture of conservation: Buy habitat lands and set them aside from most human use.
That kind of straightforward action has accomplished much over the years. Public lands have been protected in parks, wilderness areas, wildlife refuges, and other natural areas. Private organizations have played an important role. The Conservancy, often working in partnerships, has protected millions of acres in the United States. Other organizations have added to that total. And thousands of private landowners have placed conservation easements—voluntary land protection agreements that preclude most development—on countless acres across the country.
Today, the Conservancy continues to buy land from willing sellers, whenever that’s the most effective strategy to advance the ecological health of the region. Indeed, in August, we purchased another 67 acres on the Sauk River, a tributary of the Skagit River. The land contains a wonderful complex of floodplain wetlands and riparian forests along the most dynamic reach of the Sauk River—perhaps the most ecologically rich section of the entire Skagit River system. This acquisition connects other protected areas already owned by Seattle City Light, the state, and the Conservancy, lands that contain spawning and rearing habitat for salmon and trout, as well as wintering grounds for hundreds of bald eagles.
Setting land aside has been a tremendously successful strategy that has yielded tangible results. It has also provided a foundation for a greater understanding of the complex task of sustaining the diversity of life on Earth.
During the past 30 years, we have learned that setting lands aside, as important as that is, is not the only answer to this historic challenge. We now know that natural processes—the flow of a river, the frequency of fire, the life cycle of salmon—occur at scales too large to protect solely through the establishment of preserves. We have also come to recognize that privately owned, working lands—farms, ranches, forests—play a key role in ensuring a healthy, diverse ecosystem.
The Conservancy has been in the forefront of this evolving approach to conservation, which is playing out in projects across the country and around the world, including the Skagit. One example is a cooperative effort to eradicate invasive knotweeds, insidious weeds that destroy streamside habitat if left unchecked. Working with many partners and more than 100 local landowners over the past four years, the Conservancy has eliminated hundreds of patches of knotweed along dozens of miles of the Sauk and upper Skagit rivers.
In a different kind of collaborative process—involving some 30 partners, including Puget Sound Energy—the Conservancy recently contributed its scientific expertise to inform an agreement that will significantly improve flows on the lower 55 miles of the Skagit River for years to come.
Moving from a small preserve approach to a seas-to-summit vision in the Skagit has also meant an increased focus on the Skagit Delta. The delta’s rich tidal marshes and riverine habitats are crucial to the ecological health of the entire region. They’ve been heavily affected by human use, so their restoration is an important conservation goal.
The delta is also a significant agricultural area. The local farming community is rightfully proud, and protective, of its family farming heritage, which reaches back for generations. Yet the Skagit Valley is expected to absorb significant population growth in coming years. Farmland preservation and collaboration with the farming community not only make sense, they’re essential to the long-term health of the region.
To maintain a healthy river system, the people who live within the water-shed must be part of the conservation solution. Accomplishing such a vision means developing collaborative, creative approaches that advance a range of human interests, including conservation. Relationships with private landowners, and with a wide variety of organizations, agencies, and governments, are keys to success.
The future of this region is in our community’s hands, and it will take the efforts of all to leave our children a legacy of healthy ecosystems and healthy communities. In the largest sense, our challenge is to weave conservation values and actions into the fabric of human society. It gives me a deep sense of hope to know that in the Skagit today, that large ambition is taking shape in tangible actions on the ground.
