The construction of an over wintering area
for young Coho salmon, called smolts, is finished.

They have dug a channel 600 feet long.   It receives water from a spring on one end,  and empties  in the Fishtrap Creek on the other.	Sixty root wads, tree stumps,  have been placed in the channel  to serve as hiding places for young salmon.
The area will be completely revegetated with native plants to provide shade for the fish.	This smolt project replaces  many beaver ponds and other backwater areas.
Very few of them exist anymore, so we have been advised by the Department of Ecology and the Department of Fish that establishing areas for them to overwinter is critical.	After Planting the vegetation around the channel, the plants will need protection from the elements.  Sawdust is one of the ways we protect these plants.
Precise maps, and data collection will occur for the first few years, in order to make sure that the project is successful.	Now that the salmon have a safe place to eat.  We think we'll join them in a little pizza break.
The purpose of this project is to provide an over-wintering habitat for smolt coho salmon. Each one of the blue tubes contains a small tree that will hopefully grow into a large shade tree; not only for the salmon, but also the water quality. The sawdust around the tubes retains water to help the trees grow in their first critical years.