Tulalip Tribes aim to boost salmon habitat at Allen Creek

MARYSVILLE — Nicole Sieminski’s boots squished through water-laden reed canary grass as she made her way to Allen Creek, the site of the Tulalip Tribes next salmon restoration project.

Although this was her first time walking through the grassy fields, Sieminski — the executive director of the Tulalip Foundation and member of the Tulalip Tribes — is familiar with the land. She grew up in Marysville, and went to school nearby.

But now, a recent land acquisition from the Tulalip Tribes aims to give new life to a significant section of Allen Creek and nearby fields.

Allen Creek is a major coho salmon-producing stream, according to the tribes. In addition, Kellogg Marsh has played an important role in holding adult salmon heading upstream to spawn, and for rearing juvenile coho prior to their exit into saltwater. Kellogg Marsh Valley is also culturally significant to the Tulalip Tribes as a significant former fishing and gathering area.

Last month, the Tulalip Foundation, the fundraising arm of the Tulalip Tribes, acquired 33 acres surrounding a stretch of Allen Creek outside Marysville, just east of the Kellogg Marsh Grange Hall. An additional 4 acres of farm land were dedicated as a conservation easement.

The tribes’ Cultural and Natural Resources Department plans to rebraid creek channels, replant native vegetation and remove culverts — all in the name of restoring coho habitat.

The foundation worked with three families to purchase land with grant dollars from Snohomish County’s Conservation Futures Program and matching funds from the tribes’ natural and cultural resources department. The purchased property and easement totaled $945,000.

The acquisition allows the tribes to expand previous restoration on Qwuloot Estuary, which Allen Creek feeds into before emptying into Ebey Slough. The Qwuloot project was completed in 2015 after two decades of work.

A network of levees had cut the estuary off from natural tidal flows for over a century. However, the tribes worked with state and federal agencies to restore much of the area’s habitat by breaching the levees, constructing new channels and reintroducing native trees and shrubs.

Sieminski recently toured the future Allen Creek site, along with Joe Sambataro, conservation adviser for the Tulalip Tribes, and a previous landowner, Harmen DeJong.

Since purchasing the land in 1962, Harmen’s parents, Sam and Anna DeJong, operated a dairy farm on the land for decades. The couple retired in 1997, but leased the dairy operation until 2002. It was used for farming until 2019.

When Sam DeJong died in 2020, Harmen and Anna DeJong weren’t sure what to do with the land.

Knowing that development wasn’t an option — or desire — the family contacted the county’s soil conservation district, which referred them to various agencies and groups, including the Tulalip Tribes.

“It supported the family wealth for 35 years,” said Harmen DeJong. “And now it’s time for it to move on. Who better to engage with on a restoration project than the Tulalip Tribes?”

The Tribes worked with two other families, Andrea and Aaron Hingtgen, and Dawn and Allen Zeiler, to acquire the property.

The nonprofit will transfer the land to the Tribes’ natural resources department for conservation design planning.

“Some properties you acquire because it’s already great habitat,” Sambataro said. “Others, like Allen Creek, you acquire because it’s a great opportunity for restoration.”

Before leaving to see his mother, who still lives up the hill from the property, Harmen DeJong said goodbye to Sieminski. Both agreed they looked forward to the project.

“It’s exciting on so many levels — professional, personal, tribal,” Sieminski said. “It hasn’t always been this collaborative.”

Eliza Aronson: 425-339-3434; eliza.aronson@heraldnet.com; X: @ElizaAronson.

Eliza’s stories are supported by the Herald’s Environmental and Climate Reporting Fund.