ARLINGTON — A quiet wetland park west of Smokey Point will nearly double in size by next year.
The Stillaguamish Indian Tribe is collaborating with the state Department of Transportation to restore 40 acres of farmland to a beaver-friendly haven. The land is on the north side of Pilchuck Creek, a stone’s throw from 60 acres the tribe restored to wetland about two years ago.
The tribe bought the entire 100-acre patch of land 2 1/2 years ago, said Pat Stevenson, an environmental manager for the Stillaguamish tribe. It was farmland then, and water that once saturated the entire area had long since been diverted into ditches and drain tiles so it could be farmed.
The tribe plugged in the ditches on the 60 acres south of the creek to restore it to fish habitat, Stevenson said.
Last year, the tribe applied for $150,000 to do the same to the 40 acres north of Pilchuck Creek, Stevenson said. In February, state transportation officials asked to help. The state was looking for a project to offset safety improvements crews are making to SR 532, said Robyn Boyd, a state transportation project engineer.
With the state’s help, the tribe’s original plans evolved into a larger project, Stevenson said.
“We were just going to plug the ditches and contour the fields so there were high and low spots,” Stevenson said.
Now, with a state budget that Boyd said could soar to $4 million, tribal crews are excavating nearly 8,000 yards of fill that created a flat field. They’re moving the fill from the north field to the south field, where it will be used to augment existing landscape, Stevenson said.
“They’re paying us to do a lot more elaborate wetland project than we proposed,” he said.
Portions of the field will be excavated deep enough to allow year-round ponds to form, he said. Beavers are likely to return to the area and build dams.
The tribe began work at the site this summer, Stevenson said. Work will continue until rain makes it too difficult. Natural flooding will help tribal experts see where native vegetation should be planted. That work will begin next summer, he said.
Construction on Highway 532 is expected to begin in the spring or next summer, Boyd said. State crews will replace the Mark Clark Bridge that travels across the Stillaguamish River, as well as some other safety improvements, he said.
That project, valued at about $80 million, is scheduled to be finished late in 2010.
Reporter Krista J. Kapralos: 425-339-3422 or kkapralos@heraldnet.com.
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