Lower Eld West Preserve

Conserved in 2020

Property Overview:

• Lower Eld West Preserve protects 30 acres on Eld Inlet where the freshwater of McLane Creek meets the saltwater of Puget Sound. Features of the property include marine and freshwater wetlands, upland forest, and 3,375 feet of unmodified shoreline.
• This preserve is adjacent to Lower Eld Preserve, 58 acres conserved in 2009.
• The site provides intact habitat for five salmonid species: Eld Inlet fall chum; Puget Sound/Strait of Georgia coho; Puget Sound fall chinook; native Puget Sound winter steelhead; and anadromous coastal cutthroat trout.
• Large numbers of juvenile salmonid smolts produced in McLane Creek use the waters along this part of Eld Inlet for feeding and transitioning to life at sea.

Thank you to the following partners:

• Steamboat Conservation Partnership
• Squaxin Island Tribe
• Thurston County
• United States Fish & Wildlife Service
• United States Environmental Protection Agency
• Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife
• Washington Recreation and Conservation Office – Salmon Recovery Funding Board
• Washington State Department of Ecology

CLT Strategic Conservation Goal Achieved:

• Conserve marine shorelines and estuaries.
• Conserve wetlands, riparian areas, and associated upland forests.

To learn more about this project, click here.