Improving the City of Bellingham Shoreline by Integrating Cleanup, Habitat Restoration, and Public Access

The marine nearshore is a key habitat niche in the lifecycle of juvenile Chinook and chum salmon. A century of human settlement and development throughout the Puget Sound has resulted in fragmented, contaminated, and poorly functioning  marine nearshore habitats. Restoring these habitats in urban environments often requires integrating clean-up efforts, public access and wildlife.

In this presentation we will discuss habitat restoration projects throughout the City of Bellingham that have been successful in balancing the often completing goals of public access, wildlife habitat and clean up efforts. The Whatcom Creek Estuary converted 1/3 of an acre of a former land fill and a MTCA clean up site to salt marsh habitat with a boardwalk for public access. The Post Point Lagoon Restoration Project relocated an off leash dog area and removed over 2,000 cy of fill from the shoreline which increased shoreline length by 18% and salt marsh area by 70%. This presentation will describe the planning and science behind the projects, partnerships that helped to make the projects a reality, design considerations, project construction, lessons learned during project implementation, and ecosystem response.