We bought a small piece of heaven here in the Green River Valley with Habitat restoration and preservation of the remaining wild Coho, Chum, Pink, and Cutthroat in this creek as a prime motivator for the location, our home, and retirement . We posted big $ bonds held by king county’s epa bank. We followed all requirements set forth by king county’s epa, CCA, CSA, and WDFW .

We restored and protected over 700 feet of creek with habitat planting , creek woody debris, gravel , pooling and riffle work. Monitored for 10 years before my bond was satisfied. Coho rebounded, Chums filled the creek, with Cutty and Rainbow trout everywhere.

Then the king co. DNR, EPA, and WDFW responded to a mudslide upstream of our place over a year ago and had to re route the creek around their upstream property. They purchased the property years ago and managed it as a ponding area upstream in the creek. They moved the creek from its original Stream bed to actually flow into the pond, and then relying on the creek to keep the pond full with excess water flowing out of the creek and back into the stream bed. No permits needed, as they declared a possible roadway blockage if the creek flooded, so they moved it, and left it as it was.

However, they forgot that the pond nearly drys out every summer, and combined with beavers moving into the pond they enabled, and blocked the outflow to the point that the entire run of the creek dried out killing the entire run or Wild Coho, Chum, Pink, and all local Cutthroat and Rainbow trout.

They have been trying figure out a new fix, but need the local indigenous tribe to buy in , which they are not, and the other state epa-ish entities now responsible for the health of this creek which now have no money or people to do anything to fix the mess. So the creek Is dead, the fish, and all supporting wildlife are dead, and we lost everything we put into this habitat restoration and the wild fish it produced

Coho averaged nearly 200 wild returns, with Chum at 220, and pinks everywhere on odd years. What a wasted effort...