(Formerly
"Frank Albert Road" and "Kusler property"
sites)
Project Summary
Aerial photo of Sha Dadx site (photo courtesy of the Trustees' construction contractor, Wade Perrow of WPC, LLC).
Site construction and the initial vegetation plantings have been completed. A flood gate will be installed sometime in 2009. The site is on the north bank of the Puyallup River at approximately River Mile (RM) 4.5, in Fife, Pierce County, Washington. The adjacent property was acquired in 2005 and incorporated into the existing Sha Dadx restoration project. The site is a relic channel of the Puyallup River and is isolated from the river by a levee. It encompasses 20 acres that lie within the Puyallup Reservation and is held in trust by the federal government for the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. Project implementation and management was conducted by NOAA on behalf of the Trustees.
Restoration Activities
The project created off-channel habitat and riparian buffers with a connection to the Puyallup River. A culvert under North Levee Road was installed to connect the Puyallup River to constructed pools and channels in an abandoned oxbow system. A ring levee was constructed around the site to contain floodwater within the off-channel habitat area and to protect properties adjacent to the site. The off-channel habitat covers approximately 12 acres inside the ring levee with approximately two acres of riparian edge buffer. The project improves habitat for juvenile salmonids by increasing areas for rearing and foraging and by enhancing conditions for important prey resources such as resident fish and terrestrial insects. Revegetation of the area with native plants provides wildlife habitat for insects, small mammals, and migratory waterfowl and resident birds. This project links other restoration sites in the lower Puyallup River and Commencement Bay area and those resultant habitat improvements will have beneficial effects not only to the Puget Sound salmon stocks in particular but also to other Puget Sound anadromous fish stocks and resident fish.
FUNDING
The Trustees contributed approximately $10,000,000.00 from the Commencement Bay Restoration Account toward the project to enable construction to occur in 2008-2009.
DRIVING DIRECTIONS
The site is located between Frank Albert Road E. and N. Levee Road E. From I-5 take Exit 137. Turn left and follow 54th Ave. E to 70th Ave. E. (Note that 54th Ave. E. changes its name to Valley Ave.) Turn right on 70th Ave. E. At N. Levee Road turn right. After you cross 66th (the bridge over the Puyallup River), look on the right hand side of the road. The property starts after the last house on that side, going behind the house, almost to the train tracks, and over to 54th.
