In 2000, this abandoned house was all that was left of the former residences that had converted a cedar bog to farms. The structure sat in a wetland dominated by reed canary grass and is just 5 feet from the agricultural ditch that carried Hylebos Creek through the site.

Volunteers help remove remaining debris from site after the city of Milton removed the abandoned house. Concrete blocks in the stream were removed.

In 2005, Hylebos crews and Natural Systems Design began constructing 900 feet of new salmon friendly stream channel. Here, the first 100 feet of channel are being filled with spawning gravel.


Trucks used removed fill from the site and brought back gravel and wood for the new stream channel.


Placing wood in the new stream channel took negotiating some tight spaces. The crews from our subcontractor, King County Roads Special Operations were extremely talented.


The first 100 feet of stream channel after gravel and log structures were placed. We placed more than 230 pieces of large woody debris in the stream channel and wetlands. Large woody debris is a prime driver of diverse salmon habitat, creating pools, meanders and other important habitat features.


Bulldozers worked the landscape to carve out "pocket wetlands," small depressions that will hold water over longer periods of time and facilitate establishment of wetland plants.

With the channel completed, crews removed the last dirt plug at the upstream end, diverting Hylebos Creek from its former agricultural ditch into its new home.

Friends' Executive Director Chris Carrel releases the ceremonial first coho into the new stream channel. Prior to construction, fisheries biologists removed salmon, trout, lamprey and sculpins and crayfish from the old agricultural ditch to prevent harm to them. As water flow declined in the ditch, the last stragglers were taken from the ditch and put into the new channel.

As the new channel fills with water, Friends Executive Director Chris Carrel congratulates project designer Mike Hrachovec of Natural Systems Design on a project well done.

The day after crews and equipment pulled out, the West Milton Nature Preserve looks serene. Here, we're looking upstream, over one of the deep pools. Now, the site just needs some native vegetation

Volunteers of all ages have helped revegetate the West Milton Nature Preserve. Since work began in 2001 more than 33,000 native trees, shrubs and wetland plants have been planted at the site. These native plants will help provide habitat for native fish, birds, mammals and amphibians and help prevent invasive weeds from retaking the site.

Project volunteers are installing live stakes of willows and dogwoods. The stakes, cut from live trees, are inserted into the ground 2 to 4 feet apart. Within a year and a half, the fast growing deciduous trees will establish a tree canopy that shades out sun-loving invasive weed species. After three years growth, the site will be underplanted with shade tolerant conifer species.

The West Milton Nature Preserve in early 2006, peppered with livestakes, brings to mind the Russian word Taiga, meaning "little land of sticks." This land of sticks, however, will grow quickly into a Pacific Northwest riparian forest.

See our project photo gallery