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River Views

Restoring & conserving a healthy Stillaguamish River Watershed

Funding Opportunities

Learn about Stillaguamish Watershed salmon recovery grant opportunities.

Salmon Recovery Plan

Chinook-focused plan that guides our recovery efforts.

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Upcoming Stillaguamish Watershed Council & Technical Advisory Group meetings

Our Mission

Maintain a healthy, functioning Stillaguamish Watershed by providing a local forum in which agencies, organizations, communities, and the public can engage in a collaborative watershed–based process of decision making and coordination.

About us

 Our Mission

Maintain a healthy, functioning Stillaguamish Watershed by providing a local forum in which agencies, organizations, communities, and the public can engage in a collaborative watershed–based process of decision making and coordination.

About us

Our Impact

We take a grassroots approach to helping endangered Chinook salmon. We focus on ecosystem recovery efforts and recommend projects that can improve salmon habitat. We look to the future of the watershed, producing work plans, outlining future projects and needs, and managing grant programs, while also looking back and taking stock of the successes and challenges of the previous year.

The power of watershed councils

We provide a forum for stakeholders to consider and act upon issues affecting the health and sustainability of the Stillaguamish Valley’s natural resources, with a focus on salmon recovery through habitat restoration and conservation. The SWC is the official council from salmon recovery in the Stillaguamish watershed and the Lead Integrating Organization implementation committee. SWC members are committee to identifying, prioritizing, implementing, and measuring targeted actions to provide the greatest benefits for future generations. Over time relationships have been built between members help us navigate tough conversations in a non-threatening environment, leading to actionable decisions.   

The importance of the Stillaguamish Watershed

The Stillaguamish Watershed is the fifth largest tributary to Puget Sound. It drains 700 square miles within Snohomish and Skagit Counties and includes more than 3,112 miles of river, stream and marine shore habitat. Elevations in the watershed range from sea level to 6,854 feet on Three Fingers Mountain. The North Fork Stillaguamish and South Fork Stillaguamish join together to form the Mainstem Stillaguamish River which flows into Port Susan and South Skagit Bay near the city of Stanwood. Stillaguamish Chinook salmon can limit fisheries along the Pacific Coast and into Canada. When there are low numbers of Chinook returning to the Stillaguamish, fisheries close in most areas. Chinook salmon from the river are also critical prey for the Orca.

At SWC, our work is focused on four key areas:

01

Providing scientific guidance for salmon recovery

02

Awarding funding for salmon recovery 

03

Serving as a hub for data-driven solutions to advance salmon recovery

04

Ecosystem recovery and protection

Upcoming Events

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The history of SWC

The Stillaguamish Watershed Council (SWC) was founded in 1990 to address water quality issues and declining salmon populations. Before it was called the SWC, it was known as the Stillaguamish Implementation Review Committee (SIRC). When Chinook Salmon were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1999, the SWC shifted its main focus from water quality issues to recovering Chinook Salmon populations. In 2005, the Stillaguamish Implementation Review Committee developed the Stillaguamish Watershed Chinook Salmon Recovery Plan. This plan outlines a set of actions to restore sustainable Chinook populations. Citizens, agencies, Tribes, non-governmental groups and groups of varying and at times opposing interests worked together to develop the plan. Over the years, instead of updating the entire plan, appendices were added to the 2005 plan to keep it updated based on the best available science.  

Watershed Councils are coordinated by lead entities and provide opportunities for communities across Washington State to join together to help protect and recover salmon. Lead Entities combine local science and social values to identify salmon recovery projects (Lead Entities are watershed based groups that develop strategies to restore salmon habitat then recruit organizations to do the work. They are the backbone of locally-based efforts taking a grassroots approach to salmon restoration, incorporating local values and the best available science. There are 25 Lead Entities in Washington State, 15 of which are in Puget Sound. There are around 21 individuals and member organizations in the Stillaguamish Watershed Council alone). The complementary roles of local technical and citizen members ensures that science and community priorities intersect, and the highest priorities of the watershed rise to the top. Lead entities work with their citizen watershed council to develop salmon habitat restoration strategies to guide the selection of projects. Lead entities are funded by the Washington State Legislature and the federal government through the Salmon Recovery Funding Board. Lead entities are required by the State Salmon Recovery Act RCW 77.85. The intent of this legislature is to recover populations of ESA-listed species at a local level.