Gig Harbor Salmon Conservation Project Close To Securing Funding

GIG HARBOR, WA — A Gig Harbor conservation proposal has cleared a major hurdle.

According to the City of Gig Harbor, its effort to buy and preserve critical salmon habitat has received the approval of the county's Conservation Futures Citizens Advisory Board — a critical first step towards securing the funding necessary to make the project work.

Gig Harbor has teamed up with the Puyallup Tribe for the proposal, which aims to buy an 11.5 acre parcel of undeveloped land just north of the Gig Harbor Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The area is largely forested and bisected by Donkey Creek. It's a critical salmon habitat and has historical and cultural significance to the Puyallup Tribe.

It is also in danger of being destroyed. Developers have submitted plans to build 34 new homes on the parcel, in the process clear-cutting much of the forest.

"A housing development would mean degrading a healthy salmon habitat, losing of a great number of trees and a drastic change to this corner of our downtown view basin," said Gig Harbor Mayor Kit Kuhn.

To keep that from happening, the mayor, City Council and the Puyallup Tribe have teamed up to try and preserve the forest by pursuing a Pierce County Conservation Futures Grant — which would give them enough money to buy the land outright.

Kuhn says the Puyallup Tribe has offered to provide $50,000 - about 10% of the estimated purchase price - the city is offering another $20,000 of its own. Combined with the prospective grant from the Citizens Advisory Board, the city says that should be enough to secure the purchase.

Now, that grant is within the city's reach.

City leaders announced Wednesday that the Citizen's Advisory Board had ranked the project first on its list of priorities, and forwarding the proposal to the county council. The proposal still needs to be reviewed and approved by the Pierce County Council before it is actually secured, but organizers say they are optimistic after clearing this first hurdle and being ranked so highly.

If their bid is successful, the City of Gig Harbor plans to buy the land sometime in 2022. It would then become a part of Gig Harbor's park system, and the city says it would add a connector trail from Harborview Drive to the Cushman Trail for residents to enjoy.