Suiattle Rip-Rap Removal

The Sulphur Creek Rip-rap Removal project is located in the US Forest Service-Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest. Sulphur Creek enters the right bank of the Suiattle River at approximate river mile 26. The project site is within the USFS Sulphur Creek Campground, located at the confluence of the Sulphur Creek and the Suiattle River.

The project benefits Suiattle Spring Chinook. This stock has the lowest numbers of the six stocks of Skagit Chinook and is therefore a limiting factor for ESA recovery. The campground road removal will also benefit riparian conditions along a developing side channel of the Suiattle River. The improvements along Sulphur Creek will benefit a Chinook-bearing tributary near its confluence with the Suiattle River. These kinds of tributary junctions with mainstem rivers have been identified as important habitat types, and large clear water tributaries like Sulphur and associated side channels provide critical habitat for Chinook in the Suiattle River due to the high natural turbidity in the main channel.

The project entailed removing approximately 150 linear feet of rip-rap and moving a portion of the campground infrastructure out of the Sulphur Creek and Suiattle River floodplains by removing a concrete pad and toilet structure, two flood-damaged campsites, and approximately 600 linear feet of campground service roads from the floodplain. New campsites and toilet facilities were constructed on a constructed extension of a campground service road located out of the floodplain. Large woody debris was placed along the decommissioned roadway and along the river bank where rip-rap was removed to discourage access to the sensitive spawning areas by campground users. Project construction was completed in Spring 2015.