Great news on the Olympic Peninsula: Western Rivers Conservancy is set to convey the final piece of Beaver Creek and Marsh to the Olympic National Forest! Congress recently appropriated $1.3 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund for Beaver Creek and Marsh. This will complete conservation of a total of 636 acres that encompass this beautiful wetland and wildlife area, including all of Beaver Lake. Western Rivers Conservancy has purchased the land in several phases since 1997. Our thanks go to the people who submitted letters of support for this appropriation, as well as Washington Congressman Norm Dicks, who has championed Beaver Lake and Marsh and been critical to the project’s success.

Though it’s taken more than a decade to protect Beaver Creek and Marsh, the rewards are well worth the wait. This beautiful mountain property – which includes a stream, a lake and a functioning wetland – is exceptional habitat for species such as the rare Olympic mud minnow, land-locked sockeye salmon (kokanee) and cutthroat trout. Surrounding old-growth forests provide nesting areas for threatened marbled murrelet and northern spotted owl.

This project is also a significant step toward ensuring the crystalline water quality of the Sol Duc River. Beaver Lake drains through a narrow gorge and spills over a waterfall into Beaver Creek, which soon after joins the Sol Duc.