SALMON BAY NATURAL AREA
5300 – 34th Ave NW, Seattle, WA

Groundswell NW worked with Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) and other partners to raise over $1 million to purchase, restore, add public access improvements and steward this "last wooded shoreline in Ballard," south of NW 54th St. just east of the RR bridge.

After six years of community effort, the property was preserved through a phased purchase. The shoreline property flanks both sides of the 34th Ave. NW shoreline street end, between The Canal event center and the railroad bridge. Together with the street-end and adjacent publicly owned land, the Salmon Bay Natural Area protects over 680 linear feet of largely undeveloped estuarine shoreline.

The property went on the market in the summer of 2000. In the year following, Groundswell NW worked to craft a purchase strategy, using a variety of resources, from city, county, state, and federal salmon recovery funds to Neighborhood Matching Funds. Over $65,000 was contributed from private sources, including $10,000 from Consolidated Restaurants, owners of the former Hiram's Restaurant. The project received a major boost from City Council member Richard Conlin, who sponsored a $335,000 allocation from the SPU budget. Groundswell NW received Neighborhood Matching Fund awards to develop conceptual plans for the site and $150,000 for acquisition. A $160,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and a $50,000 King Conservation District grant.

The phased purchase was negotiated by Cascade Land Conservancy (now Forterra). A number of private and public funding sources were obtained.

The property was first identified as a top priority acquisition opportunity in the 1996 Ballard/Crown Hill Open Space Inventory. In 1997 developers proposed to build five homes west of the street-end and a three-story commercial building to the east, essentially between the former Hiram's deck and the water. The exception in Seattle Shoreline Code that allowed single-family development over water in this area was rescinded by the City Council following the listing of Puget Sound salmon as an endangered species. This precluded the over-water portion of the development proposal, while leaving open the possibility of water-dependent commercial development.

The Salmon Bay Natural Area is a rare opportunity to enhance the degraded estuary of the greater Lake Washington watershed, a critical environment in the life cycle of threatened Puget Sound salmon. As the smolts make their way through the Locks, battered and disoriented by the abrupt transition to salt water and vulnerable to predators, an area for refuge and adjustment to the new environment is essential for their survival. Restoration of this property enhances this refuge, giving the smolts a better chance of gaining the body weight they need to thrive in the open ocean. The property also offers a public overlook and resting spot adjacent to the Burke Gilman Trail, and an educational site where people can learn more about the importance of Ballard's shoreline to salmon recovery.

Using multiple matching fund grants, Groundswell NW hired J.A. Brennan Associates Landscape Architects, to develop plans and oversee construction, with neighborhood volunteers doing much of the invasive removal and upland planting. Money for a landmark element to draw people to the site were enhance by City Percent for Art funds, and we worked with the Office for Arts and Culture to commission Native American artist Marvin Oliver to create Salish Welcome. Groundswell NW and the City of Seattle continue to steward the site - work parties are held regularly to clean up the site and surrounding areas; remove blackberries, ivy, and other invasive species; and plant new species to restore the site.

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