Padilla Bay Samish Conservation Area Protection Project

Recipient: Washington State Department of Ecology

Federal Funding: $2,332,854

Summary: This project, which will allow Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve to protect and restore 74.5 acres of former and current tidal marsh, is part of a larger overall effort to restore up to 105 acres of tidal marsh to Padilla Bay. The project will increase climate resilience by reducing flood risk for the only road and utility corridor that services the Samish Island community. The project will also restore tribal cultural connections with the site, which is near an important historical longhouse location. Access to the area, and the natural resources that once flourished on the site, will be restored.

For more information on the Office for Coastal Management grant program funding this project, please visit the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law webpage.