I am starting a new writing project in collaboration with the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. They have assigned poets to several of their properties and we are tasked with visiting the area over the course of a year and writing a poem, or poems, in response to the land and restoration work. This is being coordinated through the Writing the Land project.
According to the WDFW website:
Leque Island, located west of Stanwood between Port Susan and Skagit bays, was once entirely tidal marsh. In the late 1800s, early settlers built dikes around the perimeter of the island to convert the area to farmland and homesteads. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) began acquiring properties on Leque Island in 1974, and now owns the entire island. The Leque Island Unit is part of the Skagit Wildlife Area.
In 2013, WDFW partnered with Ducks Unlimited (DU) to develop options to reconsider how to manage the site. To help with decision making, WDFW engaged local stakeholders and formed a committee of outdoor recreationists, local jurisdictions, tribal representatives, and farmers to guide the process. With support from the committee, WDFW decided to remove the dikes and restore the entire area to tidal marsh habitat.
During the summer of 2019, WDFW, DU, and Strider Construction completed the project south of Highway 532. The team removed over 2.4 miles of levee, excavated over 5 miles of new tidal channels, and built a berm that protects the City of Stanwood from waves while also supporting a walking trail.
There are two pull-offs for visitors wanting to visit the site on the south side of the bridge to Camano island. When I visited in February, for the first time, it was a gleaming winter day. A woman was walking her dogs down the trail and a family of Trumpeter swans were swimming off in the distance.
This site is a little north of Port Susan Bay Preserve where I did my first Writing the Land project and the entire area is south of Skagit and Samish Bays, which are near our farm.
I will keep you posted as I get to know this new-to-me place.
What a wonderful project! I can't wait to read what the land reveals.