When a culvert washed out 30 years ago, Chimacum Creek was ruined as a spawning ground for summer chum salmon.

The watershed is being restored as a healthy, thriving habitat for salmon and other wildlife, thanks to the efforts of many dedicated individuals and groups.

“In 1983, no chum returned to the creek to spawn,” said Jac Entringer, volunteer and outreach coordinator for North Olympic Salmon Coalition (NOSC). “But in 2010, over 1,200 chum that had been hatched in the creek returned to spawn.”

The Jefferson Land Trust, Hood Canal Coordinating Council, NOSC and more than a dozen other nonprofit and governmental agencies united in 2001 as the Chumsortium, with the goal of securing, restoring and protecting land that the creek runs through. Since then, more than 160 acres of the Chimacum Creek corridor have been put under some form of protected status.

This spring, Jefferson Land Trust added another piece with the purchase of a 5-acre parcel close to the creek’s mouth. “This is a key piece both for the chum and the community,” said executive director Sarah Spaeth. “It is critical spawning habitat with good forest canopy and a healthy spawning ground. And now, it will be forever preserved in its natural state.”

The piece was purchased with grants through the Salmon Recovery Funding Board and Jefferson County Conservation Futures Fund.

The parcel is well situated for use as an educational setting, said Entringer.

“We get students outside to see the salmon, to get their hands dirty, to smell and experience this environment. They learn about the salmon’s life cycle, and why over 137 species of plants and animals are dependent on the wild salmon.”

The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife owns and protects much of the creek corridor and estuary. Local organizations and volunteers are working to bring it back to its natural state. NOSC plans a workshop for landowners later this summer, Entringer said.