'La Conner Weekly News' Article Featuring the Fir Island Project
Representative Larsen Tours Estuary and Local Farm
La Conner Weekly News article by Alexander North
A link to the full article can be found here.
"Congressman Rick Larsen visited La Conner and Fir Island on Friday, touring Hedlin Farms and the Fir Island Estuary Restoration Project.
At the Fir Island Estuary Restoration Project, which is located south of Fir Island Road near Conway, Larsen was given a tour of the worksite by members of the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, which heads the program, as well as representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Skagit Watershed Council, and the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Council, amongst others.
The Restoration Project gets around 15 percent of its $16.4 million budget from the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said Jennifer Quan, special assistant to the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Director’s Office.
The project is intended to convert 131 acres of excess farmland back into estuarine tidal habitat by demolishing a section of the current dike on the southern coast of Fir Island and replacing it with a new dike set about a hundred meters back.
Larsen was shown an overview of the old dike, as well as the new dike, where he observed the installation of pumps designed to remove excess groundwater from a pool located behind the dike.
“They’re also to help deal with tidal surges made higher by climate change,” said Quan."
