Why this tribe is buying up hundreds of acres of farmland — and flooding it:
The Stillaguamish Tribe in Washington state has been buying land in its traditional ...
npr.org/2026/05/03/nx-s1-5806062/washington-tribe-restore-wetlands-fish
Photo: npr.org · view article
Tribe Restores Wetlands to Save Chinook SalmonStillaguamish Tribe bought 2,000 acres and created 230-acre tidal marshes to revive salmon habitat and reduce flood risks since 2025.
- The Stillaguamish Tribe purchased 2,000 acres over 15 years, removing levees to convert farmland into wetlands.
- Restoration efforts at the Stillaguamish River mouth produced 230 acres of tidal marsh critical for recovering threatened Chinook salmon.
- The expanded floodplains help dissipate river surges, lowering infrastructure damage and maintenance costs for the surrounding communities.
- Conflicts between farming and habitat restoration persist, but new taller levees protect farmland from increasingly severe floods.
It is a bit of a bitter pill to swallow to buy back the land that we essentially traded for the resource, the fish, but it's what we have to do to get things back on track,— Scott Boyd, Stillaguamish Tribe deputy fisheries manager, discussing the tribe buying back land that was traded for the fish under the 1855 treaty
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tributary to Puget Sound in Snohomish County, Washington state, United States of America
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