Greenbank-area landowners got their first in-depth look at a plan proposed by the Swinomish and Lummi tribes to restore a small estuary for salmon on the eastern edge of Whidbey Island.

On the surface, residents said the plan has merit. But, the devil may be in the details.

The Swinomish and Lummi tribes won a mitigation settlement last fall with the Port of Everett over fishing rights, and the tribes have joined to fund a study to identify “nearshore” habitat restoration sites for salmon in the early stages of their life cycle.

“We’ve found that tiny salmon take up residence in small estuaries along Whidbey and Camano Islands; there are no predators and they grow stronger and faster,” said Aundrea McBride, an ecologist with the Skagit River Cooperative.

“By creating protected saltwater estuaries, we hope to dramatically increase the number of salmon that successfully return to their spawning grounds in the Snohomish, Skagit and Stillaguamish rivers,” she said.

Initially, researchers identified 96 historic sites, but are now focusing on two that have a real chance of providing shelter for salmon fingerlings before the journey to the open sea — seven acres at Possession Park owned by the Port of South Whidbey, and a 27-acre wetlands area next to North Bluff Road at Greenbank Farm.

“Smaller estuaries are also preferred for human habitat; in Puget Sound they’ve been mostly destroyed or severely impacted,” McBride explained. “Key factors include how far the estuary is from the river deltas and from each other.”

Port of Coupeville director Jim Patton noted that fresh water comes from a spring the port controls.

The Port of Coupeville is a potential player in the project because it owns part of the wetlands east of Greenbank Farm.

“Last winter the wetlands filled up during a storm and several homes on the spit were flooded,” he said.

“If there’s a way to restore a salmon habitat and prevent future drainage problems, the port is very interested,” Patton said.

Dunn observed the current tidegate was built 100 years ago and doesn’t work very well.

Part of the presentation was to get an initial reaction from landowners nearby, including Sharon Dunn of the Holmes Harbor homeowners association and Mike Stansburry, a resident of the beach spit across North Bluff Road from the proposed estuary.

“Our goal is to get a sense from stakeholders whether a feasibility study meets the needs of the tribes and landowners,” said Eric Beamer, Skagit Cooperative research director.

“We don’t want to spend money on a project that the people involved don’t want or is too physically hard to achieve,” he said.

McBride noted that the Possession Beach site only involves one landowner.

“The Port of South Whidbey has given us approval to move forward there,” she said.

There are 20 homes on the spit at the Greenbank site. Other interested parties include the Nature Conservancy and the Department of Transportation, which have easements in the area.

The complexity of land ownership is a serious hurdle, members of the cooperative said.

“If one or two stakeholders raise the red flag for whatever reason, we need to know right away,” Beamer said. “I’m excited by this project, but we’ll have to go elsewhere if that happens.”

There were several initial concerns.

Dunn raised the future of the Greenbank Beach boat launch ramp and the impact of organic runoff on salmon.

Stansburry wondered what the project would mean to the beach, and whether the current freshwater habitat and wildlife might be destroyed.

Beamer replied that all such points would be addressed in the study.

“However, it’s our opinion that the wetlands constitute an artificial environment; a hundred years ago, it was a saltwater estuary and our purpose is to restore it,” he said. “About 85 percent of small estuaries have been lost and we want to re-balance that.

“Hopefully we know enough by now, based on current and past projects underway, to make the right decisions,” Beamer added.

Another issue is flooding. The study may find that after building a new access to the sea, the persistent storm-surge inundation of homes on the spit may be solved.

“We’ve knocked on your door with a lot of money to possibly solve your flooding problem while we get a salmon habitat,” McBride added.

Stansburry said that could be a real selling point, but he acknowledged the unique nature of the spit community.

“We don’t have a covenant that binds us together and you’re going to be stuck with individual homeowners acting on their own,” he said.

After the detailed scientific presentation, the group agreed to have a port-sponsored “town meeting” for homeowners and other stakeholders over the Labor Day weekend.

“I was pleased by the level and tone of the discussion,” Beamer said later. “It was a good first step.”

Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or e-mail jvanderford@southwhidbey

record.com.