Tidal Wetland Restoration in the Stillaguamish Delta

Presented by Jason Griffith and Jennifer Sevigny

This progam is part of the

North Cascades Audubon November 25, 2025 Membership Meeting

Location: Whatcom Museum Old City Hall Rotunda Room

Time: Social Hour 6:30pm and Presentation 7pm

NOTE: Reservations are not required - there is no need to get a ticket on Eventbrite

The Stillaguamish Tribe has been active alongside The Nature Conservancy and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in restoring wetland habitats across large swaths of the Stillaguamish Delta. For the past 25 years they have been learning from the birds and fish on how to most efficiently restore the habitats of species critical to the Tribe. While Chinook salmon are the cornerstone of tribal fishing economies, and the driving force behind the Tribe’s tidal wetland restoration work, many waterfowl and shorebirds species are considered culturally significant and in some cases are hunted for subsistence and ceremonial purposes.

Jason Griffith and Jennifer Sevigny will present on their work in the Stillaguamish delta including purchasing and restoring large parcels that had been farmed for over 130 years. They will also present data from a pre-harvest season duck banding project, which has been a collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). The Tribe’s banding efforts are on-going and have led to other projects including applying GPS/GSM tags to Mallards to observe fine-scale habitat use, establishing motus stations and applying VHF LifeTags to monitor broad scale Mallard movements, and using unmanned aerial vehicles for pre- and post-restoration monitoring of nesting waterfowl.

Jennifer Sevigny is the Wildlife Program Manager for Stillaguamish Tribe Natural Resources Department. She is responsible for coordinating the wildlife program and conducting field research for a variety of projects involving game and non-game species in NW Washington State. Jennifer has worked for the tribe for over 20 years.

Jason Griffith has worked for the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians since 2000, and serves as their Environmental Program Manager. He coordinates the planning and implementing of a wide range of restoration/acquisition projects, and serves on various salmon recovery related committees, including as Co-Chair of the Stillaguamish Watershed Council.

Also check out other Meetups in Bellingham.