Many unnecessary, degraded or outdated modifications exist along local shorelines including legacy structures and creosote pilings. Debris removal can reduce known sources of toxic materials into water and sediments and recover shallow water and beach habitat for fish, shellfish and people.
The beaches of Shoal Bay on Lopez Island are valuable documented surf smelt spawning habitat. The project site is located along a no-bank, accretionary beach located on the spit. Along a known surf smelt spawning beach, 65 linear feet of the upper beach was directly covered with an old concrete shuffleboard court. There was also a degraded creosote soldier pile bulkhead along the waterward face of the concrete structure.
This project restored over 600 square feet of beach habitat and also allowed restoration of natural geologic and vegetative processes to reform the upper beach profile, berm and substrate.
