It’s been three years since the Port of Seattle, Washington, USA, opened the Duwamish (doo-WAH-mish) River People’s Park and Shoreline Habitat (DRPP), a 14-acre public space and habitat site with over 3,000 linear feet (914 m) of shoreline habitat. This site is home
to the largest habitat restoration project on Seattle’s only river and is an example of how
the Port advances trade, travel, commerce and job creation in an equitable, accountable
and environmentally responsible manner.
The DRPP, once home to industrial manufacturing companies, took over two decades of planning, permitting and cleanup work, over $40 million USD and more than 10 partners before it became what it is today: a healthy fish habitat, community hub and, most recently, a revenue source for the Port’s mitigation banking program (Figure 1).
Assessing Habitat Restoration Efforts
To evaluate the effectiveness of its habitat restoration, the Port collected baseline data in 2022 and initiated a 10-year monitoring program. (For more information, go to bit.ly/4lkMTHv.) In 2023, the first year of this monitoring, Port environmental staff and fish
biologists conducted fish sampling (Figure 2). They identified 216 juvenile Chinook salmon and 2,352 chum salmon. They also documented significant healthy marsh and riparian vegetation.
To sample fish, the Port’s monitoring team deploys a net at the mouth of the marsh basin during high tide. They capture any fish as they follow the falling tide out of the marsh basin. The net funnels the fish into a chamber, where they are collected, identified by species, measured and released.
Juvenile salmon migrate down the Duwamish River and use this area during high tides to rest and eat as they slowly transition from freshwater to saltwater. Efforts from the Port’s environmental staff and other local organizations have made it possible to measure and count these fish through the use of an innovative passive integrated transponder (PIT) array to gather more information on their movement. After its installment in 2024, the Port identified 43 individual PIT-tagged salmon between 19 April 2024 and its final detection on 2 July 2024. 2023 and 2024 marked the first two of 10 years of monitoring the Port will conduct to ensure the habitat remains healthy.
Strengthening Community Ties
Community input was crucial in shaping the park’s design and amenities. It ensured the park serves as a valuable resource for residents. Even the park’s name was selected
through a community-driven renaming process that resulted in four Port parks receiving indigenous names.
Since its opening, the Port has hosted or participated in over 100 educational events, volunteer restoration activities and cultural celebrations at the site (Figure 3). They foster
a sense of ownership and connection to the restored habitat and access to the river. Ongoing efforts include partnerships with local organizations to provide environmental
education and stewardship to underserved communities. These efforts are designed to
ensure the DRPP serves as an ecological and social asset.
Generating Revenue to Expand Restorations
In 2016, the Port of Seattle launched a multi-site mitigation bank program to restore
critical shoreline and wetland habitat along the Duwamish River, a key area for salmon recovery. This self-sustaining model enables the Port to restore habitat to generate credits
that can then be used by the Port for its own mitigation needs or sold to others. The goal is to reinvest the revenue in additional restoration projects.
In 2024, the Port negotiated a $48 million agreement for the transaction of 500 credits that were generated by the DRPP. The Port’s mitigation banking program is a strategic approach to balancing development with environmental stewardship, particularly in the Duwamish River ecosystem, where habitat is scarce. The Port plans to expand the mitigation banking program to include other locations, which will further support habitat restoration initiatives and economic development.
Looking ahead, the DRPP serves as a blueprint for future restoration projects by demonstrating the power of collaborative partnerships and innovative funding mechanisms. By transforming a historically industrial site into a thriving ecosystem and a community asset, the Port demonstrates a model for sustainable development that prioritizes ecological health, social equity and economic vitality. These efforts ensure the Duwamish River’s legacy is one of revitalization and shared prosperity for generations to come.
About the Expert
- Kathleen Hurley is a Senior Environmental Program Manager in the Maritime Environment and Sustainability department at the Port of Seattle. She manages fish and wildlife habitat sites and works with a team developing the port’s first Ocean Acidification Action Plan.
- Mallory Hauser is the Sustainability Communications Manager for the Port of Seattle’s Maritime department and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. She develops campaigns and content to share environmental conditions, metrics and successes to local, national and global audiences.
