Kelsey Creek

Kelsey Creek is a great urban stream that flows right through downtown Bellevue, as well as containing more natural and functional habitat for salmon and other fish species. The stream struggles with its urban nature. Trees that would naturally fall into the stream and provide a variety of habit for fish no longer do. Without pools, winter rains erode the bank and cause salmon smolt (juvenile fish) and redds (egg nests) to be washed out of the stream.

In 2011, Mid Sound Fisheries worked with a private landowner to improve spawning habitat along a 200-foot stretch of Kelsey Creek. Mid Sound widened this narrow stretch of the creek and strategically place wood in the stream-bed.

Then, more than 40 volunteers from Whole Foods Market/Select Fish helped to plant 450 native plants along the creek in just an hour and a half! Native plants now help to stabilize stream banks against erosion, contribute to the natural accumulation of woody, and provide shade to keep water cool enough for fish.

The arrow is pointing at the eroding bank in Kelsey Creek

Volunteers planting native plants along the creek

Thank you to Dale and Sandra Griffith for their partnership in enhancing the stream, the King Conservation District and WRIA 8, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for providing funding; Natural Systems Design and Maple Ridge Excavating and Restoration Logistics for partnering with us; Whole Foods/Select Fish and all of our volunteers for their work on this project!