Final restoration work at Chinook Bend Natural Area requires closure starting Sept. 6

Work to restore King County’s Chinook Bend Natural Area along the Snoqualmie River has occurred off and on for more than a dozen years – and it’s coming to a close later this summer – but not before one final public access closure.

The 59-acre natural area will be closed to all public access beginning Sept. 6 when crews will begin removing an estimated 4,500 yards of fill material from the land. The work will involve a large excavator and four dump trucks that will use the natural area’s entrance at the new parking lot and restroom facility off Carnation Farm Road. Trucks will be leaving or entering the site every few minutes between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Crews will pave the apron at the park entrance once the fill material has been trucked off-site.

The fill from Chinook Bend will be put to a good use nearby: Two low-lying farms along the Snoqualmie River will use the material to construct elevated farm pads – high ground where livestock, farm equipment and other items can be stored during times of higher flows on the Snoqualmie River.

The Chinook Bend Natural Area was donated in 2000 to King County by Nestle USA Corp. The floodplain has been undergoing extensive reforestation for the past 12 years, including removing more than 1,500 feet of levee and reconstructing a bank to prevent erosion, planting an estimated 15,000 native trees and shrubs to restore the floodplain to a forested condition, plus adding new public amenities, including a new trail that is wheelchair accessible, interpretive signage, public art, a public parking lot and a restroom.

The Chinook Bend Habitat Restoration Project is funded by the King Conservation District, Salmon Recovery Funding Board and the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks. Amenities are funded by a grant from the state Aquatic Lands Enhancement Account program.

For more information, contact Mary Maier, King County, Snoqualmie Basin steward, at 206-296-1914 or mary.maier@kingcounty.gov, or visit the Chinook Bend website at http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/waterandland/natural-lands/ecological/chinook-bend.aspx.