Eld Inlet has been a priority for Capitol Land Trust’s conservation strategy since the late 1990s. The watershed sits in the very southwestern point of Puget Sound and has provided lifesustaining resources to humans and wildlife alike for generations.

This video gives an overview of an environmental restoration project that began in 2021 on two conserved properties along Eld Inlet. Large and unmanaged areas of former pastureland allowed fastspreading invasive plants to quickly take over. This project focused on removing invasive plants and introducing native plants, which support a diverse network of animal communities, filter our drinking water, and provide shelter for many living organisms.

Partners worked together to improve wildlife passage by removing several barbed wire fences and multiple structures. Areas with invasive plants were treated and replanted with over 20,000 native trees and shrubs. This restoration project is an important step into reestablishing ecosystems that sustain life in our region.

Capitol Land Trust is a nonprofit environmental conservation organization based in Olympia, Washington. Our mission is to strategically conserve vital natural areas and working lands in the South Puget Sound and Chehalis Basin watersheds, for their ecological and community benefits. This project builds upon a conservation legacy in Eld Inlet that is over 1,000 acres and counting.

Special thanks to our partners: Environmental Protection Agency, Sound Native Plants, Streamline Earthworks, LLC, Thurston Conservation District, US Fish & Wildlife Service, WA Dept. of Ecology, WA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, and You!

Additional gratitude for Joe Peters, Squaxin Island Tribe and Ben Alexander, coowner of Sound Native Plants for their interviews. Drone and interview footage filmed by Mike Melton. Music: bensound.com.

You can support the work of CLT by making a donation: https://capitollandtrust.org/donate/

This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement PC01J22301 through the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency or the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.