Illabot Creek is a designated

National Wild and Scenic River The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-542), enacted by the U.S. Congress to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free- ...

in Northern

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

which provides a spawning and rearing habitat for summer and fall chinook,

coho The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". The scientific species name is ...

, chum and

pink salmon Pink salmon or humpback salmon (''Oncorhynchus gorbuscha'') is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family. It is the smallest and most abundant of the Pacific salmon. The scientific species name is based on the Russian common name for ...

; as well as

steelhead Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the common name of the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or redband trout (O. m. gairdneri). Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and ...

and

bull trout The bull trout (''Salvelinus confluentus'') is a char of the family Salmonidae native to northwestern North America. Historically, ''S. confluentus'' has been known as the " Dolly Varden" (''S. malma''), but was reclassified as a separate speci ...

. The creek is in the

Skagit River The Skagit River ( ) is a river in southwestern British Columbia in Canada and northwestern Washington in the United States, approximately 150 mi (240 km) long. The river and its tributaries drain an area of 1.7 million acres (690,000& ...

watershed.

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

Chinook, steelhead and bull trout are listed under the Endangered Species Act. Illabot Creek also supports the highest density of chum and pink salmon in the Skagit River watershed. The creek area also provides habitat for wintering bald eagles that are attracted to the salmon, part of one of the largest concentration of wintering bald eagles in the continental United States. The creek is generally managed by the U.S. Forest Service, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest with a protected length of and as a reported area of . A 2018 project invested $4.4 million in restoration of fish habitat along the creek. The National Wild and Scenic Rivers protection was authorized by Congress in December 2014. Illabot Creek begins at the 7,500 feet elevation in the

Mount Baker Mount Baker (Lummi: '; nok, Kw’eq Smaenit or '), also known as Koma Kulshan or simply Kulshan, is a active glacier-covered andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington in the United States. Mount ...

–

Snoqualmie National Forest Snoqualmie might refer to: People * Snoqualmie people, a Coast Salish people of Washington state :*Snoqualmie Indian Tribe, a federally recognized tribe of Snoqualmie people Places * Snoqualmie Indian Reservation *Snoqualmie Valley, ancestral home ...

and enters the Skagit River in

Rockport, Washington Rockport is a census-designated place (CDP) in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The population was 109 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Mount Vernon–Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area. Based on per capita ...

. of property around the creek was acquired in 2017 by

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Nat ...

and placed in the Skagit Land Trust.

References

Rivers of Skagit County, Washington Rivers of Washington (state) {{Washington-protected-area-stub