Where is skagit river wa

It receives the Klesilkwa River from the right, and turns southeast to flow into Ross Lake, where it crosses the Canada-United States border and into Washington state. Here the river receives Beaver Creek from the right and Ruby Creek from the left. Spilling out of the dam the river enters Diablo Lake, formed by Diablo Dam, and receives Thunder and Colonial creeks from the left, before it enters the third and final reservoir, Gorge Lake, formed by Gorge Dam.

All three dams are part of the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project. Past Gorge Dam, the river is often dry, as its waters have been diverted to generate hydroelectricity. Water is returned to the river as it passes Newhalem, a company town for Seattle City Light. Copper and Bacon creeks, both flowing from North Cascades National Park, merge into the Skagit from the right as it meanders slowly through an agricultural valley, past Marblemount, where the Cascade River joins from the left, and Rockport, where it receives its major tributary, the Sauk River, from the left.

After receiving the Sauk River, the Skagit turns west, flowing past Concrete and receiving the Baker River, its second-largest tributary, from the right. The river continues to flow west, past Sedro-Woolley and Mount Vernon.

Down river from Mount Vernon it splits into two forks, a north and south fork, which forms Fir Island. As a stream that flows through private land, it is going the way of other Puget Sound rivers: logged, developed, polluted and cut off from the public. Western Rivers Conservancy took the lead in urging the Forest Service to begin an aggressive restoration program along the Skagit.

Land acquisition has become an important part of that program. Since , Western Rivers Conservancy has protected more than 2, acres along the Skagit, working with a number of private landowners and corporations to assemble sensitive Skagit riverlands for significant protection. Nine different sites totaling acres have been purchased from Crown Pacific.

Today we work with many partners on restoration—so thousands of migrating birds, hundreds of bald eagles, legendary Skagit salmon and many other species will be there for future generations. The Skagit floodplain is one of the richest agricultural areas in the world. Tideflats, estuaries and farm fields draw tens of thousands of Wrangel Island snow geese each winter, as well as trumpeter swans and countless shorebirds on their great migrations.

Generations of people have enjoyed the bounty of this river, farming, fishing, logging and playing. Here, The Nature Conservancy has developed one of the most robust and comprehensive conservation projects in the state. Its work is rooted in sound science as well as respect for the people who live, work and play here. In winter, bald eagles now gather by the hundreds to feed on returning salmon, inspiring a popular annual festival.