A shoreline enhancement project to regain beach habitat and improve natural shoreline function is now underway at Fort Townsend State Park, along Port Townsend Bay's western shore.

Much of the hard armoring and shoreline landing area that buried natural beach in the 1800s is to be removed to restore natural feeder bluff processes and beach habitat for shorebirds, forage fish and other marine animals.

More than 1,700 cubic yards of large rocks and soil are to be moved out by barge, and the remaining small landing would be reshaped, and include an easier beach access for park visitors. The project should be finished by mid-August, according to a press release.

The Northwest Straits Foundation is managing the project for Washington State Parks, with Pacific Pile & Marine hired as the construction contractor. Herrera Environmental Consultants did the design work, and the Jefferson County Marine Resources Committee is assisting with community outreach and interpretive signs.

The restoration project is funded by the Puget Sound Marine and Nearshore Grant program, which is a partnership program of the Washington departments of Fish and Wildlife and Natural Resources, and the state’s Estuary Salmon Restoration Program (ESRP). Those organizations administer funds awarded by the federal Environmental Protection Agency to implement priorities of the action agenda for Puget Sound to protect and restore habitat and ecosystem functions.