Join the City of Burien, City partners and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the start of the Seahurst Park Ecosystem Restoration Project Phase 2. The project’s purpose is to improve marine habitat for salmon, restore natural sediment processes, restore the beach to pre-seawall conditions and restore recreational features of the park.

WHEN: Monday, Sept. 16, 2013
• 10 a.m. -- Tours of the restoration site and open house events begin at the Environmental Science & Marina Technology Lab, located within Seahurst Park.
• 11 a.m. -- Groundbreaking ceremonies, refreshments

WHERE: Seahurst Park, 1600 S.W. Seahurst Park Road, Burien

Event speakers include Congressman Jim McDermott, State Sen. Sharon Nelson, State Rep. Dave Upthegrove, Seattle District Commander Col. Bruce Estok and Burien Councilmember Joan McGilton.

About the project:
The Seahurst Park Ecosystem Restoration Project Phase 2 will restore an additional 2,800 feet of shoreline, building on the earlier restoration success at Seahurst Park’s south end, where more than 1,000 ft of seawall was removed in 2005. The 1,800 feet of removed shoreline concrete armoring will be replaced with natural habitat for forage fish and salmon rearing.

This project is a priority for the Green/Duwamish/Central Puget Sound Watershed’s Chinook salmon recovery plan and is number three on the Puget Sound Partnership’s regionally ranked large capital projects list for Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration funding. PSAR project ranking is coordinated by PSP, the state agency responsible for leading the Puget Sound recovery effort. Projects in this watershed are first prioritized by the Green/Duwamish/Central Puget Sound Watershed Lead Entity then regionally ranked by the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Council, which is convened by PSP. These projects represent large-scale, multi-partner restoration work that watershed groups have spent many years developing.

For the City of Burien, Seahurst Park is one of its most important assets and the City has worked the past 10 years to remove the hard armoring lining the shore and restore natural nearshore processes. "This restoration will be the largest bulkhead removal, shoreline restoration project on the Sound and it's a big deal for a city our size," said Burien Mayor Brian Bennett.

As both a local and regional priority, this project leverages state and federal capacity and funding. The Corps will implement and manage construction and provide the maximum federal $5 million funding limit for this type of project. City partners are providing: $4.2 million state capital dollars allocated by the Puget Sound Partnership through the Puget Sound Acquisition & Restoration fund; $1.2 million from the Environmental Protection Agency and Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Estuary & Salmon Restoration Program; and $510,000 from the Green/Duwamish Watershed Forum through the King Conservation District.

A key recovery target for the Puget Sound Action Agenda is removal of shoreline armoring around Puget Sound. By 2020, the total number of armoring removed should be greater than the total amount of new armoring. The project at Seahurst moves Puget Sound recovery toward these goals.

Action Agency:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Sponsor:
City of Burien

City Partners:
Puget Sound Partnership, Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Green/Duwamish Watershed Forum, King Conservation District, Salmon Recovery Funding Board, Washington Recreation & Conservation Office