SILVER CREEK
JURISDICTION: CITY OF PUYALLUP
HABITAT STEWARD: HEATHER SHADKO

In the early 1900’s the Puyallup Valley was primarily agricultural lands, and to make this land as productive as possible farmers installed ditches and pipe systems in the valley bottom to aid in this purpose. Since this time many of these farms have been converted to residential properties, where the old systems are not sufficient for managing the amount of rain we get each winter.

Historically, this section of Silver Creek was diverted from surface water and contained in a small underground pipe, causing many water quality impacts including habitat degradation and flooding. The stream was daylighted (brought back to surface water) in 2006 and hundreds of volunteers have installed many thousands of plants in the riparian and surrounding areas to provide shade to the new riparian ecosystem.

Our longest tenured Habitat Steward, Heather Shadko, has been working hard at Silver Creek for over 5 years. She is a huge advocate for the installation of pollinator species, as Puyallup is a Bee City USA.
The Silver Creek restoration site is located right on the Puyallup Loop Trail and receives much foot traffic from the surrounding community and beyond on a daily basis. Thanks to Heather and the work at Silver Creek, community members have a beautiful green space to connect with nature in, within an urban area, while also reducing flooding, improving water quality and restoring vital habitat for salmon.

Heather has been Silver Creek’s lone Habitat Steward for several years now, after her partner moved away. She could use a costeward to continue to maintain and improve the Silver Creek Restoration Site.

Heather hosts quarterly work parties, the next opportunity will celebrate Earth Day on Saturday, April 18th from 9:00am – 12:00pm. Contact Caleb at CalebM@PierceCD.org if you want to connect with this site.