Crescent Harbor Marsh

Crescent Harbor Marsh covers 150 acres and is located on the Seaplane Base of the Naval Air Station in Oak Harbor.  It is north of Crescent Harbor on the northeastern shore of Whidbey Island.  It is owned and managed by the U.S. Navy and permission is needed for access.  It consists of saltmarsh, freshwater marsh, and scrub-shrub and forested

wetland.  There are tidal channels and open water ponds.

Source of fresh water

Freshwater is provided from Crescent creek on the north side of the wetland..

Plants

Agropyron sp., Alnus rubra, Atriplex patula, Distichlis spicata, Phalaris arundinacea, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Rosa pisocarpa, Rubus procerus, Rubus spectabilis, Rubus spectabilis, Salicomia virginica, Salix spp., Scirpus acutus, Scirpus maritimus, Spartina anglica, Symphoricorpos albus, Tsuga heterophyllus, Typha latifolia, and Urtica dioica.

Man made obstructions to the estuary

A beach berm and tidegate limit tidal action. The tidegate has been propped open to try to restore the saltmarsh. There is extensive ditching within the marsh. An operating sewage treatment lagoon is located in the middle of the marsh.  A road runs along the south edge of the marsh and there has been extensive clearing along the northern border.

Description of the historic estuary

Historically, this was a saltmarsh isolated from the saltwater by a beach berm.

Resources

Island County Estuarine Restoration Program

Prepared by Sheldon & Associates, Inc., June 2001

Puget Sound Creosote Awareness project

www.pscap.net/index_m.htm