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Restore.
Conserve.
Educate.

Protecting Puget Sound in Snohomish County since 1999

View Our Current Projects

Beach Clean Up

: Howarth Park
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Example printed boater materials.

Marine Vegetation information for Boaters

Help Protect Our Eelgrass and Kelp

We’re connected to bull kelp and eelgrass and so are salmon, crab, and orca. When kelp and eelgrass disappear, so do the animals that need them. Help protect these vital habitats from boating impacts: 

  • Plan ahead to know where bull kelp and eelgrass beds are located to avoid traveling through bull kelp beds or anchoring in eelgrass. Use Active Captain to know where voluntary no anchor zones are protecting our eelgrass and SoundIQ to find the location of our bull kelp beds. 

  • Anchor in at least 25 feet of water at low tide to protect eelgrass beds. Find out the best ways to protect eelgrass at Anchor Out of Eelgrass. 

  • Steer clear of local bull kelp beds when you see them to avoid damage by propellers.  

  • Set crab pots outside of eelgrass and kelp beds.

Learn More

MRC 2025 Annual Report

Read about our work and accomplishments in 2025!

MRC 2025 Annual Report

2 more vessels in the Snohomish Estuary removed by Snohomish County Surface Water Management in 2025

Snohomish County staff posted 2 vessels for removal in summer 2025. After a posting period per Chapter 79.100 RCW: DERELICT VESSELS (wa.gov), Snohomish County took possession of the vessels. A contractor removed the vessels in September 2025. This brings the total number of vessels removed by Snohomish County from the Snohomish Estuary area to 31 during the last 8 years (2018-2025).

The total cost of the 2025 removals was nearly $10,000. The costs of the project will be reimbursed at 100% by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources Derelict Vessel Removal Program - Recovering Derelict Vessels | WA - DNR. The State's Derelict Vessel Program will investigate last known owners to seek restitution to pay for the costs of removing their vessels.

DNR's Derelict Vessel Video

one of the boats removed in summer 2025

Meadowdale Restoration

After a decade of planning, construction was completed on the 1.3-acre estuary restoration project at Meadowdale Beach Park! Pocket estuaries like Meadowdale are important rest stops for young salmon, where salmon can shelter, feed and grow.

More information about the monitoring of the project effectiveness can be found in our Projects Page. 

Meadowdale Restoration Video
Two MRC volunteers working together on kayaks.

MRC Kelp Monitoring Video From The Northwest Straits Commission

Of the 23 species of large brown algae (known as kelp) that are native to Puget Sound, the beautiful Nereocystis luetkeana, or bull kelp, is the largest. Reaching a canopy height of 60’ or more, this is likely the one you’ve tangled in a propeller, marked as a prized fishing spot or dive site, or perhaps eaten – pickled, as a tasty appetizer. In response to concerns about declining bull kelp populations in some parts of the Sound, and mounting interest in kelp restoration, the Northwest Straits Commission is gathering information for use in local and regional planning and research.

Watch the video!