The Nisqually Watershed Stewardship Plan

Recognizing the priceless heritage of the Nisqually River, in 1985 the state legislature directed the Department of Ecology to create a comprehensive management plan for the river and its watershed.

Click for a larger map of the Nisqually River Basin

The Nisqually River Task Force, consisting of federal, state and local governments, business representatives, the Nisqually Indian Tribe, and interested citizen activists, created the Nisqually River Management Plan. The plan provides for a “…balanced stewardship of the area’s economic resources, natural resources and cultural resources, and is now known as the Nisqually Watershed Stewardship Plan.  The Nisqually River Foundation provides for staffing and coordination of plan elements.

One of the most pristine rivers in Washington State, the Nisqually journeys through an amazing variety of habitats – from subalpine meadows and old-growth Douglas-fir forest through forested foothills and across lowland prairies to its estuarine reaches and tidal mudflats.

The watershed encompasses a broad range of land uses and jurisdictions – rural communities, national and state parks and forests, public and private timberlands, municipal hydropower projects, farmlands, Mount Rainier, the Nisqually Indian Reservation, Fort Lewis Military Reservation and the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.