In 2001, The Nature Conservancy (the Conservancy) completed the acquisition of all significant private lands within the 2040 ha Ellsworth Creek drainage basin of southwest Washington. As of October 2008, the Conservancy owns and manages approximately 3339 ha within the Ellsworth Creek Preserve. The Conservancy's primary goal for acquiring the Ellsworth Creek Preserve was to conserve and restore a highly productive and biologically diverse coastal temperate forest ecosystem in an area of the Pacific Northwest Coast that has been managed almost exclusively for timber production. 

Ellsworth Creek is a small coastal watershed comprised of coniferous forests, a freshwater stream system, and large estuary. The watershed is located within the Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) forest zone (Franklin and Dyrness 1988) and contains several small (totaling 130 ha) patches of old-growth forest.  These remnants are some of the largest remaining old growth forest stands left within the Willapa Bay region of southwest Washington and contain five distinct natural forest community types. The Ellsworth Creek Preserve strategically bridges protected forested habitats within the adjacent 6000 ha Willapa National Wildlife Refuge and the 225 ha Washington Department of Natural Resources Ellsworth Creek Natural Resource Conservation Area (NRCA). These conservation areas, together with the nearby 987 ha South Nemah NRCA, Bear River restoration project (USFWS), and Chinook River restoration project (Searesources), create a functional forest, freshwater, and estuarine landscape of approximately 32,780 ha in South Willapa Bay.

Old-growth forest habitats within Ellsworth Creek contain many species of state and federal concern including the marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus), and a number of invertebrate (e.g., mollusks and millipedes), lichen, and fungi species. Abundant populations of chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta), coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki clarki) are also present. Freshwater and terrestrial habitat also supports abundant populations of numerous amphibian species, including several regionally endemic species. Historic threats to Ellsworth Creek's biological diversity remain from decades of logging activity, including the loss of mature and old-growth forest structure, habitat fragmentation, invasive species, and sedimentation and altered hydrology related to extensive forest road systems.

Forests within the Ellsworth Creek watershed have been managed for timber production since early 1900's and now less than seven percent of its original unmanaged forests remain. Forest systems within the watershed provide habitat and control many natural ecological processes that are critical for maintaining upland, riparian, and aquatic native biological diversity. In contrast, young-managed forest stands are highly simplified and fragmented, lacking the structural and compositional diversity that supports biological diversity and natural watershed processes.

The Conservancy's primary goals for the Ellsworth Creek Preserve include:

1. Managing the preserve with exemplary stewardship that earns respect and builds productive relationships within the local community and amongst resource management partners.
2. Restoring ecologically functional estuarine, freshwater, and upland forest habitats that support species and ecological processes representative of those found within unmanaged late-successional forest landscapes of the Pacific Northwest coast.
3. Developing and implementing restoration strategies that accomplish the ecological and partnership goals in a cost effective and financially replicable manner.
4. Maximizing opportunities for learning how coastal forest landscapes respond to restoration treatments and exporting those lessons to other forest resource managers. [read about the PNW Forest Restoration Co-operative]

After decades of intensive logging and road building in the preserve, a primary goal of the Conservancy at Ellsworth Creek is to restore naturally functioning ecosystems that support species and ecological processes representative of those found within unmanaged late-successional forest landscapes. However, the most effective approach to forest restoration at this scale is unknown. For this reason, the Conservancy has partnered with several outside scientists to develop a large-scale experimental design to test different restoration pathways. These pathways include: active management (including forest thinning), passive management (no forest thinning, removing roads), and a control. Treatment implementation is currently scheduled to begin in 2009.

The Conservancy has conducted two years of intensive baseline monitoring throughout the watershed to gather information on ecological conditions prior to initiating restoration treatments. Included in this monitoring are extensive surveys of migratory forest birds, spawning coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), stream-associated amphibians, benthic macroinvertebrates, stream physical habitat, and forest structure and vegetation. These data will provide a solid understanding of pre-treatment conditions that will be invaluable in understanding the efficacy of each restoration treatment. Future results of the study are intended to inform restoration discussions and assist others interested in conducting forest restoration on their lands.