OLYMPIA — Barriers will be removed for migrating salmon, trees will be planted to shade rivers and stream habitat will be improved thanks to a new round of salmon recovery grants.
The Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board and the Puget Sound Partnership announced awarding 150 grants in 29 counties Sept. 18.
“These are important projects that will help us restore our salmon populations,” said Gov. Jay Inslee. “They also provide many other benefits. When we clean up our rivers, we not only help salmon, we reduce flooding, help our communities adapt to climate change and preserve jobs that rely on healthy salmon and natural resources.”
“Salmon are the foundation and the future of our shared Pacific Northwest identity,” said Jeff Breckel, chair of the Salmon Recovery Funding Board. “We know what it takes to recover salmon, but the challenges are outpacing our progress. We must stay vigilant and continue to make these important investments.”
Funding for the grants came from the state Legislature through the salmon recovery account and the Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration (PSAR) fund, which are supported by the sale of state bonds, and from the federal government through the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund.
"These grants are a big investment in not only recovering habitat for salmon but also in our efforts to restore Puget Sound,” said Laura Blackmore, executive director of the Puget Sound Partnership.
Recovery efforts during the past 25 years have helped some populations approach recovery goals, such as Hood Canal summer chum and Snake River fall Chinook, while others, such as Puget Sound Chinook and upper Columbia River spring Chinook, continue to fall further behind and remain in crisis, said a press release.
“Washington State has a unique approach to recovery,” Breckel said.
Projects are prioritized by local watershed groups, called lead entities, and then reviewed by regional and state scientific panels and finally approved by the state Salmon Recovery Funding Board, and in the Puget Sound area, additionally by the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Council. “The process ensures only the best and most scientifically sound projects make it to funding. This helps ensure we make wise investments that will get us closer to recovery.”
Projects in Klickitat Co.
Columbia Land Trust was awarded $150,000 for the project “Enhancing the Upper Rattlesnake Creek Floodplain.”
The Columbia Land Trust will use this grant to improve floodplain habitat along a 1.2-mile reach of upper Rattlesnake Creek, 13.5 miles north of the town of White Salmon, said a press release. The land trust will place 35 wood structures at 13 locations, fall alders into the floodplain, and plant trees in the area. Adding trees and wood structures to the water creates places for fish to rest, feed, and hide from predators. It also slows the water, which reduces erosion and allows small rocks to settle to the bottom, creating areas for salmon to spawn, as well as changing the flow, creating riffles and pools, which give salmon more varied habitat. Planting trees in the floodplain will shade the water, keeping it cool for fish. The trees also will drop branches and leaves into the water, which provide food for the insects that salmon eat.
The tree roots keep soil from entering the water, where it can smother fish spawning gravel. The work will increase the creek’s flow into the floodplain and side channels, slow the water during storms, and hold water in the upper watershed later into the year. The land trust will remove a quarter mile of old irrigation pipe that could pollute the creek’s floodplain.
The work will also increase the quantity and quality of spawning and rearing habitat for steelhead trout, which is a species listed as “threatened” with extinction under the federal Endangered Species Act, said a press release.
Projects in Skamania Co.
Cowlitz Indian Tribe was awarded $178,324 for the project “Designing Restoration of a Hardy Creek Reach.”
The Cowlitz Indian Tribe will use this grant to create a preliminary design to restore natural stream processes in nearly a half-mile of Hardy Creek in the Pierce National Wildlife Refuge. The restoration project will open a portion of the creek that is constricted, which restores floodplain connection, habitat complexity, and habitatforming processes throughout the reach. The creek is used by Chinook, chum, and coho salmon and steelhead trout, all of which are species listed as “threatened” with extinction under the federal Endangered Species Act. Visit RCO’s online Project Snapshot for more information and photographs of this project.
Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group was awarded $96,020 for the project “Enhancing the Nutrients and Riverbanks of Four Rivers.”
The Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group will use this grant to place fish carcasses and plants along 100 miles of the East Fork Lewis, Kalama, Washougal, and Toutle Rivers. Placing hatchery salmon carcasses along the river provides food for juvenile fish and fertilizes the surrounding area, including the new willow trees.
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