PORT ANGELES — Clallam and Jefferson county tribes and organizations received a combined $1.15 million in grants to restore salmon habitat, the state Salmon Recovery Funding Board has announced.
One project in West Jefferson County netted $152,750 from the state Recreation and Conservation Office.
Six projects in Clallam County received $995,407 in grants.
All told, groups in 29 counties received
$18 million to help conserve pristine areas and bring salmon back from the brink of extinction, state officials said last week.
“Salmon are important to Washington because they support thousands of jobs in Washington — fishing, seafood processing, boat sales and repair, tourism and more,” Gov. Jay Inslee said in a news release.
“When we restore land and water for salmon, we also are helping our communities. We get less flooding, cleaner water and better beaches. We also make sure that our grandchildren will be able to catch a fish or enjoy watching the return of wild salmon.”
Grant recipients will use the money to remove barriers that prevent salmon from migrating, reshape rivers and streams, conserve pristine areas and replant riverbanks so there are more places for salmon to spawn, feed, rest, hide from predators and transition from freshwater to saltwater and back again.
Summary of projects
Here is a summary of the projects funded on the North Olympic Peninsula:
■ $306,132 awarded to the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe to abandon 2.5 miles of the 9000 Road along the Hoko River.
The project will restore a natural slope and drainage features by removing seven culverts and the road bed.
The tribe also will place 100 pieces of wood in a 1.5-mile stretch of the river to improve spawning and rearing habitat for salmon, and plant the riverbank to provide shade to keep the water cool.
The tribe will contribute $27,000 in labor and Rayonier will contribute $40,000, according to a project summary provided by the Salmon Recovery Funding Board.
■ $200,000 awarded to the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe to design a project to restore salmon spawning habitat in the lower 1.5 miles of the Little River, which flows into the Elwha River at the former Lake Aldwell reservoir.
It is one of the first locations colonized by salmon after the 2012 removal of the Elwha Dam.
Salmon habitat has degraded over time due to logging and road construction and the river has lost much of its spawning gravel, officials said.
■ $185,000 awarded to the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe to complete engineering designs for restoring the floodplain in the lower Elwha River.
The work will include the abandonment of roads in the floodplain, removal of push-up dikes and the placement of logjams to improve habitat for salmon survival.
■ $162,500 awarded to the Pacific Coast Salmon Coalition and landowner Rayonier Inc. to replace two small culverts on Squaw Creek.
The metal pipes, which have a 1.2-foot outfall into rip rap, will be replaced with a 60-foot-long bridge to open fish passage to 3.5 miles of coho salmon, steelhead and cutthroat trout habitat on the Dickey River tributary.
The Pacific Coast Salmon Coalition and Rayonier will contribute $87,500 in cash and materials.
■ $117,000 awarded to the Pacific Coast Salmon Coalition and landowner Green Crow to replace two small culverts on Haehule Creek.
The small metal pipes, which have outfall drops, will be replaced with a 60-foot-long bridge to open fish passage to 1.2 miles of coho, steelhead and cutthroat trout habitat on the Dickey River drainage.
The Pacific Coast Salmon Coalition and Rayonier will contribute $63,000 in cash and materials.
■ $24,775 awarded to the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe to conserve and restore nearly 15 acres of habitat along the Dungeness River.
The tribe will work with willing landowners to purchase land or land preservation agreements to conserve the floodplain near U.S. Highway 101.
The tribe will plant native trees and bushes to jumpstart floodplain restoration to support chinook salmon, bull trout, summer chum and steelhead.
■ 152,750 awarded to the Pacific Coast Salmon Coalition to replace a small culvert on Miller Creek.
The small metal pipe, which has a 1.6-foot outfall drop, will be replaced by a 60-foot-long bridge to open fish passage to one mile of coho salmon, steelhead and cutthroat trout habitat on the Clearwater River tributary.
The Pacific Coast Salmon Coalition will contribute $82,250 in cash and materials.
The grants were submitted to the North Olympic Lead Entity for Salmon and the Hood Canal Lead Entity for vetting and selection, North Olympic Lead Entity Coordinator Cheryl Baumann said.
Lead entities are consortiums of citizens, governments, tribes and nonprofits working to advance salmon restoration in their respective regions.
The North Pacific Coast Lead Entity reviews projects along the north Pacific coast, and the Hood Canal Lead Entity handles those along the canal, including parts of Jefferson County.
Baumann commended Lower Elwha Klallam Habitat Restoration Manager Mike McHenry and his team for advancing four significant restoration efforts in the Elwha, Hoko and Pysht watersheds.
“I don’t think we have previously had one project sponsor ever submit so many projects in three different watersheds at one time,” Baumann said.
Nancy Biery of Jefferson County, a member of the governor-appointed Salmon Recovery Funding Board, attended a day-long meeting in Olympia last Wednesday to approve the projects, Baumann said.
