OLYMPIA — A $1.5 million grant to the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe for the replacement of the west Railroad Bridge trestle is part of a package of more than $6.1 million awarded to North Olympic Peninsula salmon recovery projects.
The Washington Salmon Recovery Funding Board and the Puget Sound Partnership are awarding more than $4.5 million to Clallam County organizations and more than $1.5 million to Jefferson County entities.
The grant money is part of $44.3 million given to entities statewide to fund efforts to remove barriers that prevent salmon from migrating and increase salmon habitat, according to the state Recreation and Conservation Office in a news release issued last week.
The $1.53 million construction project at Railroad Bridge Park, 2151 W. Hendrickson Road, replaces a 520-foot-long wooden trestle damaged by high water during a storm in February with a new 750-foot steel version.
The old trestle was propped up by 38 sets of five creosote-coated poles. Those have been removed.
The new steel structure improves passage for salmon, said Randy Johnson, the tribe’s restoration manager, by allowing logs and fish to pass beneath with fewer obstructions.
When finished, it also will restore a link in the Peninsula-wide Olympic Discovery Trail.
For the trestle project, the tribe will contribute $270,000 from a Floodplains by Design grant from the state Department of Ecology and $606,100 in other funding from the tribe, the Peninsula Trails Coalition and the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Climate Adaptation program, the Salmon Recovery Funding Board said in a news release.
The Jamestown S’Klallam tribe also will receive a second $1,157,700 grant to restore the Dungeness River floodplain.
The tribe will contribute $204,300 from a Floodplains by Design grant from the state Department of Ecology.
The Salmon Recovery Funding Board awarded grants to organizations in 28 counties for 141 projects.
Among the projects are those to 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.
The Hood Canal Lead Entity prioritizes projects in the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca and east Jefferson County as well as elsewhere along Hood Canal.
The North Olympic Lead Entity for Salmon selects projects from Blyn to Cape Flattery, while the North Pacific Coast Lead Entity prioritizes projects from Cape Flattery south down the coast to the Hoh River, including West Jefferson County.
Here is the list of projects funded:
Clallam County
A total of $4,541,462 in grant money has been earmarked for Clallam County.
■ The Coastal Watershed Institute will receive $484,750 to buy, provide public access to and plan the restoration of 25 acres — including 870 feet of saltwater shoreline — next to the expanding Elwha River delta at the river’s mouth.
This grant is from the Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration fund and the salmon recovery grant program.
It is a small part of a funding package the institute hopes to complete soon, said Anne Shaffer of the Coastal Watershed Institute.
■ The Lower Elwha Klallam will receive $635,939 to restore the Pysht River Floodplain.
This grant is from the salmon recovery grant program.
The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe and the Makah tribe, along with other unspecified local entities, will contribute $276,500 toward the project.
■ The Makah tribe will receive a $122,902 grant to restore the shorelines of Big River and Umbrella Creek.
The Makah tribe will contribute $93,812 in cash and donations of labor.
■ The North Olympic Salmon Coalition will receive a $400,221 grant to restore a quarter-mile of Sequim Bay shoreline along the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca in Clallam County.
The North Olympic Salmon Coalition will contribute $70,629 in a federal grant.
■ The Pacific Coast Salmon Coalition will receive a second $209,950 grant to remove a cluster of four undersized pipes that carry Colby Creek under roads and replace them with a bridge on Rayonier’s 5000 Line forest road, west of Forks in Clallam County.
The Pacific Coast Salmon Coalition will contribute $113,050 in donations of cash and materials from Rayonier Inc. to be used for the project.
Jefferson County
A total of $1,578,098 in grant funding has been earmarked for Jefferson County:
■ Jefferson County Public Works will receive $788,800 to remove a fish passage barrier in Salmon Creek and build an 80-foot-long bridge over the creek instead.
Jefferson County will contribute $139,200 towards the project.
■ Jefferson County also will receive a second $587,319 grant to restore the Big Quilcene River floodplain.
Jefferson County will contribute $103,646 in cash donations.
■ The Jefferson Land Trust will receive $150,979 in grant money to buy and restore nearly 11 acres along Snow Creek in Jefferson County.
The land trust will contribute $55,292 in conservation futures and donations of cash and labor.
■ The Nature Conservancy will receive $51,000 in grant funding to develop preliminary designs for a project to restore the lower 1.4 miles of Shale Creek, a tributary of the Clearwater River, in Jefferson County.
“Salmon recovery is an important priority in Washington,” said Gov. Jay Inslee last week when the funding was announced.
“We are preserving salmon for the families and businesses that rely on them for their livelihoods, their recreational pursuits and their culture or sustenance.”
For more information, visit http://tinyurl.com/PDN-salmongrants.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
Executive Editor Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3530 or at lleach@peninsuladailynews.com.
