Clallam commissioners approve grant for pinto abalone research
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 8, 2026
PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County commissioners have approved a grant for the county’s Marine Resource Committee.
Commissioners approved the $147,000 grant agreement with the state Department of Ecology during their regular meeting Tuesday.
The grant, for Jan. 1, 2026, through Dec. 31, 2027, is for project administration, management, coordination and implementation for the pinto abalone and oil spill preparedness/training projects, according to county documents.
The Marine Resource Committee will use the funds to partner with Puget Sound Restoration Fund “to continue existing pinto abalone monitoring work in the Strait by conducting presence/absence surveys, in order to develop a conservation, restoration and research strategy for pinto abalone in the Strait of Juan de Fuca,” according to county documents.
During the commissioners’ work session on Monday, they heard an update on a Streamkeepers full-time employee (FTE), which commissioners voted to fund at 50 percent last year. The funding paid for a coordinator position.
That funding was contingent on the Department of Community Development (DCD) reporting to the commissioners at the end of 2025 and again mid-year in 2026 on staffing costs and revenues. For 2025, the total salary and benefits was $103,356.68, DCD Director Bruce Emery said.
Revenues for Streamkeepers came to $57,604.30, or 55.7 percent of the cost of the coordinator position.
“Activities during 2025 included monthly and quarterly PIC sampling in coordination with Clallam County Environmental Health and the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe; water quality sampling, analysis and reporting for the city of Port Angeles; and water reporting associated with the Off-Channel Reservoir project for Clallam County Public Works,” according to county documents.
Streamkeepers had some personnel changes when the coordinator retired in February so the department is actively pursing a replacement, Emery said.
The commissioners also heard an update on the Clallam Conservation District from district manager Kim Williams.
“We’ve been around for 67 years,” Williams said. “We help land owners manage natural resources sustainably. We have landowners work with us on a willing basis. We are voluntary conservation, and landowners work with us voluntarily.”
The district’s expenses in 2025 came out to $1,137,959 with salaries amounting to 31 percent while 24 percent went to subcontracts. The district has six FTEs and two part-time workers. The district spent 13 percent of its budget, or $145,689, on cost share, which means the funds went directly to landowners for implementing projects, Williams said.
The district was funded through 14 grants in 2025 and had income of $1,228,816. The largest income source was State Commission grants at 56 percent of the budget. The district also received 21 percent of its budget through state Department of Ecology grants.
The district has multiple layers of financial oversight, including tracking and balancing grants monthly, district manager and board auditor review and signatures required and state accountability audits, which have had no findings.
The district tests soil health, hosts plant sales and supports farms west of the Elwha River. The district also offers critical areas assistance and a firewise program. The district is working to strengthen its firewise program, Williams said.
“We’re looking at practical solutions such as firewise landscaping and fuels reduction and a couple other things are in the works, but we’ve kind of been protected from fires around here on the Peninsula,” Williams said. “But when it comes, we need to be ready.”
Since 2014, the district has completed 34 septic projects and has distributed more than $646,398 in cost share funds. The district has three systems currently in the program this year.
The district has provided technical and financial assistance to 83 farms countywide, according to Williams’ presentation.
The district’s Cover Crop Seed program has assisted 18 farms with funding to plant 269 acres of cover crop, and its Soil Testing program has processed tests from 178 sites.
The district is helping to conserve water and create habitat by promoting native plants through its annual native plant sale, which saw 377 orders for 24,920 native plants last year. The district also promoted sustainable landscaping practices at the Clallam County Fair, the Dungeness River Festival and Forever Streamfest.
Volunteers last year assisted at riparian plantings, beach cleanups and with other projects, providing 510.5 volunteer hours among 148 volunteers.
The district has two Family Forest Fish Passage Program projects planned for this year at the tributary to the Bogachiel River and the tributary to the Dickey River.
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Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.
