North Olympic Peninsula salmon restoration organizations have been awarded a combined $2 million in grants from the state Salmon Recovery Funding Board for eight projects.
The groups can tackle projects in any stage from design to implementation, said Cheryl Baumann, North Olympic Peninsula Lead Entity coordinator.
The Lead Entity is a coalition of salmon recovery organizations that helped in the grant application process.
There are two lead entities for salmon on the Peninsula.
One is the North Olympic Peninsula Lead Entity for Salmon, which covers the area from Blyn west along the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Cape Flattery, Baumann said.
The other lead entity is the North Pacific Coast Lead Entity for Salmon, covering an area extending from Cape Flattery south along the Pacific Coast through the Hoh watershed in West Jefferson County.
The groups were created by state statute, and members include local governments, tribes, nonprofit organizations and citizens who work together to spearhead salmon recovery and restoration efforts.
Clallam County as a whole received $883,578 for three projects:
•âÇThe Jamestown S’Klal-lam tribe received $116,697 to design Washington Harbor restoration.
Washington Harbor, located within the 118-acre Bell Creek estuary adjacent to the entrance of Sequim Bay, needs restoration because 1,300 feet of road blocks the fish passage with two small culverts, said Randy Johnson, habitat restoration planner for the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe.
•âÇThe Lower Elwha Klallam tribe was awarded $275,219 to “add woody materials into Salt Creek,” Baumann said.
It is the second phase of the project in the creek near Joyce and will involve having a Lower Elwha Klallam restoration crew place wood in the stream on land owned by Green Crow, the tribe’s partner in the project, said Mike McHenry, Lower Elwha Klallam habitat manager.
The project is meant to restore Salt Creek to its state prior to the 1950s, when much of the wood was removed because it was believed to help fish passage, McHenry said.
•âÇThe North Olympic Salmon coalition received $491,662 to restore Morse Creek to the alignment it had during the 1930s.
The Morse Creek Channel Remeander project is proposed for state Department of Fish and Wildlife property south of the U.S. Highway 101 bridge, Baumann said.
The project also includes reconnecting Morse Creek with 9.3 acres of floodplain and the construction of engineered logjams, which will slow the creek’s velocity and provide cover for steelhead, coho, pink and other salmon species, she said.
Jefferson County projects
A total of $1,021,906 was awarded to projects in Jefferson County.
Restoring fish passage on Pole Creek by the Pacific Coast Salmon Coalition was awarded the most of that sum, with $375,406.
The project, to which the coalition will contribute $100,000 in matching funds, includes removing a culvert blocking passage in the creek and replacing it with a bridge.
This phase of the project will remove the last barrier in the creek and open 2 miles of upstream salmon habitat to the main stem of the Hoh River, the group said in a news release.
In other Jefferson County awards:
•âÇThe Quinault tribe received $171,000 to assess natural resources, the grant said.
The project also includes $30,250 in federal grants and will be used to create maps of streams and side channels as well as identifying key salmon habitat.
•âÇThe Skokomish tribe was granted $275,500 to restore the Big Quilcene River.
Four logjams and log weirs will be installed and two levees removed.
A federal grant will contribute an additional $50,000 to the project, which is in its second phase.
•âÇThe North Olympic Salmon Coalition received $100,000 for design of an abandoned railroad causeway that blocks the Snow Creek and Salmon Creek estuary in lower Discovery Bay.
•âÇThe Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group received $100,000 to plan how to remove 25,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel ¬Â¬– which has built up during the past 100 years — from the Little Quilcene River.
The grant will pay for the final designs, budget development and construction permits.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige. dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
