OLYMPIA — The Washington Salmon Recovery Funding Board has given more than $4 million in grants to North Olympic Peninsula projects.
The $4,251,241 in grants to organizations in Clallam and Jefferson counties are part of nearly $30 million given statewide to encourage salmon population growth.
Salmon populations in Washington state have been declining for generations.
In Clallam County, $2,447,641 was awarded to nine projects, while seven projects in Jefferson County received a total of $1,803,600.
Jefferson County also is part of two grants involving multiple counties.
Grant applications are solicited and submitted by watershed councils formed by state statute called lead entities.
They bring together local governments and area tribes, citizens, scientists and nonprofits to advance salmon restoration, said Cheryl Baumann, coordinator of the North Olympic Peninsula Lead Entity for Salmon, which covers work done from Blyn on the county’s eastern edge along the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Cape Flattery.
The other such group on the Peninsula is the North Pacific Coast Lead Entity,which covers the area from Cape Flattery down the Pacific Coast to the Hoh River.
It is coordinated by Rich Osborne.
“We are particularly pleased with the breadth and depth of our project portfolio advanced this year,” Baumann said.
“It includes a wide variety of efforts to address fish passage barriers, strengthen fish migration corridors, monitor fish use and assist in revegetation of the Elwha reservoirs, as well as planning for future protection and restoration.”
Restoration planner Randy Johnson and his team at the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe deserve credit for their Washington Harbor Project, which was recognized as one of eight noteworthy projects by the Salmon Recovery Funding Board review panel, Baumann said.
“We are also extremely grateful to the Hood Canal Lead Entity, which generously agreed to allocate a portion of their grant funds towards that project.”
Funding for the grants comes from the federal Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund and the sale of state bonds.
Clallam County
Projects in Clallam County, and the grants awarded, are:
■ Meadowbrook Creek connection to Dungeness River: $142,000.
The Clallam Conservation District will improve the connection between Meadowbrook Creek and the Dungeness River.
Meadowbrook Creek is the last fresh-water tributary to out-migrating salmon species in the Dungeness River before they enter Dungeness Bay in the Sequim area.
The conservation district will contribute $40,000 donated by Dungeness Farms, which also supported a previous conservation easement in the area.
■ Twin Rivers protection planning: $26,444.
The Coastal Watershed Institute will develop a parcel inventory and plan for the protection of the west Twin Rivers shoreline, west of Port Angeles off state Highway 112, and adjacent riparian areas.
The institute will contribute $13,000 in staff labor and work with the North Olympic Land Trust and other agencies.
■ Fish migration in Washington Harbor: $519,937.
The Jamestown S’Klallam tribe will remove two 6-foot culverts and 600 feet of road to open 37 acres of pocket estuary habitat east of Sequim in Washington Harbor to summer chum and Chinook salmon.
The tribe will contribute more than $1 million from a state grant.
■ Elwha River log jams: $635,919.
The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe will build 11 log jams in the Elwha River to increase habitat for salmon.
The tribe will contribute $112,388 from a federal grant and donations of labor and materials.
■ Elwha River riverbanks, floodplain replanting: $361,901.
The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe will hire crews to remove non-native, invasive weeds through 2016; move large logs and tree-root wads from the shoreline to denuded sites; and double planting efforts following removal of the Elwha River dams.
Removal of the dams, which began in mid-September, will expose nearly 800 acres of land devoid of vegetation.
The revegetation plan has been developed by specialists working for Olympic National Park and the Elwha Klallam tribe.
The tribe will contribute $102,500 in staff labor.
■ Salt Creek estuary restoration: $415,640.
The North Olympic Salmon Coalition will breach a dike and construct vehicle crossings over Salt Creek west of Port Angeles, restoring an estuary and opening up 15 acres of salt marsh to salmon.
The coalition will contribute $73,348 from a federal grant via the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe that is being used to fund project design.
■ Calawah River culvert replacement: $86,500.
The Pacific Coast Salmon Coalition will replace an undersized, deteriorating culvert on Forest Service Road 2922, which is on the north fork of the Calawah River, with a larger culvert.
The coalition will contribute $111,693.
■ Coal Creek culvert replacement: $169,300.
The Pacific Coast Salmon Coalition will remove an undersized culvert on Coal Creek, a tributary to the Dickey River, and replace it with a 60-foot-long bridge to allow fish passage.
The coalition will contribute $91,200.
■ Elwha River salmon and steelhead weir operation: $90,000
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife will support further operation of a salmon weir during removal of the Elwha River dams.
The goal is to capture fish for stock preservation and to evaluate abundance and diversity of adult salmon and steelhead in the Elwha River.
The department will contribute $16,000 from a federal grant.
Jefferson County
Projects in Jefferson County, and the grants awarded, are:
■ Big Quilcene River delta land purchase: $320,000.
The Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group will buy 30 acres along the lower Big Quilcene River in the town of Quilcene.
The land is the last unprotected land of the lower river and is considered critical to completing the remaining stages of a
multiphased restoration effort in Quilcene Bay.
The enhancement group will contribute $1,073,287 from two grants.
■ Restoring Big Quilcene River habitat: $175,000.
The Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group will install log jams to facilitate salmon spawning in the third phase of a restoration project that began in 2009.
The enhancement group will contribute $148,596 from a private grant.
■ Hoh River projects design: $159,540.
The Jefferson County Conservation District, in partnership with the Wild Fish Conservancy, will create a feasibility study and habitat inventory that provide data for conceptual designs at five potential projects sites in the middle Hoh River floodplains.
The conservation district will contribute $28,155 in donations of labor and materials.
■ Maynard Beach restoration: $483,592.
The North Olympic Salmon Coalition will restore more than a quarter-mile of shoreline in lower Discovery Bay between Port Townsend and Sequim to improve fish habitat.
The coalition will contribute $85,340 from a federal grant and donations of cash.
■ Christmas Creek drainage restoration: $86,791.
The Pacific Coast Salmon Coalition will replace one culvert and remove two others on Christmas Creek and reshape the land back to its natural grade.
The coalition will contribute $46,733 in cash and donations of materials.
■ Dosewallips floodplain and estuary restoration: $505,677.
The Wild Fish Conservancy will finish another phase of work to restore the Dosewallips floodplain and estuary.
The project, entirely within Dosewallips State Park, was started in 2003.
The conservancy will contribute $139,000 from a state grant.
■ Hoh River knotweed control: $73,000.
The 10,000 Years Institute will remove bohemian and giant knotweed in forests along the Hoh River.
The institute will contribute $35,948 in donations of labor and materials.
Multiple Counties
Jefferson County is part of two projects involving neighboring counties.
They are:
■ Hood Canal knotweed control: $229,752.
The Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group will continue control of knotweed on six river systems throughout Hood Canal, with work done in Jefferson, Kitsap and Mason counties.
The enhancement group will contribute $45,000 from federal and state grants and donations of labor.
■ Lower Chimacum Creek protection: $147,000.
The Jefferson Land Trust will buy five acres in the Chimacum Creek estuary, just north of Irondale and Port Hadlock, in Jefferson and Mason counties.
The land trust will contribute $26,200 in conservation futures and donations of materials.
For more information about the grants, visits http://tinyurl.com/6mwzknn.
For more information about the Salmon Recovery Funding Board and the Recreation and Conservation Office, visit www.rco.wa.gov.
