OLYMPIA — The Recreation and Conservation Office has awarded $9.2 million statewide in grants for projects that will restore habitat, create jobs and improve the resiliency of Washington’s coastal communities.
Clallam County received just more than $1 million and Jefferson County was awarded nearly $645,000.
The grants were awarded to eight projects, including ones that will remove invasive plants, restore rivers, work with landowners on conservation grazing practices and create habitat for salmon by placing logjams in streams.
In Clallam County, two projects received funds: The Wild Salmon Center was awarded $451,602 and the Quileute Tribe was awarded $590,932.
The Wild Salmon Center will use its grant to remove artificial structures and restore natural processes in the Dickey River basin on the Olympic Peninsula, according to a press release.
“About 30 years ago, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife altered areas to improve habitat for coho salmon,” the release stated. “Today, many of the structures put in place are deteriorating, outdated, and block fish passage. In addition to removing structures and returning the area to a more natural state, the center will assess and prioritize reaches in the Dickey River basin for restoration.”
The Quileute Tribe will use its grant to advance engineering designs for a project that will increase salmon habitat, improve climate resiliency and improve floodplain connection, as well as identify options to decrease flood and avulsion risks that threaten state Highway 110.
“The project will address the Bogachiel River, from the state (Highway) 110 bridge upstream to near the confluence with Maxfield Creek,” the release stated. “The river in this area is dynamic, prone to flooding, and at risk of forming alternative river channels that would result in degraded fish habitat.
A stretch of the highway immediately east of the bridge is regularly flooded and also at risk of severe damage.
“The Tribe will complete a risk assessment and hydraulic modeling to advance engineering designs to the preliminary design stage. Five species of salmon and steelhead use the Bogachiel River, but it lacks habitat-forming large wood and floodplain connection, and has warming water temperatures.”
In Jefferson County, The Nature Conservancy was awarded $644,504 to continue restoration of about 486 acres in the Hoh River watershed on the West End.
“The conservancy will return a road prism, along a five-acre wetland, to a more natural condition and remove eight failing culverts,” the release stated. “Culverts are pipes or other structures that carry streams under roads and block fish passage when they are too small or too high.
“Additionally, the conservancy will thin 122 acres of young trees in an industrial forest to allow other plants to grow there. Finally, the conservancy will treat invasive plants including removing Scotch broom on 7.2 miles of roads and assess three tributaries to the Hoh River for future projects. The goal is to improve habitat for species listed under the federal Endangered Species Act and on state endangered species lists, including coho salmon, steelhead and bull trout, Olympic mud minnow, Pacific lamprey, wolverine, marbled murrelet, and northern spotted owl.”
The grants are from the Washington Coast Restoration and Resiliency Initiative, which was created by the state Legislature in 2015 to protect and restore ecological systems of the coast while creating jobs and reducing hazards, such as flooding and infrastructure damage. The initiative is jointly administered by the Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) and the Washington Coast Restoration and Resiliency Initiative Steering Committee.
Since 2015, the initiative has invested nearly $71 million in coastal communities. In 2024, 22 grant applications were submitted, requesting more than $27 million — with just more than one-third of the projects being funded.
“There is so much work for us to do to protect the gem that is the Washington Coast,” said Megan Duffy, RCO director, in the release. “The goals are to make sure coastal communities can keep their water clean, their forests healthy and fish in their rivers. These grants are a solid investment in helping to ensure that future.”
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Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.
