The Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board has awarded more than $6 million in grants to projects intended to restore and protect salmon habitat in the North Olympic Peninsula.
The $6,409,318 granted to the Peninsula funds 10 projects in Clallam County, for a total of $4,131,462, and six projects in Jefferson County, for a total of $2,277,856.
The Peninsula funding was among the $42.8 million in grants by the state Salmon Recovery Funding Board announced by the state Recreation and Conservation Office on Tuesday.
Clallam County received the third highest amount of counties in the state, while Jefferson County’s total funding was the sixth highest.
Over $1 million to land trust
Only Skagit County, at $5,844,363, and Snohomish County, at $5,547,631, received more funding from the board than Clallam County. Others receiving more funding than Jefferson County were King County, at $2,644,814, Mason County, at $3,409,910, and Pierce County, at $2,960,669.
The largest amount given to any single entity on the Peninsula was $1,608,281 granted the North Olympic Land Trust, a conservation nonprofit based in Port Angeles, for five projects in Clallam County.
Two Jefferson County Land Trust projects were funded for a total of $783,813.
“These grants are helping us reverse the decline in salmon populations we’ve seen over the past two decades,” said Steve Tharinger, who is chairman of the Salmon Recovery Funding Board as well as a Clallam County commissioner.
“These grants are not only good for salmon, the environment and the people of Washington,” he said. “They are also good for the economy because much of this money will be awarded to local organizations to do restoration work in their local communities.”
The grants in the Puget Sound area also work toward implementing Gov. Chris Gregoire’s initiative to restore Puget Sound.
The funding comes from the federal Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund and is matched by state funds from the sale of bonds.
Clallam County projects
Clallam County projects and awards, with descriptions of each project provided by the state, are:
• Clallam Conservation District, $700,000: conserve water for Dungeness Valley salmon.
The Clallam Conservation District will replace about 2.8 miles of open irrigation ditches with pipelines to save water for salmon and improve water quality.
Piping the canals is expected to save about 2.5 percent of average summer flows in the Dungeness River and as much as 5 percent of late season low flows.
In addition, the project is expected to eliminate polluted irrigation water discharges to Meadowbrook Creek, which empties into Dungeness Bay. The bay is now closed to commercial shellfish harvesting because of pollution.
Project partners include Dungeness Irrigation District Water Conservation, Sequim Prairie-Tri Irrigation Association, Jamestown S’Klallam tribe, state Conservation Commission, state Department of Ecology, Stewardship Partners and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.
• Clallam County, $575,000: protecting the lower Dungeness River floodplain.
Clallam County will contribute $101,550 in labor, a federal grant and donated labor.
The Clallam County Community Development Department will buy 2.81 acres to move a dike and allow the lower Dungeness River can reclaim 1.8 miles of its floodplain.
The river channel is constrained along the east side by a dike built in 1963. The dike has narrowed the river channel, allowed sediment to build up, caused erosion and contributed to the decrease of water quality associated with shellfish closure areas.
Major project partners include the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, among others.
• Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, $443,000: adding wood to streams.
The Lower Elwha will contribute $80,000 in donated labor.
The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe will place 300 pieces of large, woody materials in more than five miles of Sadie Creek, East Twin River and Deep Creek to improve salmon habitat.
Project partners include Merrill & Ring, Rayonier Forest Resources LP, and the state Department of Natural Resources.
• North Olympic Land Trust, $277,987: acquiring land along Big River.
The land trust will contribute $51,500 in labor and donated land.
The land trust will buy 39 acres of riparian and floodplain habitat, including part of a Big River tributary to Umbrella Bay, to help the Lake Ozette sockeye, which are threatened with extinction.
• North Olympic Land Trust, $139,808: conservation planning along western Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The land trust and its partners, which include the Makah and Lower Elwha Klallam tribes, will contribute $25,000 in donated labor and other services.
The land trust will prioritize land important to salmon and other fish survival along the western portion of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, from west of the Elwha River to Cape Flattery.
• North Olympic Land Trust, $527,693: protecting land along Jimmycomelately Creek.
The land trust will contribute $127,500 from a federal grant and donated land.
The land trust will protect 0.93 mile of Jimmycomelately Creek by purchasing a voluntary land preservation agreement on 64 forested acres to prevent logging or development along the creek and protect Hood Canal summer chum.
• North Olympic Land Trust, $189,057: protecting Pysht River floodplain.
The land trust and its partners, which include the Makah tribe, will contribute $37,228 in equipment, labor and materials.
The land trust will permanently protect and rehabilitate 21.5 acres of Pysht River floodplain and channel migration zone.
• North Olympic Land Trust, $473,736: protecting Siebert Creek habitat.
The land trust will contribute $84,482 from a grant and donations of labor and land.
The land trust will conserve 27 acres along Siebert Creek, which has ideal fish habitat.
• North Olympic Salmon Coalition, $683,185: reconnect Morse Creek floodplain.
The North Olympic Salmon Coalition will contribute $94,857 from a Fish for America grant and the Department of Ecology’s Hussman Grant.
The coalition will remove part of a dike and install a log structure to reconnect a 3.77-acre depression with Morse Creek, and construct side channels along the reconfigured creek to create off-channel habitat for salmon.
• Port Angeles, $121,996: designing Valley Creek restoration.
The city of Port Angeles will complete the design and permitting components for a project to restore a portion of Valley Creek into a lengthened, meandering stream with fish passage structures.
The Valley Creek Committee, which previously worked to restore the Valley Creek estuary, is a partner in the project.
Jefferson County
Jefferson County projects and awards, with descriptions of each project provided by the state, are:
• Hoh River Trust, $74,807: decommissioning Upper Pole Creek roads.
The Hoh River Trust will contribute $17,200 in donations of labor and materials.
The trust will replant about 1.7 miles of abandoned State Parks 1000 and SP 1100 roads along Pole Creek. Crews also will regrade the stream crossing, scatter woody material to restore structure and slow runoff, leaving a truncated road system available for use.
• Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group, $314,250: restoring Donovan Creek.
The Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group will contribute $705,750 from local, federal and private grants.
The group will protect and restore 76 acres, including 49 acres of declining wetlands. Crews will restructure 0.6 mile of Donovan Creek to allow it to meander, add large woody material to create salmon habitat and replant about 15 acres along the newly meandered channel.
Partners include the Jefferson Land Trust, Jefferson County Conservation District, The Nature Conservancy and Ecology.
• Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group, $866,940: removing sediment in Little Quilcene River delta.
The Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group will contribute $165,131 from a federal grant. This project was funded in May.
The group will remove 33,000 cubic yards of sediment to restore 7 acres of salt marsh, and place six logjams at the mouth of the Little Quilcene River.
• Jefferson Land Trust, $424,582: protecting land along the Dosewallips and Duckabush rivers.
The Jefferson Land Trust will contribute $80,000 from donated land and conservation futures funding. Conservation futures are property taxes used by local governments to buy land or development rights to protect natural areas, forests, wetlands and farms.
The land trust will buy 44.5 acres along the Dosewallips and Duckabush rivers to protect salmon and steelhead habitat.
• Jefferson Land Trust, $359,231: protecting Salmon Creek habitat.
Jefferson Land Trust will contribute $63,394 in conservation futures.
The land trust will protect 156 acres and nearly 1 mile of riparian habitat on Salmon Creek, at the head of Discovery Bay, for summer chum.
• North Olympic Salmon Coalition, $238,046: hiring a work crew for east Jefferson County.
The coalition will contribute $42,080 in donated labor.
It will hire a state Conservation Corps crew for one year to work on restoration projects for summer chum in east Jefferson County river basins.
Information about the Salmon Recovery Funding Board and the Recreation and Conservation Office is available online at www.rco.wa.gov.
