“Salmon are an important part of Washington’s economy and culture. These grants will do two things,” said Steve Tharinger, chairman of the Salmon Recovery Funding Board. “They will help put people to work improving our environment, and they will help us protect and restore salmon populations important to communities across Washington.”
The grants will fund big and small restoration projects across the state, including planting trees along streams to cool the water enough so salmon can survive, replacing culverts that currently prevent salmon from migrating to and from spawning habitat and restoring entire floodplains and estuaries.
Grants were given to projects as noted below. See details on each project.
| Benton County | $114,055 | Okanogan County | $1,110,100 | |
| Chelan County | $1,070,750 | Pacific County | $505,708 | |
| Clallam County | $1,074,347 | Pend Oreille County | $402,000 | |
| Clark County | $886,486 | Pierce County | $851,007 | |
| Columbia County | $1,014,179 | San Juan County | $310,855 | |
| Garfield County | See details | Skagit County | $1,416,732 | |
| Grays Harbor County | $474,737 | Skamania County | $1,376,500 | |
| Island County | $268,875 | Snohomish County | $1,007,566 | |
| Jefferson County | $1,332,911 | Thurston County | $624,279 | |
| King County | $1,203,916 | Wahkiakum County | $578,500 | |
| Kitsap County | $148,115 | Walla Walla County | $426,201 | |
| Kittitas County | $609,549 | Whatcom County | $794,480 | |
| Klickitat County | $294,214 | Yakima County | $708,664 | |
| Lewis County | $56,000 | Multiple Counties | $758,270 | |
| Mason County | $435,118 |
Local watershed groups develop these projects based on regional recovery plans, which are approved by the federal government. Individual projects are reviewed by regional salmon recovery organizations and the state’s technical review panel to make sure each project will help recover salmon in the most cost-effective manner.
“This local, state, and federal partnership has made Washington a national model in salmon recovery,” Tharinger said.
In 1991, the federal government declared the first salmon, Snake River sockeye, as endangered. By the end of that decade, the federal government had designated 16 more species of salmon as at-risk of extinction, covering three-quarters of the state. Those listings set off a series of activities including the formation of the Salmon Recovery Funding Board to oversee the investment of state and federal funds for salmon recovery. Since 2000, the board has awarded nearly $417 million in grants, funded by federal and state dollars, for 1,775 projects. Grantees have contributed more than $189 million in matching resources.
Funding for the grants announced today comes from the federal Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund. The funding for these grants was approved by Congress earlier this year.
Information about the Salmon Recovery Funding Board and the Recreation and Conservation Office is available online at http://www.rco.wa.gov.
