Lewis County will receive more than a million dollars in state grants to improve habitat for salmon and trout, the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board announced Monday.
The funding is part of $50.3 million in grants for 145 projects across the state, with about half of the money coming from the Climate Commitment Act (CCA). The remaining grants were funded by the state Legislature and the federal government through the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund.
“These grants are crucial to salmon recovery work in Washington,” Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement. “Without this funding, we’d have no chance of returning salmon to healthy, harvestable levels. The Climate Commitment Act is helping us go bigger and faster all across the state. It will take all of us pulling together to change the fate of salmon, which is inextricably linked to Washington’s economy and quality of life.”
In total, Lewis County will receive $1.2 million in grants, which include:
• $128,300 for the Lewis Conservation District Grant awarded to “replace two undersized culverts limiting fish passage from an unnamed tributary to the Middle Fork Newaukum River.”
• $219,428 for Lewis County to “design the replacement of a culvert that spans an unnamed tributary to the South Fork Newaukum River at Clark Road near Onalaska in Lewis County.”
• $200,000 for Trout Unlimited to “assess 19 miles of the upper and lower North Fork Newaukum River and Lucas Creek for wood placement and to prioritize reaches for future restoration projects.”
• $349,731 for Trout Unlimited to “complete final designs and place wood structures in Bernier Creek, a tributary to the South Fork Newaukum River in Lewis County.”
• $288,648 for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to “design the restoration of the Cowlitz Wildlife Area’s Spears Unit.”
Like Lewis County, Thurston County will also see roughly $1.2 million in grant funding to support habitat restoration projects, which include:
• $346,500 for the Capitol Land Trust to “buy 5.2 acres of unarmored marine shoreline, wetland, tributary stream and older forest habitat on Henderson Inlet, directly north of the Capitol Land Trust's 110-acre Inspiring Kids Preserve.”
• $299,700 for the Nisqually Land Trust to “help buy 41 acres along Powell Creek and its tributary Elbow Lake Creek.”
• $270,860 for the Nisqually Land Trust to “maintain native trees and shrubs on 55 acres that recently were restored along the middle reach of the Nisqually River.”
• $274,817 for South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement to “place logjams in the upper Deschutes River and Mitchell Creek.”
• $71,132 for the Thurston Conservation District to “develop eight planting projects and plant 3 acres of shoreline in Green Cove, Henderson Inlet, McLane Creek and Percival Creek sub-basins.”
In addition to the grant funding, the Salmon Recovery Funding Board approved an additional $23.8 million in projects that are dependent on the November election. If approved by voters, Initiative 2117 would repeal the CCA and remove the funding mechanism for the grants.
The Salmon Recovery Funding Board approved an additional $142.1 million in project recommendations that will be submitted to the state Legislature for consideration.
“This is a large amount of funding, and if it is all approved, we’ll be able to take some big steps forward in our recovery efforts,” Jeff Breckel, chair of the salmon recovery board, said in a statement. “When we restore salmon habitat, we also are restoring our waters, forests and shorelines — multiplying the benefits of salmon recovery many times over. We end up with more resilient land and water, reduced flooding, more salmon for tourism and the fishing industry and more jobs in local and rural communities. It’s a win for all of us.”
