State Salmon Recovery Board Awards Nearly $2.8M to Lewis, Thurston and Grays Harbor County Projects

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The Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB) announced in a news release on Monday the approval of almost $76 million in grants to help recover salmon populations around the state.

Lewis, Thurston and Grays Harbor county projects will be receiving a total of $2,791,766 in grant funding.

 

The amount of SRFB grants being awarded to Lewis County totals $1,261,347.

A $315,076 grant will go to the Cowlitz Indian Tribe for restoration of the Cispus River by adding logjams to a half-mile stretch of the river near Randle. Logjams slow the river-flow and create pools and riffles for salmon to spawn in.

A $52,000 grant will go to the Lewis Conservation District to replace two culverts on private property that currently block fish passage on a Newaukum River tributary.

Two grants, one of $257,955 and one of $387,006, will go to the Lewis County Public Works Department to replace a culvert under Labree Road with a larger one and replace a bridge on Logan Hill Road currently blocking fish passage in Berwick Creek.

Finally, a $249,310 grant will go to Trout Unlimited, Inc. to replace a culvert near a private driveway on Coal Creek Road in Chehalis.

 

The amount of SRFB grants being awarded to Thurston County totals $553,599.

Two grants, one of $50,000 and one of $228,000, will go to the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group to remove a bulkhead, concrete pad and stairway near Bushoowah-Ahlee Point to open up more salmon habitat and to remove a culvert blocking fish passage under a private road near Griggs Creek.

Two grants, one of $80,000 and one of $50,000, will go to Thurston County Public Works Department to remove a fish passage barrier on Thompson Creek and remove another fish passage barrier on a tributary to Dempsey Creek.



Finally, a $145,599 grant will go to the Wild Fish Conservancy to design and implement multiple projects to improve fish habitat in Meyer Creek.

 

The amount of SRFB grants being awarded to Grays Harbor County total $976,820.

Two grants, one of $75,053 and one of $401,767, will go to the Chehalis Basin Fisheries Task Force to replace a culvert under Newskah Road currently blocking fish passage and to replace two other culverts blocking fish passage under Schafer Boom Road.

Two more grants, one of $200,000 and one of $300,000, will go to the Quinault Indian Nation to identify fish passage barriers in tributaries located in the Lower Quinault and Raft River watersheds and to map the knotweed infestation to reduce and control grass patches along the Lower Quinault River.

In total, grant funding will go to 138 projects in 30 counties throughout Washington to restore salmon habitat. 

“This is incredibly important work, the projects will help restore salmon across the state. That means more salmon for our endangered orcas, more jobs for people and industries that rely on salmon and improved habitat that can better protect us from floods and the effects of climate change,” Gov. Jay Inslee said in the release.

In addition to these grants, the SRFB also approved an additional $58 million in grant funding for the Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration program if the state Legislature also approves the funding in 2023.

The full list of SRFB 2022 Salmon Recovery grants can be viewed online at https://rco.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/SAL-Grants-2022.pdf.