SEQUIM — Clallam County officials are seeking a $1 million grant to fund a Dungeness River estuary project that includes acquiring private property west of the mouth of the river.

The county Department of Community Development is seeking the grant from the state Salmon Recovery Funding Board.

The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe is working with the county on the estuary restoration proposal.

Under project guidelines, the money would be used to purchase 22 acres of land from willing sellers and remove 3,400 feet of dike.

Residences and infrastructure on up to 20 parcels would be razed and septic systems removed and native vegetation would be replanted.

The grant proposal was submitted to the Salmon Recovery Funding Board in the fall and a decision is expected by April, said Ann Seiter, Jamestown S’Klallam tribal natural resources director.

“There is a real need to restore the estuary at the river mouth,” she said. “We would buy out willing sellers. I want to stress, willing.”

Seiter did not elaborate on what would happen if willing sellers did not come forward.

The project would extend from the mouth of the river to Schoolhouse Bridge, Seiter said.

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