OLYMPIA — A $1.2 million restoration of a portion of Discovery Bay and a $261,963 cleanup in the area around the former
3 Crabs Restaurant near Sequim are among 20 projects in 10 counties to receive state funding to bring areas back to their natural states.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife is distributing $12 million in state capital funds and federal grants from the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, to sponsor undertaking projects aimed at protecting and restoring shorelines around Puget Sound.
The combined award in Jefferson and Clallam counties is $2,171,476.
A total of $1,909,513 is going to four projects in Jefferson County, with the largest — $1,219,912 — to be used to remove a railroad grade and restore 16 acres of salt marsh and estuary near the Snow and Salmon creeks.
Restoration will include removal of 1,465 feet of a railroad grade and three trestles around and between Salmon and Snow creeks.
Some 3,200 feet of private waterline that now runs along the railroad grade will be relocated, and 1,250 feet of shoreline armoring and 11,160 cubic yards of nearshore fill will be removed.
Native trees and shrubs will be planted over 3.9 acres of shoreline.
The sponsor of the project is the North Olympic Salmon Coalition.
One project is being funded in Clallam County: restoration of the 3 Crabs nearshore in the Dungeness River estuary.
The grant amount includes $130,981 in EPA grant funds.
Site prep includes demolition of existing buildings and removal of septic systems.
Designs developed for future restoration will include removal of 5 acres of fill and creosote pilings, shoreline armoring and dike removal, bridge construction and road relocation.
The sponsor of the project is the North Olympic Salmon Coalition.
Other Jefferson County projects
■ Dabob Bay shoreline restoration and protection: $210,000.
Grant funds will be used to acquire and restore 1,200 linear feet of saltmarsh and riparian forest shoreline along inner Tarboo-Dabob Bay.
Restoration will include removal of a house, utilities, driveway, shoreline fill and a bulkhead.
The sponsor of the project is the Northwest Watershed Institute.
■ Kilisut Harbor restoration: $427,475.
Grant funds will be used to develop a final design and permits for the removal of 450 feet of causeway acting as a barrier to tidal flow and fish passage at Kilisut Harbor, a coastal inlet between Indian and Marrowstone islands near the convergence of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound and Hood Canal.
This project would restore unimpeded fish access to 2,300 acres of highly productive salmonid rearing, foraging and migration habitat in Kilisut, and improve water quality and tidal flushing within the bay.
The sponsor is the North Olympic Salmon Coalition.
■ Fort Townsend shoreline restoration: $52,126 of federal EPA funds.
Grant funds will be used to develop a feasibility assessment, final design and fund permitting for the removal of roughly 1,400 cubic yards of fill and large rip-rap from a bluff-backed beach and adjacent intertidal area in Fort Townsend State Park.
The project also entails restoring about 9,000 square feet of nearshore habitat benefiting salmonids and forage fish and waterfowl at the park.
The sponsor is the Northwest Straits Foundation.
Also funded were projects in King, Kitsap, Mason, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom counties.
Project sponsors include local governments, tribes and nonprofit organizations from Hood Canal to the San Juan Islands that applied for funding through two competitive grant programs administered by the department, according to information from the state Fish and Wildlife Department.
Betsy Lyons, who manages the department’s estuary and salmon restoration program, said most projects funded this year involve removing unnecessary bulkheads, correcting barriers to salmon passage and restoring tidal functions altered by land-use practices over the past century.
“More than a quarter of Puget Sound’s 2,500-mile shoreline is currently lined with bulkheads or other types of shoreline structures,” Lyons said.
“These restoration projects will play an important role in advancing salmon recovery and ensuring our natural areas are healthy and productive.”