The Washington Salmon Recovery Funding Board has announced $4.1 million in grants for projects across the Olympic Peninsula intended to rejuvenate struggling salmon runs.
The biggest award on the Peninsula is a $2.79 million grant to the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group for a Duckabush River estuary crossing project, according to a press release from the state Recreation and Conservation Office.
Awards in Jefferson County totaled $3.6 million, and Clallam County will see $503,166 in funding.
The funds are part of $26.1 million in grants for work across the state aimed at bringing certain salmon populations back from the brink of extinction. The Salmon Recovery Funding Board awarded grants for 96 projects in 28 of the state’s 39 counties. The grants are administered by the state Recreation and Conservation Office.
The Duckabush River grant is part of a first in the funding board’s 20-year history: It reserved funding for targeted investments in three areas where a species is closer to recovery goals and potential de-listing under the Endangered Species Act. Awards with similar targets were also given for projects in Walla Walla and near Ellensburg.
The Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group will use $2.79 million to design the removal and replacement of the U.S. Highway 101 causeway over the Duckabush River near Brinnon and the reconnection of the north channel. Redesigning the highway’s crossing of the lower river will allow natural processes to occur across the area and will reconnect the river and tidal habitats within the Duckabush estuary, according to the press release.
The river is used by chinook and chum salmon and steelhead trout, all of which are listed as threatened with extinction under the federal Endangered Species Act, and by coho salmon, which are a federal species of concern. The Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group will contribute $491,479 in a state grant.
The other Jefferson County awards include:
• Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group: $289,184
The Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group will use this grant to buy 30 acres of historic floodplain in the Moon Valley Reach downstream of the Highway 101 bridge. This project will allow for future restoration work to reconnect floodplain habitat with the Big Quilcene River and improve both water quality and habitat. The river is used by chum salmon and steelhead, both of which are species listed as threatened with extinction, and by coho salmon, which is a federal species of concern. The enhancement group will contribute $66,872 in a federal grant.
• Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group: $191,250
The Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group will use this funding to remove invasive knotweed from about 44 stream miles along the lower sections of the Union, Tahuya, Dewatto, Dosewallips, Big Quilcene and Little Quilcene rivers, and Big Anderson and Big Beef creeks. The enhancement group also will plant native vegetation across about 15 acres of surrounding habitat. Planting trees and bushes along a shoreline helps shade the water, cooling it for fish. The plants also drop branches and leaves into the water, which provide food for the insects salmon eat. Finally, the roots of the plants help keep soil from entering the water, where it can smother fish spawning gravel. The river is used by chinook and chum salmon and steelhead, all of which are species listed as threatened with extinction, and by coho salmon, which is a federal species of concern. The enhancement group will contribute $33,750 in a state grant and donations of labor and materials.
• The Nature Conservancy: $190,329
The Nature Conservancy will use this money to remove two derelict fish trap and weir structures, remove one culvert, and complete an assessment of other culverts that present barriers to migrating fish in the Clearwater River in the Clearwater Forest Reserve in Jefferson County. Culverts are pipes or other structures that carry water under roads and often block fish migration because they are too steep, too tall or too small to allow fish to pass through easily. The Nature Conservancy will also thin 60 acres of forest along the river to improve forest health, and survey and treat invasive weeds on about 10.5 acres. When implemented, the project will help connect more than 1 mile of habitat in tributaries and wetlands. The river is used by coho salmon. The Nature Conservancy will contribute $40,008 in donated labor.
• Jefferson County: $138,527
Jefferson County Public Health will use these funds to buy and protect 2 acres around the Big Quilcene River. The project will include removing structures and planting native trees and bushes along the shoreline to shade the water, cooling it for fish. The river is used by chum salmon and steelhead, both of which are species listed as threatened with extinction, and coho salmon, which is a federal species of concern. Jefferson County will contribute $25,326 in conservation futures.
Clallam County
The Clallam County awards include:
• Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe: $154,599
The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe will use this grant to build 24 logjams and reinforce three natural logjams in the Elwha River at Ranney Reach. This reach is straight and narrow with too few pools and fast-moving water during the winter. The logjams will split the river through the reach and create deep, stable pools with cover where young salmon can hide from predators and grow. Adding logs to a river also slows the river, which reduces erosion and allows small rocks to settle to the riverbed, creating areas for salmon to spawn. This project is part of a larger project funded in 2018. The river is used by chinook salmon, steelhead and bull trout, all of which are listed as threatened with extinction, as well as by cutthroat trout and coho, sockeye, pink and chum salmon. The tribe will contribute $400,000 in federal and local grants. In addition, the city of Port Angeles is providing funding because of its water system that transports water from the Elwha River to city residents.
• Trout Unlimited: $137,896
Trout Unlimited will use this funding to develop three construction-ready designs to replace three barriers to migrating fish. One barrier is on Wisen Creek and two barriers are on Wisen Branch Creek, all of which are in the Sol Duc River watershed east of Sappho. Replacing the three barriers will open 1.8 miles of habitat, as well as more than 2 acres of wetland and beaver pond habitat. Trout Unlimited will contribute $24,350 in donations of labor. The creeks are used by coho salmon and steelhead.
• Clallam Conservation District: $132,275
The Clallam Conservation District will use this money to help the U.S. Forest Service replace an undersized culvert with a larger culvert on a tributary of the Sitkum River. The new, larger culvert will allow tree branches, logs, and other large woody materials to flow down the river, which creates habitat for fish, and will better accommodate flood flows. The tributary is upstream from the Sitkum River, which supports a diversity of fish populations. If the current culvert were to fail, large amounts of sediment could be dumped into the Sitkum River, which would harm fish habitat. The river is used by chinook and coho salmon and steelhead. The conservation district will contribute $28,140 in donations of labor from the Forest Service.
• Quileute Tribe: $78,396
The Quileute Tribe will use these funds to improve habitat after a fish passage barrier is removed from a tributary to Cedar Creek in Clallam County. The tribe will plant trees, shrubs and native plants along the creek bank. The landowner, Rayonier, also is planning to remove a blocking culvert and decommission the road at this site. When combined with these habitat improvements, more natural processes will be able to occur and will provide access to a half-mile of upstream fish habitat. The creek is used by chinook, coho, steelhead and resident trout. The tribe will contribute $13,835.
