PORT ANGELES — Several North Olympic Peninsula groups will share in new state salmon recovery funding aimed at restoring local rivers and streams.
The Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board and Puget Sound Partnership have awarded more than $61 million statewide for 155 projects. The money comes from state and federal sources and is meant to reverse decades of damage to rivers, bays, and shorelines.
Locally, the 10,000 Years Institute will use a $50,000 grant to clear invasive weeds along the Calawah River. The Clallam Conservation District will receive more than $300,000 for tree planting and riverbank restoration in the Quillayute and Big River watersheds.
The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe has been awarded nearly $600,000 to conserve land and improve habitat along the Dungeness River, including the addition of logjams. And the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe will use about $780,000 to restore the Elwha and Pysht Rivers.
The North Olympic Salmon Coalition will also receive more than $1.8 million for projects on the Hoko River, Ossert Creek, and the Dungeness.
Officials say these projects are critical to restoring salmon runs, many of which have been listed as threatened or endangered for the past 25 years.