Three salmon restoration projects in Cowlitz County were awarded state Salmon Recovery Grants totaling around $1.1 million.
The Cowlitz Conservation District received $219,000 for its Upper Germany Creek restoration; the Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group was given $771,000 to expand its restoration of the South Fork Toutle River; and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife got $100,000 for a project to improve estimates of steelhead abundance in Clark, Cowlitz, Lewis, Skamania and Wahkiakum counties.
Jeff Breckel, chair of the Salmon Recovery Funding Board, said the funding “provides the foundation for efforts to protect and restore the habitat our salmon and steelhead depend upon.”
“It supports the work of many dedicated individuals and organizations and leverages additional government and private funding,” Breckel said. “These grants are one of our best tools for reversing the decline of salmon populations. Without this funding, we simply wouldn’t be able to save salmon, which are such a critical part of our Northwest culture, economy and quality of life.”
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Trees and root wads will be placed in Germany Creek to create places for fish to rest, feed and hide from predators. The trees and root was also will slow the river, which reduces erosion and allows small rocks to settle to the creek bed, creating areas for salmon to spawn.
Logs change the flow of the creek, creating riffles and pools, which give salmon more varied habitat, a press release said. Germany Creek is used by steelhead trout, along with coho and Chinook salmon, all threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act.
The Cowlitz Conservation District will contribute $39,000 in state grant and donations of labor and materials to the project, which is in its first stage of five planned stages.
Restoration on the South Fork Toutle River has been ongoing, since the river was cleared in 1980 by a violent mudflow caused by the eruption of Mount St. Helens.
The grant will be used to begin restoring the Brownell reach area of the South Fork Toutle River, and will include finalizing the project design, planting the area, and installing tree root wads and logs in the river and its floodplain.
“The goal is to jumpstart the establishment of mature floodplain forests,” according to the project description.
Plants for the project will be grown by Toutle Lake High School students and enhancement group staff. The Lower Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group will contribute $140,500 in donations of labor and materials.
The river is used by Chinook and coho salmon and steelhead trout, all of which are listed as threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act; as well as lamprey, trout, and a dozen other cold water fish species.
The steelhead estimate project will improve the statistical analysis methods the Department of Fish and Wildlife uses to estimate the number of natural origin steelhead in southwest Washington.
“The department will develop a method customized for estimating the number of salmon spawning from non-randomized stream survey counts,” according to the project description. “Then, the department will re-analyze winter steelhead data to provide an updated, unbiased estimate with measurable precision.”
The Department of Fish and Wildlife will contribute $17,700 in addition to the grant.
Overall, the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board awarded $21 million in grants to 105 projects in 29 of the state’s 39 counties to aid in salmon recovery. Grant recipients contributed more than $19.2 million in matching resources, such as staff labor, donations or equipment use.
The Salmon Recovery Funding Board press release states that commercial and recreational fishing in Washington is estimated to support 16,000 jobs and $540 million in personal income, and recreationally an estimated $1.5 billion is spent annually on fishing and harvesting shellfish in Washington.
Salmon recovery funding since 1999 has resulted in more than $1 billion in economic activity, the press release said, because every $1 million spent on forest and watershed restoration generates between approximately 16 and 24 jobs.
“Salmon are important to every Washingtonian, whether they spend time fishing, eat salmon, rely on salmon for their business or use salmon in their cultural celebrations,” Gov. Jay Inslee said in press release. “It’s imperative that we improve the areas salmon need, and these grants help do that.”