Grant Money To Help Local Salmon

WAITSBURG - Salmon in Walla Walla and Columbia counties will be very happy to know some local conservation groups have received millions in funding to improve fish passage and fish habitat.

On Dec. 12, the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office announced it was giving $30 million in grant money to different organizations across the state to help recover the salmon population. The grant money will provide more than 300 jobs over the next four years, according to the organization's website.

Columbia County will receive $265,720 for projects and Walla Walla County will receive $1.13 million.

In Columbia County, the Pomeroy Conservation District will receive $14,600 to assess 50 miles of the Pataha Creek watershed to indentify fish passage barriers. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in Columbia County will receive $251,120 to increase the types of fish habitat in the Tucannon River at the Wooten Wildlife Area.

In Walla Walla County, the Tri-State Steelheaders will get $427,377 to make fish passage improvements on Mill Creek. The same group will also get $476,234 to restore the upper one-third of the Walla Walla River reach near Lowden.

The Walla Walla County Conservation District will receive $94,297 to design a new diversion entrance on Mill Creek to allow water in Jones ditch year-round. The conservation district will also receive $133,312 to restore a half-mile of the McCaw reach of the Touchet River near Waitsburg, which is a major salmon spawning area.

The funding for the grant comes from the Federal Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund and from the sale of state bonds, said Brian Abbott, the salmon section manager for the recreation and conservation office. About 75 percent of the money is federal, and 25 percent is state matching funds, Abbott said.

Steve Martin, the executive director of the Snake River Salmon Recovery Board, said the area typically receives this much money because the area's salmon steelhead and bull trout are on the endangered species list. The state and the local region have long-term plans on how to recover our salmon populations, what Martin called a "roadmap to recovery," that the state and federal governments help fund each year.

The local agencies that received the money picked a project from that long-term plan and wrote and submitted proposals last spring. Each December, the money is awarded. In January, the contracts will be signed and the projects will begin this summer, Martin said. The projects will each take about one to two years, Martin said.

The Waitsburg project on McCaw land will not only help fish, but alleviate flooding as well, he said.

"We can do great things for salmon habitat while controlling flooding," Martin said.

The projects are all sponsored and managed by these local agencies, conservation districts, enhancement groups and others in the region. For those interested in working on the projects, all hiring will be conducted through the local agencies, said Kay Caromile, a grant manager with the Salmon Recovery Funding Board.