South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group

From The Olympian, January 7, 2006:

$4 million doled out to South Sound groups
Projects to help Salmon

BY JOHN DODGE

THE OLYMPIAN

Fourteen South Sound salmon recovery projects totaling $4 million were funded Friday by the state Salmon Recovery Funding Board.

The money came from an equal share of federal and state grants that are doled out to tribes, local governments and nonprofit groups once a year.

This year, projects around the state valued at $40 million vied for a total of $26.6 million, according to Bill Ruckelshaus, chairman of the Salmon Recovery Funding Board.

Money is primarily used to buy sensitive salmon habitat, replace fish-blocking road culverts and restore shorelines, estuaries and streams.

“There’s always some disgruntled people when there’s not enough money to go around,” Ruckelshaus said.

South Sound salmon recovery efforts fared particularly well in this year’s grant competition, said David Troutt, natural resources director for the Nisqually Tribe.

Nisqually restoration

The Nisqually Tribe received $1.1 million to restore Ohop Creek, a major tributary to the Nisqually River.

Over the years, 3.3 miles of the creek have been ditched and straightened. The money will be used, with the support of 18 private landowners, to restore the engineered stream to a natural meandering stream, covering 5.3 miles, said Jeanette Dorner, salmon recovery program manager for the tribe.

Working with the landowners and eight other partners, the tribe will improve habitat for chinook, steelhead, pink, coho and chum salmon.

It’s one of the largest freshwater habitat restoration projects ever attempted in the Puget Sound region, Dorner said.

Also in the Nisqually River Basin, the Nisqually Land Trust received more than $560,000 for two land acquisitions, including 20 acres near Powell Creek in Thurston County and about 70 acres near Mashel River State Park.

Ellis Creek project

The city of Olympia secured $598,000, which will be combined with $500,000 of city money for a major Ellis Creek culvert replacement project under East Bay Drive at Priest Point Park.

The project will open up about one-half mile of spawning habitat for coho salmon in 2007, city project manager Roy Iwai said.

The second phase of the project, a $708,900 Ellis Creek culvert replacement project on Gull Harbor Road, which would open up another mile of salmon habitat, was not funded.

Hood Canal

Another major project will take place at Belfair State Park on Hood Canal. The Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group received $512,950 to restore 8.1 acres of estuary and salt marsh wetlands at the park. The salmon enhancement group already has secured nearly $1.9 million in other funds for the project.

Land acquisition

The Cascade Land Conservancy will use $248,876 to do restoration work and purchase a land protection agreement for about 150 acres of the Richert Ranch near the confluence of the north and south forks of the Skokomish River.

The project will protect and restore habitat for two endangered species, chinook and summer chum salmon.

Culvert replacement

The South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group received $410,000 to replace an undersize culvert at Jarrell Cove on Harstine Island to improve a tidal estuary used by coho, chum and coastal cutthroat trout.

Bulkhead removal

The South Puget Sound group also received $95,000 to remove a 110-foot-long bulkhead across from Frye Cove County Park in Eld Inlet. Beach habitat will be improved for fish that salmon eat. Large rocks and woody debris will be installed to increase beach diversity and protect a marine bluff from erosion.

Bulkhead removal projects are identified as a key component of the South Sound salmon recovery plan.

Other plans

In addition, the salmon enhancement group secured $104,500 to remove several tons of concrete, pilings and an old bridge in the Skookum Inlet estuary near Skookum Creek. Large woody debris and salt marsh plants will be added to the 2-acre site to improve habitat for forage fish, coastal cutthroat trout, coho and chinook.

The Squaxin Island Tribe received $94,810 to restore freshwater salmon habitat along a one-mile stretch of Skookum Creek.

John Dodge covers the environment and energy for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5444 or jdodge@theolympian.com.