Local waters qualify for salmon recovery funding

Published 6:33 pm Monday, January 5, 2009

Local waterways were included when the Salmon Recovery Funding Board awarded $625,000 in grants aimed at protecting and restoring habitat and recovering salmon species.

The awards designate $325,000 for South Silver Springs habitat restoration in the South Prairie Creek watershed, $95,000 to design a Boise Creek channel relocation project in Enumclaw and $125,000 to design a levee setback and side-channel habitat on the White River in Auburn.

Project sponsors are Pierce County Public Works and Utilities, the Puyallup Tribe and King County’s Department of Natural Resources and Parks. Project sponsors will contribute an additional $499,000 in matching funds, raising the total funding to more than $1.1 million.

The five-member Salmon Recovery Funding Board, created by the state Legislature in 1999, supports salmon recovery by providing grant funding for habitat protection and restoration projects. It also supports related programs and activities that produce sustainable and measurable benefits for salmon and their habitat. The board has provided financial assistance for more than 800 projects statewide.