The Washington Salmon Recovery Funding Board has awarded nearly $1.2 million to counties in southeastern Washington for projects to help populations of endangered fish.
The grants from the federal Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund and the sale of state general obligation bonds total more than $26 million statewide, and will pay for 96 projects in 28 of the state’s 39 counties to improve fish passage, and spawning and rearing habitat for threatened salmon and steelhead.
The Asotin County Conservation District received $222,000 for three projects on Cottonwood Creek near its confluence with the Grande Ronde River and on various streams within the Asotin Creek watershed.
The Columbia County Conservation District, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife took in a combined $974,000 for projects on the Tucannon and Touchet rivers.
Since its creation in 1999, the Salmon Recovery Funding Board has awarded more than $1 billion to fund more than 3,000 projects across the state. (Lewiston Tribune)
