Pierce County and several local groups have been awarded nearly $1.1 million in state grants to improve and protect salmon habitat.
The money is part of more than $19 million in grants approved by the Salmon Recovery Funding Board for projects throughout the state to restore salmon population.
The project sponsors and grants in Pierce County announced Dec. 20 are:
• Pierce County will use $105,520 to open up fish passage in Schoolhouse Creek on Anderson Island. The county also will use $229,621 to restore the Puyallup River floodplain at South Fork, north of Orting.
• The Greater Peninsula Conservancy will receive $135,570 to buy 6.5 acres of coastal inlet estuary at the head of Case Inlet’s Rocky Bay, home to several species of fish.
• The Nisqually Land Trust will receive $200,000 to buy and restore 11 acres in the lower Ohop Valley near Eatonville.
• The Pierce County Conservation District will receive $55,998 to take an inventory of and remove Japanese knotweed near the Nisqually River.
• The South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group will receive $332,395 to install log jams in the Greenwater River, near the community of Greenwater. It also will use $39,979 to restore shoreline in Filucy Bay, near Longbranch.
The project sponsors will contribute additional money or donate labor and materials for their projects.
steve.maynard@thenewstribune.com
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