Five local organizations will share nearly $930,000 in state grants for seven Pierce County projects that aim to restore salmon habitat, conserve pristine areas, and help bring salmon back from the brink of extinction.

In total, the Washington Salmon Recovery Funding Board awarded approximately $18 million to organizations for projects in 29 counties throughout Washington state. Funding for the grants comes from the sale of state bonds and the federal Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service.

“Salmon are important to Washington because they support thousands of jobs in Washington – fishing, seafood processing, boat sales and repair, tourism and more,” said Gov. Jay Inslee. “When we restore land and water for salmon we also are helping our communities. We get less flooding, cleaner water and better beaches. We also make sure that our grandchildren will be able to catch a fish or enjoy watching the return of wild salmon.”

The organizations awarded grants for projects in Pierce County include:

ORGANIZATION: Great Peninsula Conservancy
GRANT AMOUNT: $150,000
PROJECT: Conserving Filucy Bay Estuary Shoreline

ORGANIZATION: Nisqually Indian Tribe
GRANT AMOUNT: $135,000
PROJECT: Designing a Floodplain Restoration Project at Wilcox Farm

ORGANIZATION: Nisqually Land Trust
GRANT AMOUNT: $80,000
PROJECT: Conserving the Middle Ohop Creek

ORGANIZATION: Nisqually Land Trust
GRANT AMOUNT: $90,000
PROJECT: Conserving Upper Ohop Valley

ORGANIZATION: Pierce Conservation District
GRANT AMOUNT: $111,803
PROJECT: Removing Invasive Knotweed along the Nisqually River

ORGANIZATION: Pierce County
GRANT AMOUNT: $136,388
PROJECT: Buying Land along the Puyallup River for a Levee Project

ORGANIZATION: Pierce County
GRANT AMOUNT: $225,628
PROJECT: Restoring the South Fork Puyallup River Floodplain

“Without these grants that fund incredible projects, we wouldn’t have any salmon,” said David Troutt, chair of the state funding board. “That’s unacceptable. We’ve seen these grants make a difference. They create jobs, support local communities and their involvement in salmon recovery, and most importantly the projects are helping bring back the fish. After more than a decade of work, we’ve seen that in many areas of the state, salmon populations are increasing or staying the same. At the same time, we still have some important areas where fish populations are continuing to decline. We can’t get discouraged and must continue working at this. It’s too important to stop now.”

A complete list of grant recipients is available online here.