Continued funding of efforts to reverse 100+ years of destruction of our salmon streams. Removal of culverts is critical to any hope of restoring wild salmon. These are real jobs for blue collar people on the Peninsula. Much better use of our federal funds than funding many other non critical issues.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announce a $1 billion program to help save the region’s salmon while visiting Washington state Thursday…Salmon need to travel up rivers to spawn. A lot of them don’t make it because culverts get in the way. Culverts are like tunnels that let streams pass under roadways. Many were installed decades ago. While they allow water to pass through, they don’t work as well for salmon. The new program will help pay to improve or replace culverts in the region. A total of $1 billion is available over five years thanks to the “National Culvert Removal, Replacement and Restoration-Culvert Aquatic Organism Passage Program.” Applications are open for tribal, state, and local governments. David Hyde reports.