From a NOAA Press Release:
With $19 million in NOAA funds, nonprofit and tribal partners plan to remove 17 barriers blocking fish passage on critical spawning rivers originating in Olympic National Park, Washington.
The cold water rivers of Western Washington descend from the glaciers and snow-capped mountains of Olympic National Park. They hold some of the last, best freshwater habitat for salmon and steelhead in the lower 48 states. Despite a warming climate, their high-elevation headwaters are predicted to remain cool enough for salmon and steelhead for at least the next 50 years.
However, the region’s roads—some a legacy of the logging industry—crisscross the watersheds. They often force streams to flow underneath them through small, poorly designed tunnels called culverts that block fish passage. There are more than 4,000 culvert barriers on the Olympic Peninsula. Salmon and steelhead are often unable to reach the historical habitat they need to spawn and produce the next generation.
In response to declining fish populations on the Olympic Peninsula, NOAA’s Office of Habitat Conservation is supporting the Cold Water Connection Campaign. This partnership will reopen 125 miles of critical spawning and rearing habitat over the next 10 years. With $19 million in funds through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, project partners plan to:
- Remove 12 high-priority barriers in the Hoh, Quillayute, and Quinault watersheds
- Finalize designs for 5 additional culvert replacements
- Expand the ability of tribes to perform restoration work
- Inject money into the regional economy by hiring local and tribally owned contracting companies
- Mitigate flood damage risks by installing culverts built to handle high flows from the region’s increasingly heavy rain storms
“We are running out of time to recover and protect these salmon and steelhead populations,” says Luke Kelly, Western Washington Program Director for Trout Unlimited. “We need to pull out all the stops now, so it’s been great to see all of our government, tribal, nonprofit partners, and private landowners coming together to get this done.”
Cold Water Connection Campaign partners include:
- Wild Salmon Center
- Trout Unlimited
- Coast Salmon Partnership
- Hoh Tribe
- Quileute Tribe
- Makah Tribe
- Quinault Indian Nation
The campaign has support from local, state, and federal agencies including NOAA. In past years(PDF, 8 pages) project partners have also repaired instream and riparian habitat damaged by road building and destructive logging practices.
Also;a new short video looking at the Cold Water Connection Campaign on the Olympic Peninsula . It really celebrates the extensive work the partners have done to make sure they are prioritizing the most impactful barriers for removal, and the benefits this work provides to local communities above and beyond the important benefits to fish and coastal watersheds.
You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YhmFosupPM
Read the whole press release here before the Trump administration pulls it down:
Filed under: Clallam County, Endangered Species, First Nations, fisheries, Jefferson County | Tagged: COLD WATER CAMPAIGN, Fish barriers, NOAA | Comments Off on Cold Water Connection Campaign Reopens Rivers for Olympic Peninsula Salmon and Steelhead
