The Washington state Office of Recreation and Conservation announced $9.3 million in grant funding on Thursday to contribute to coastal habitat restoration across the Western Washington coast.
About $2 million will go to the Ecostudies Institute to fund conservation training for landowners in Grays Harbor, Lewis and Thurston counties. Even more will go directly to Grays Harbor County for two separate conservation projects. The funds were awarded through the Washington Coast Restoration and Resiliency Initiative created by the state Legislature in 2016.
According to the state agency, the grant program is aimed simultaneously at restoring important habitat and creating employment and economic opportunities in coastal parts of the state. Information from the recreation and conservation office shows that money going to Ecostudies Institute will fund approximately 25 positions across the three counties — Grays Harbor, Lewis and Thurston — to educate landowners and help “enhance” and protect 600 acres of grassland and prairie habitat. The end goal is to provide new habitat for rare native species including plants, insects and birds.
“The institute will educate more than 60 producers and technical service providers on conservation grazing practices and train landowners, producers and others on prairie pollinators,” states the grant description.
The Grays Harbor County projects are similarly aimed at habitat restoration with the first grant of $1,534,965.00 going to the Grays Harbor Conservation District to move forward with river habitat restoration near the headwaters of the west fork of the Satsop River. The project will install log structures on 6 miles of river to slow the stream and create shelter and shaded water for spawning salmon.
The second grant will send $561,500 to the Grays Harbor County Weed Board to fund efforts to remove noxious weeds and invasive species. The board will use the money to remove knotgrass from the Wynoochee, Stasop and Chehalis rivers, as well as Scotch broom, Gorse and Phragmites from dunes and coastal habitats. The project description states the goal as clearing the way for native trees to take route free from the hindrance of invasive plants.
The projects selected for funding in 2025 are roughly one third of those that applied. According to a news release from the recreation and conservation office, the Restoration and Resiliency Initiative has invested approximately $71 million in similar projects since its creation in 2015.
However, there is always more work to be done. The office estimates that supporting all eligible 2025 projects would have cost the state roughly $27 million.
“There is so much work for us to do to protect the gem that is the Washington Coast,”Recreation and Conservation Director Megan Duffy said. “The goals are to make sure coastal communities can keep their water clean, their forests healthy and fish in their rivers. These grants are a solid investment in helping to ensure that future.”
