Upright Head beach
posted 10/01/2025 - The Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board and Puget Sound Partnership awarded more than $61 million in grants to 155 projects across the state aimed at restoring salmon habitat.
“These grants fund important work,” said Jeff Breckel, chair of the Salmon Recovery Funding Board. “They are funding organizations to undo the damage we have done to our rivers, bays and shorelines in the past and helping us make our waterways more hospitable to salmon.”
As Washington’s population grew, the number of salmon dwindled. By 2000, the federal government had declared wild salmon and steelhead species in nearly three-fourths of the state as threatened or endangered. The Legislature created the Salmon Recovery Funding Board in 1999 to determine how best to distribute state and federal funding to recovery projects.
The grants fund a range of projects, from planting trees on riverbanks to shade and keep the water cool for salmon, to removing pipes that carry rivers under roads and often get clogged or are too high for salmon to reach, to digging channels off fast-flowing rivers to create slower moving water where fish can rest.
Many grants also target restoration work in Puget Sound and are funded through the Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration program.
“Recovering salmon in Puget Sound is urgent work,” said Larry Epstein, deputy director of the Puget Sound Partnership. “We have seen significant declines in salmon populations, and we cannot afford to lose ground. We also have seen that when we do the right things in the right places, salmon can begin to recover. These grants represent the collective effort of many organizations, agencies and communities working together to restore habitat and ensure salmon remain a vital part of our environment, culture and economy.”
SAN JUAN COUNTY
Friends of the San Juans Grant Awarded: $142,027
Assessing Restoration of Davis Bay and Richardson Marsh The Friends of the San Juans will use this grant to gather and analyze data on the condition of the Richardson Bay marsh and discuss restoration actions with landowners. The expansive Richardson Bay marsh on southwest Lopez Island drains into Davis Bay, a top priority area for salmon recovery. A dike and tide gate at the marsh’s outlet has block tidal flow the marsh resulting in an infestation of invasive reed canary grass, blocked fish passage, flooded county roads, and area wells with sea water intrusion. The goal of this planning project is to fill data gaps and explore landowner willingness for a restoration project at Davis Bay and Richardson Marsh. Restoration will improve conditions for out-migrating juvenile salmon and their prey by improving wetland and beach habitats and processes. The bay is used by Chinook salmon, which 39 Salmon Recovery Grants 2025 is a species listed as threatened with extinction under the federal Endangered Species Act. Visit RCO’s online Project Snapshot for more information and photographs of project 24-1656.
Friends of the San Juans Removing Shoreline Armor on Lopez Island Grant Awarded: $483,516
Friends of the San Juans, in partnership with the San Juan County Conservation Land Bank and the Washington State Department of Transportation, will use this grant to remove eighty-five feet of rock revetment on the beach, a derelict concrete boat ramp, and most of the revetment along a decommissioned road at Upright Head on Lopez Island. The friends group also will move infrastructure, regrade and replant the slope, and add gravel and sand to the beach. The work will restore spawning habitat for forage fish, a key food for imperiled salmon species. The friends group also will install interpretive signs to educate visitors on the ecological importance of the site and restoration efforts. The area is used by Chinook salmon, which is a species listed as threatened with extinction under the federal Endangered Species Act; by coho salmon, which is a federal species of concern; and by chum salmon. Visit RCO's online Project Snapshot for more information and photographs of project 25-1151.
San Juan County Conservation Land Bank Conserving Eastsound Shoreline Grant Awarded: $595,455 T
he San Juan County Conservation Land Bank will use this grant to buy nearly twenty-four acres of undeveloped shoreline at Eastsound on Orcas Island. The land is a high-priority area for the rearing of Chinook salmon and for use by the fish salmon eat. The land includes a quarter-mile of rocky shoreline with a 260-foot pocket beach, an intermittent stream, mature vegetation, and a small holding area offshore for herring. The land bank has protected more than a mile of undeveloped shoreline in the county using previous grants. Public opportunities for hiking, kayaking, and wildlife viewing are anticipated in the future. The area is used by Chinook salmon, which is a species listed as threatened with extinction under the federal Endangered Species Act; by coho salmon, which is a federal species of concern; and by chum and pink salmon. Visit RCO’s online Project Snapshot for more information and photographs of project 24-1659.
San Juan County Conservation Land Bank Expanding the Coho Preserve Grant Awarded: $521,500
The San Juan Conservation Land Bank will use this grant to buy seven acres to expand the Coho Preserve by six acres and extend protection to the eastern banks of lower Cascade Creek, a significant salmon-bearing stream in San Juan County. The purchase will protect critical salmon habitat on Orcas Island and ensure that high-quality habitat along a quarter-mile of creek, marine shoreline, and tidelands in Buck Bay stays intact and protected from residential development. The creek is used by Chinook salmon, which is a species listed as threatened with 40 Salmon Recovery Grants 2025 extinction under the federal Endangered Species Act; by coho salmon, which is a federal species of concern; and by chum salmon and coastal cutthroat trout. Visit RCO's online Project Snapshot for more information and photographs of project 25-1087.
San Juan Preservation Trust Finding San Juan Outer Islands Sites for Conservation Grant Awarded: $85,300 The San Juan Preservation Trust will use this grant to reach out to eight landowners who own high-priority shoreline habitat to see if they are willing to sell their land or the development rights. The land trust will focus on people who own land on islands without ferry service. The land trust will create maps, complete title review, and conduct field assessments. In addition, Friends of the San Juans will survey seasonal spawning areas at four of the properties with pocket beaches. The area is used by Chinook salmon, which is a species listed as threatened with extinction under the federal Endangered Species Act, and by coho salmon, which is a federal species of concern. Visit RCO's online Project Snapshot for more information and photographs of project 25-1088.
MULTIPLE COUNTIES
Island, King, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom Counties Tulalip Tribes Monitoring Offshore Puget Sound Juvenile Salmon Grant Awarded: $299,978
The Tulalip Tribes and partners will use this grant to conduct comprehensive juvenile salmon monitoring surveys in offshore marine waters in northern Washington and all basins of Puget Sound for two years. The partners will analyze sample collections from these surveys, compile trends from annual surveys conducted since 2021, compare observed factors limiting marine survival rates, and report on this information to help salmon management decision makers improve salmon return forecasting and habitat restoration effectiveness. Visit RCO’s online Project Snapshot for more information and photographs of project 25-1197.