PORTLAND, Ore. -- Salmon, sea birds, and native plants are among the species that will benefit from conservation and restoration projects funded with $1.2 million in community service payments from polluters. Announced this month, the 10 projects, all in or near the Columbia River Estuary, were selected by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to receive the second round of grants from the Columbia River Estuarine Coastal Fund. The first round successfully funded 14 projects currently being completed.
"These projects will mitigate the environmental impacts of illegal dumping and bring additional benefits to the fish, wildlife, and communities that were affected," said Ren Lohoefener, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Pacific Region. "I want to thank everyone who worked to ensure that these fines would be used in those areas impacted by negligent pollution. Im proud that the Service is part of this collaborative effort to protect and restore the unique natural resources of the Columbia River estuaries."
"The funding will enable the community to come together to restore habitat for key species of fish, plants and wildlife, improve water quality, and invest in crucial research for the Columbia River system," said Jeff Trandahl, executive director, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. "By using funds to mitigate the impact of pollution to the Columbia River, we are able to take part in the recovery process of the river that will benefit everyone and strengthen the natural resources we all cherish."
The 10 successful grant applicants proposed projects to restore habitat for several salmonid species, cultivate environmental education amongst local students and the community, and improve the quality of habitat for seabirds, wildlife, and fish throughout the Columbia River. The grants range from $6,000 to $150,000, and total $697,434. Grant recipients are contributing an additional total of $531,385 in cash or in-kind contributions to their projects.
The grant recipients of the selected projects are:
Clatsop Soil and Water Conservation District: Grant $6,225; Match $8,453.
Restore two acres of riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.
Learn more about riparian area to benefit salmonids in the Lewis and Clark River in Clatsop County, Oregon by planting 1,600 native shrubs and trees resulting in cooler water temperatures and wood recruitment for the benefit of habitat for chinook and coho salmon as well as native runs of steelhead. The project is part of a larger project to stabilize river banks on the property and return its riparian areas to a vegetated and wooded state. Of this larger project, 600 feet of riverbank has been stabilized through bioengineered bank shaping, planting, and the installation of six log jams in the river. Project partners include the Natural Resource Conservation Service and local landowners.
The Wetlands Conservancy: Grant $38,000; Match $5,000.
Focus the second phase of the Youngs Bay Conservation Plan project on riparian and upland habitats in the Youngs Bay watershed to provide an ecological connectivity between the upper watershed and lowland habitats that were identified in the first stage of the project. This will be done by prioritizing conservation actions in the watershed in order to efficiently and effectively conserve critical biodiversity values as well as promote the selection of acquisition and restoration projects that address critical watershed restoration issues. Historic losses of target lowland habitats that are characteristic of the Youngs Bay and restoration strategies to address these losses were identified by TWC in phase I of the project. Phase II seeks to provide conservation and restoration strategies for the upper watershed with specific reference to actions that will improve the effected targeted lowland habitats. Project partners include The Nature Conservancy, Columbia Land Trust, and Pacific Forest Trust.
Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership: Grant $41,623; Match $41,779
Work to establish four leave-no-trace camp sites on the lower Columbia river, and work with students and scouts to remove invasive species invasive species
An invasive species is any plant or animal that has spread or been introduced into a new area where they are, or could, cause harm to the environment, economy, or human, animal, or plant health. Their unwelcome presence can destroy ecosystems and cost millions of dollars.
Learn more about invasive species as well as improve and maintain sites. Project will establish an adopt-a-site program with volunteer groups for each site committing them to a schedule of site stewardship and monitoring. The lower river collects toxics, debris, and trash from the Columbia Basin which impacts habitat for fish and wildlife as well as recreational values and aesthetics. Leave-no-trace camp sites will provide alternatives to refuge lands, promote tourism and establish environmentally sensitive sites that can be monitored and maintained. Students and volunteers will survey sites for invasive species and conduct removal projects, as well as native tree and shrub plantings at each site. Project partners include the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, REI Inc., and The Oregon Division of State Lands.
Washington State University Clark County Extension: Grant $27,639; Match $32,939
Work with group partners, agencies, local residents, and volunteers to coordinate watershed restoration projects. These projects include habitat identification and restoration, outreach and education, developing a watershed assessment design, and developing a riparian replanting plan. Runoff from industrial development caused by the rapid urbanization and growth of the areas along the main-stem of the Gee Creek watershed is further impacting the water quality and habitat of a stream already in poor health. As there is no formal management plan for the Gee Creek watershed at the moment, WSU seeks to conduct assessments and develop strategies, projects, and partners as well as raise public awareness and disseminate watershed information in the interim while a more formal watershed action plan is developed.
Friends of Haystack Rock: Grant $99,905; Match $116,750
Improve the quality of Haystack Rock Awareness Programs (HRAP) interpretive program and environmental education experience offered to school and community groups. Aging equipment, increased visitor numbers, expanded educational efforts and special birding events have created a need to purchase additional equipment, replace and upgrade existing equipment, add new activities to the program and improve outreach. The mission of the HRAP is to protect, through education, the intertidal and bird life of the Marine Garden and Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge at Haystack Rock. Haystack Rock serves as a breeding site for nine species of seabirds and contains diverse rocky tidal habitat. Without HRAPs interpretive services, human impact to the nesting seabird and intertidal area would be severe. Project partners include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce: Grant $95,704; Match $82,000
Implement a long-term effectiveness and ecological response monitoring program utilizing newly restored tidal wetlands in the Klaskanine, Lewis and Clark, and Grays rivers as well as a reference site in Baker Bay. CREST will use various parameters such as inter-annual and intra-annual trends, abundance of various species such as Chinook, coho, and chum, prey resources for salmonids, and water quality to measure juvenile salmonid response to these newly restored tidal wetlands. The assessment and understanding of ecological responses to restoration will contribute to building adaptive management strategies that will inform the design of future restoration treatments for tidal reconnection projects in the Columbia estuary and elsewhere. Project partners include The Columbia Land Trust, University of Washington, and local watershed councils.
Tillamook Bay Watershed Council (TBWC): Grant $150,866; Match $188,300
Improve in stream fish habitat on three miles of Munson Creek, a Tillamook tributary by removing five culverts and replacing them with one bridge and three fish passable culverts, decommissioning half a mile of logging road to reduce sedimentation, and installing 30 large wood structures along one mile of stream. In addition, TBWC will increase stream shading and future large wood recruitment by planting conifers in 2800 feet of riparian area, provide opportunities for local students to learn about watershed scale restoration projects and their impacts on stream health and fish populations, as provide interpretive signage and information regarding watershed restoration activities at Munson Creek Falls State Park. This project will support the restoration of habitat for coho, steelhead, cutthroat, chum, fall Chinook, lamprey, and sculpin. Project partners include Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, Green Diamond Resource Company, Oregon Department of Forestry, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership, Tillamook High School, and local landowners.
Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board (LCFRB): Grant $110,817; Match $28,799
Engage the local community in a collaborative process to develop a locally supported watershed restoration plan of priority projects benefiting local fish and wildlife. By organizing and convening a community project work group for the duration of the project, LCFRB will increase public and landowner support and participation that is needed to develop a list of high-priority projects which then can be used to develop the designs that are sensitive to the needs of the community. These designs will then be streamlined and coordinated with agencies to ensure that they have a high likelihood for implementation. The Grays River sub-basin supports populations of chum, fall chinook, and coho salmon as well as winter steelhead trout.
US Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon State Office: Grant $63,680; Match $8,565
Calibrate seabird mortality data collected by volunteers on Oregon and Washington coasts to permit wildlife agencies to make more accurate determination of mortality in future oil spills. This will be accomplished by identifying 12 sites within the study area and using three different survey methodologies that can potentially be used to estimate the number of carcasses present on a segment of coastline. Volunteers will use one of the three methods to record the species, scavenging state, size, color, and location for each bird found and record beach characteristics. A statistical model for correcting bird recoveries to actual mortality estimates will be formulated and a publication detailing the statistical model and survey recommendations for spill response will be prepared and made public on the state office's website as well as distributed to fellow seabird biologists and spill responders nation-wide.
University of Washington Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST): Grant $62,975; Match $18,800
Couple an existing beached bird survey program with local ocean-atmosphere dynamics to create a testable model allowing assessment of bird deposition and create a rigorous baseline for oil spills. Working with local community partners, COASST will recruit and train local citizens to collect daily beached bird data which will then be collated and verified by COASST experts. This data will then be translated into more frequent carcass deposition rates in order to be used as a baseline against which oil spills or any catastrophic mortality event can be assessed. The results of the project will be given to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and US Fish and Wildlife for use in future oil pill response.
Background and History
The Columbia River Estuarine Coastal Fund was established in 2004 through the collaboration of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Attorneys for Oregon and the Western District of Washington. $1.2 million in payments to start the fund came from fines imposed on shipping companies that illegally discharged oily waste into the Pacific Ocean. The U.S. Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agencys Criminal Investigative Division and the Washington Department of Ecology investigated the cases.
The U.S. Attorneys Offices in Portland, Oregon successfully prosecuted three foreign shipping companies charged in 2004 with violating federal pollution laws. Tipped off by whistleblowers, inspectors from the U.S. Coast Guard and the Washington State Department of Ecology conducted on-board investigations and found evidence of intentional discharges of oily waste from these ships. The shipping companies ultimately pleaded guilty to felony violations of environmental laws and were ordered to pay criminal fines and develop comprehensive environmental compliance plans to prevent future violations. A significant part of the criminal fines in each case was suspended on the condition that the suspended amounts be made as community service payments to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for conservation and restoration projects in the areas impacted by the discharges.
Among the largest community service payments ever allocated to restoration in the Pacific Northwest, the grants will directly benefit the natural resources impacted by the pollution.
Together with the Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation established the Fund as a grant-making program for projects in and along the Lower Columbia River, below Bonneville Dam, and the coasts of Oregon (south to and including Tillamook Bay) and Washington (north to and including Willapa Bay). The Foundation will oversee implementation of the grants.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 547 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
For more information visit www.fws.gov.
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
A nonprofit established by Congress in 1984, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation sustains, restores and enhances the nations fish, wildlife, plants and habitats. Through leadership conservation investments with public and private partners, NFWF is dedicated to achieving maximum conservation impact by developing and applying best practices and innovative methods for measurable outcomes. Since its establishment, NFWF has awarded nearly 8,900 grants to over 3,000 organizations in the United States and abroad and leveraged ? with its partners ? more than $374 million in federal funds into more than $1.2 billion for on-the-ground conservation. For more information visit www.nfwf.org.
