Major climate-related restoration projects along the Nooksack River will soon receive a big boost in federal funds.
On April 22, the Biden-Harris administration announced more than $70 million in funding for Washington projects targeting environmental resiliency, salmon populations and flood risk through the Climate-Ready Coasts Initiative, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The Nooksack Indian Tribe will receive $5.2 million in funds for projects targeting chinook salmon along the South Fork Nooksack, as well as berm development and flood-risk-reduction projects near Acme.
The Lummi Nation will receive more than $5 million for several projects, including a $4.2 million restoration project on the South Fork and $868,000 for eelgrass studies in reservation tidelands.
“These federal dollars are going to make a big difference for coastal communities and tribes here in Washington state — supporting work to restore coastal habitat, strengthen salmon recovery, and prepare communities to weather and respond to more flooding and more intense storms,” Sen. Patty Murray stated in a news release. “We’ve got to tackle climate change and prepare our coastlines to respond to the serious threats it poses — and that’s what exactly this funding will help do.”
Restoring struggling salmon populations in the Nooksack River is vital for Coast Salish tribes, including the Nooksack Tribe and the Lummi Nation, and the grants are aimed at supporting tribal fisheries.
The local restoration projects, the tribes hope, will help increase cool water pools in the river during low summer flows, as well as improve water quality.
“The very center of our way of life, as well as our economy, is salmon,” Lummi Indian Business Council Chairman Anthony Hillaire said in March. “Here at Lummi, we consider ourselves the salmon people.”
Representatives for the Nooksack Tribe, too, say fish are vital to their way of life.
“The Nooksack Indian Tribe is place-based, and it’s not an option to let the fish go,” Treva Coe, the assistant natural resources director for the tribe, said last summer.
In addition to salmon recovery, the Lummi Nation will target eelgrass beds and the invasive European green crab, which has inundated the tribe’s waters for the past two years.
“These grants will support 14 transformative conservation projects across the State of Washington from the Columbia River, to Hood Canal, the Nooksack, Nisqually, and Skagit rivers, and all the way to Willapa Bay and the Olympic Coast,” Sen. Maria Cantwell said in a statement.
Other projects in the region, including chinook restoration in the Skagit River estuary, also will receive federal money.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will receive $11.6 million to support large-scale restoration of habitat in the North Whidbey basin of the Skagit River Estuary. Restoring the existing habitat — marsh and floodplains — will help support endangered salmon recovery on Swinomish Indian Tribal Community land.
The Skagit River System Cooperative also will receive $649,000 to help restore habitat along the river.
“Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, Northwest Washington coastal communities will have the funding and resources needed to invest in solutions to boost climate resilience, restore salmon and steelhead habitat, reduce flooding and protect against invasive species,” said U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, an Arlington Democrat.
