2008 National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grants

January 2008

The Pacific Coast Joint Venture has announced that coastal wetlands in Oregon, Washington and Hawaii will benefit from 2008 National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grants. The grant program is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The grants will be used to acquire, restore or enhance coastal wetlands to provide long-term conservation benefits to fish, wildlife and habitat. These federal grants will be matched by partner contributions from state and local governments, private landowners and conservation groups.

Hawaii

Hawaiian bird habitat to benefit from National Coastal Wetland Conservation Grant

Conserving and Restoring the Biodiversity of the NW Hawaiian Islands: The Kure Atoll Restoration Project
($400,000)
Kure Atoll, at the northwest tip of the Hawaiian archipelago, is the world’s northernmost coral atoll. Through this project, the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources will restore 13 acres of critical seabird habitat by removing invasive plants and improving habitat conditions for the potential reintroduction of the Laysan Duck. It will also restore 36 acres of marine intertidal habitat by removing marine debris and entanglement hazards, and 250 acres of marine sub-tidal coral reef habitat by removing marine debris. The Atoll provides nesting habitat for 17 seabird species, including species identified as “highly imperiled” or of “high concern” in the U.S. Seabird Conservation Plan for the Pacific Region, and listed as priority species by the North American Bird Conservation Initiative.

Red-tailed Tropicbird and chick. Photo by Gerald Ludwig, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Red-tailed Tropicbirds nest under dense vegetation along the edge of the inter-tidal zone. Adults and chicks use the inter-tidal zone for cover during nesting season. By removing marine debris from the intertidal zone this project will improve nesting and fledgling habitat.

Oregon

Federal grants provide $1.5 million for coastal wetlands in Oregon

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has approved more than $1.5 million in four grants for wetland acquisition and restoration in three Oregon estuaries. The federal Coastal Wetland Conservation Grants will be awarded to the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board. OWEB is expected to provide an additional $937,750 in state grants to help fund partnerships for acquisition and restoration projects on Alsea Bay, Yaquina Bay, and the Salmon River estuary. Oregon grants funded in the current cycle include:

Yaquina River ($95,725)

The Wetlands Conservancy will use the federal funds to acquire a 12-acre piece of tidal marsh on Poole Slough and purchase conservation easements on an additional 47 acres of high tidal marsh and three acres of adjacent uplands. OWEB is expected to provide $46,250 toward the purchases, which will fill in some of the gaps in a large block of conservation lands around Poole and McCaffery sloughs that includes some of the highest quality tidal marshes in Oregon. The two sloughs are on the south side of the Yaquina River between Newport and Toledo.

Federal funds will help protect key tidal wetlands on Poole Slough along the Yaquina River east of Newport.

Alsea Bay ($997,350)

The Wetlands Conservancy will buy 164 acres of high tidal marsh and 71 acres of adjacent upland forest buffer along the Bayview Oxbow across the bay from Waldport. The conservancy will also acquire a conservation easement on 10 acres of adjacent high tidal marsh. The Bayview Oxbow area has been identified as one of the highest priorities for protection and restoration of tidal wetlands in the Alsea estuary, where 60 percent of the historic salt marsh has been lost. OWEB is expected to contribute $241,500 to the project, and one of the landowners is donating $100,000 through a below-market sale.

Salmon River ($754,860)

The U.S. Forest Service will work with local watershed councils to restore 71 acres of wetlands in an estuary that has largely been restored below the Highway 101 bridge north of Lincoln City. The biggest chunk of work in the current package of projects involves removal of dikes around the old Pixieland amusement park site just east of Highway 101, opening the way for restoration of 57 acres of wetlands along the Salmon River and Fraser Creek. OWEB is expected to contribute $395,000 of state funds. In-kind match will be provided by the U.S. Forest Service, Oregon Department of State Lands, Salmon Drift Creek Watershed Council, and the Midcoast Watershed Council.

Lint Slough ($310,000)

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and a group of partners will complete restoration of more than a mile of Lint Slough’s estuarine habitat by removing dikes and water control structures to open up 130 acres of intertidal marsh and mudflat habitats. The lower end of the slough was channelized and diked in 1963 for a salmon rearing research facility. Initial restoration work began in 1998. Work on the final phases of the restoration plan got under way in 2007 with funding provided by ODFW, Oregon Department of State Lands and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Coastal Program. Match for the new federal grant is expected to include $255,000 from OWEB and in-kind contributions by ODFW, ODSL, U.S. Forest Service, the Midcoast Watershed Council, Alsea Watershed Council, Izaak Walton League, Audubon Society of Oregon, Wetlands Conservancy, City of Waldport and Port of Alsea.

Washington

Five Washington wetlands receive National Coastal Wetland Conservation grants

Lower Queets River ($1,000,000)

photo by Paula Levin, USFWS

The Queets River is one of the largest undammed, undiked wild rivers in the lower 48 states. The Queets River watershed is host to a diversity of birds, waterfowl, and other wildlife, as well as one of the most productive salmon fisheries on the West Coast. The Washington Department of Ecology will protect approximately 523 acres of estuary, lower reach, and wetlands in the Queets River drainage. Of this area, 480 acres will be protected through conservation easements and 55 acres will be acquired in fee. This project has support from a variety of partners including the Quinault Indian Nation, Cascade Land Conservancy, the Wild of Forever Fund, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Program.

Glen Cove ($1,000,000)
Port Townsend Bay

The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission will permanently protect approximately 89 acres in fee and conservation easement, including 46 acres of tidelands, 4,600 feet of shoreline and 43 acres of forested uplands in Jefferson County. These lands will be used to expand Old Fort Townsend State Park. A diversity of shorebirds, waterfowl, wetland- and riparian-associated neotropical migrants, raptors, fish and mammals will benefit from protection of the eelgrass beds, mudflats, and forested uplands, and feeder bluffs on the property. The nearshore habitat benefits four of eight native fish species, including federally listed Puget Sound steelhead and summer chum salmon. This protection will also ensure continued availability of forage habitat for resident killer whales in Port Townsend Bay.

Pilot Point ($1,000,000)
Kitsap Peninsula

The Pilot Point project will play a key role in achieving shoreline and wetland protection and connectivity on Kitsap Peninsula in Puget Sound. The Washington Department of Ecology will acquire a 34.5 acre parcel with lowland northwest maritime forest, wetlands, streams, tidal habitat, and 1,100 feet of sandy beach. The project site, which is the last large privately held parcel on the northeastern side of the Peninsula, will be added to an existing 400-acres of protected coastal habitat. The acquisition will protect large beds of native eelgrass, which provide habitat for crabs, shellfish, shorebirds, forage fish and anadromous fish, including Chinook salmon, coho salmon, and chum salmon. The project will also ensure continued availability of forage habitat for resident killer whales.

Tarboo-Dabob Bay ($1,000,000)
Hood Canal

Through deed restriction, conservation easement, and fee simple acquisition, the Washington Department of Ecology will permanently protect 150 acres of coastal saltmarsh spit, tidal mudflats, beach and steep forested slopes, and shorelines along Tarboo Dabob Bay, including 4,000 linear feet of protected tidelands. This project will also protect a feeder bluff essential for maintaining sediment supply to the coastal salt marshes and eelgrass beds. The three properties that make up the project area are an essential part of a 3,000-acre watershed-scale conservation project for Tarboo-Dabob Bay and a larger effort by federal and state agencies and non-governmental organizations to form a continuous nature preserve around Tarboo-Dabob Bay. Protection of these habitats will benefit Chinook and chum salmon, cutthroat trout, marbled murrelets, Western toads, Townsend’s big eared bats, and commercially and recreationally important shellfish.

Deadwater Slough ($1,000,000)
Snohomish River estuary

This project will allow the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will acquire 820 acres of land that was formerly estuarine wetland, but which is presently diked and drained for cattle grazing. The acquired lands will be combined with an adjacent 417-acre WDFW wildlife unit. This acquisition is part of a larger effort by Snohomish County, Tulalip Indian Tribe, WDFW, and the City of Everett to restore the Snohomish River estuary – the second largest watershed draining into Puget Sound. Deadwater Slough is vital to Chinook salmon recovery.

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