Cantwell and Larsen secure funding for local ecosystem and climate change projects

Swinomish Tribal Community lands are in line for salmon habitat restoration and coastal resilience grant funds, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Everett) and U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA.) announced last week.

The federal funding support has been recommended by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as part of infrastructure and inflation reduction legislation passed to combat climate change and create green jobs.

One of 14 NOAA-endorsed conservation projects is an $11.6 million Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife salmon and ecosystem recovery effort in the North Whidbey basin of the Skagit River.

“The scale of restoration of estuary marshes and floodplains will result in better habitat for salmon,” a Cantwell spokesperson said. “The work is expected to reduce flooding on county roadways and tribal lands. Two of the sites are located on Swinomish Indian Tribal Community land with coordination and support of the Swinomish and Sauk-Suiattle Tribes.”

Larsen toured the Smokehouse Ditch and Similk Bay estuarine areas last year, meeting with Skagit River System Cooperative and Swinomish officials, including Tribal Senate Chair Steve Edwards and Senator Eric Day.

Larsen had written a letter of support for SRSC’s application for a NOAA grant to fund work designed to restore salmon habitat and address climate change issues.

At Smokehouse Ditch, north of La Conner near the twin-spanned Duane Berentson Bridge, the plan is to restore about 120 acres of salmon habitat by setting back a 1930s era dike along the Swinomish Channel. That will reestablish saltwater vegetation and tidal processes to a portion of just over 900 acres of rural tribal land.

NOAA has additionally recommended a nearly $650,000 grant to SRSC, which provides fisheries and environmental services for the Swinomish and Sauk-Suiattle tribes, for Chinook salmon recovery in the Skagit River watershed.

The Washington State Department of Ecology’s Padilla Bay Samish Conservation Area Protection Project will also get $2.3 million from NOAA. “These funds,” the Cantwell representative said, “will allow Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve to protect and restore 74.5 acres of former and current tidal marsh as part of a larger overall effort to restore up to 105 acres of tidal marsh to Padilla Bay. The project will increase climate resilience by reducing flood risk for the only road and utility corridor that services the Samish Island community. The project will also restore tribal cultural connections with the site, which is near an important historical longhouse location.”

Larsen, the lead Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act will provide funding and resources Northwest Washington coastal communities need to boost climate resilience, restore habitat, reduce flooding and protect against invasive species.

“I will continue to work with local leaders and stakeholders and the administration,” Larsen said, “to fully implement these historic laws to combat climate change and build cleaner, greener, safer and more accessible communities in the Pacific Northwest and across the country.”