The Portland-based Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership is currently accepting proposals for habitat restoration projects along the lower Columbia, especially those that address salmon restoration. The organization announced last week that up to $2 million will be available annually, with individual restoration projects expected to recieve awards between $50,000 and $500,000. Applications for funding will be accepted through April 22, 2011.
The funds could be used to support any phase of a restoration project; including planning and design, permitting, implementation, evaluation and reporting. Additional technical assistance funds are also available to support the creation, design, and implementation of larger, more complex projects. (Services that could qualify for this funding include design, engineering, hydrology and geotechnical).
Restoring habitat for migrating salmon and trout is a critical element to the estuary-wide effort, because habitat for the threatened and endangered fish has fallen by as much as 75% in the past 100 years, due to encroaching development, agricultural practices hydroelectric operations. The lower Columbia river and estuary are critical areas for all migrating Columbia Basin fish.
16,000 acres of habitat has been restored since 1999, funded in part by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) as part of mitigation requirements established in the 2008 Biological Opinion for the Federal Columbia River Power System (2008 FCRPS BiOp).
The Estuary Partnership was established in 1995 by the Governors of Washington and Oregon and the US EPA to coordinate, advance science and acheive on-the-ground results in the lower Columbia River and estuary. The Estuary Partnership works in three areas to: protect the ecosystem and species, reduce toxic and conventional pollution, and provide information about the river to a range of audiences. The Columbia Estuary is one of the 28 estuaries in the nation designated authorized by Congress as an “Estuary of National Significance.”
Visit www.lcrep.org for more information about the Habitat Restoration Application and Technical Assistance funding.
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