Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation gets two state grants

The Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation has been awarded two grants from the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board, totaling $787,583, that will support projects on the Chewuch and Twisp rivers.

The state agency announced that it has awarded 75 grants to projects in 27 counties, totaling $21.5 million, for efforts to restore salmon habitat around the state.

“These grants are for projects to give salmon the clean, cold and plentiful water they need to survive,” Jeff Breckel, chair of the Salmon Recovery Funding Board, said in a press release.

The largest local grant, for $599,943, will go toward buying 8.7 acres along the Chewuch River that is surrounded by public land.

“Buying the land will permanently protect the MacPherson side channel and allow future restoration projects to recover the floodplain and riverbank forest in this critical area for salmon and steelhead. The river is used by Chinook salmon,” the press release said.

“The property includes approximately 680 feet of the 3,500 foot-long MacPherson side channel that is fed by the Skyline diversion intake from the Chewuch River as a year-round side channel,” according to information provided by the state Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO). “In addition to protecting this key property, this project will remove an existing home site and commercial excavation and trucking yard and shop adjacent to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife land and the Okanogan National Forest, and allow recovery of the floodplain and riparian forest.”

The second grant, for $187,640, will be used to plan a floodplain reconnection project on the lower Twisp River, in the area of the Twisp Ponds.

“Potential plans include adding large wood to encourage side channel and floodplain connection and removing an old bank levee,” according to the RCO site. “The project site … includes five ponds and channels that provide high-quality spawning and rearing habitat for salmon and trout.”