Washington Coast Sustainable Salmon Foundation

Programs: Salmon plan implementation: our work is sustaining salmon in the washington coast region, defined as all washington watersheds which drain directly into the pacific ocean (3. 75 million acres). The foundation actively supports the development of an implementation strategy for its washington coast sustainable salmon plan. Early in fiscal year 2014 the foundation worked with local watershed groups to finalize and present a list of habitat protection and restoration projects to the state's salmon recovery funding board (srfb), bringing $1. 62 million of state and federal salmon recovery grant funding to the region. In the current srfb funding cycle, the foundation continues to work with local watershed groups to identify, review and rank local project lists, determine funding levels, and develop the project proposal list for new funding. The foundation played a pivotal role in a broad coalition of local, state, and ngo representatives which together prepared and submitted a state legislative budget request, known as the washington coast restoration initiative, for $10 million in habitat protection and restoration funding.

outreach: outreach and communication are essential for the long-term success of the washington coast sustainable salmon plan implementation. Decisions on salmon recovery projects are made by local watershed groups who identify and prioritize projects in their watersheds. However, land use decisions are generally made at the county level, while funding decisions tend to be made by groups or agencies far away from impacted watersheds. We provide outreach and communication to ensure that funding, land use, and restoration decisions are compatible with our overall salmon sustainability objectives. In addition to decision-makers, we support targeted educational programs for children, the future decision-makers in the region. The foundation worked with the state governors salmon recovery office in fiscal year 2014 on a state-wide salmon recovery communication strategy. This will provide template and messaging guidance for the development of a coast-specific outreach and communications plan in the next year. The foundation oversaw the redesign of the coast region website and facebook page which serve as key outreach and communication tools.

lake ozette sockeye: the washington coast salmon recovery region is the only one within washington that is not dominated by the presence of salmon species listed under the endangered species act (esa). One of the two salmon species in the region listed as threatened under the esa is lake ozette sockeye salmon. A local watershed group, the lake ozette sockeye steering committee, began work with the national oceanic and atmospheric administration (noaa) in 2006 to develop a recovery plan and now meets quarterly to facilitate and assist with recovery plan implementation. We currently work in collaboration with noaa to actively support this committee by providing funding for meeting facilitation. Foundation staff also participates in steering committee meetings to promote communication and consensus-building, and to help identify projects for plan implementation and funding to accomplish restoration and other recovery plan objectives.