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| Salmon license plate funds open 24.5 miles of streams to fish | ||
| 03/17/2006 | ||
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03-06 For immediate release News media contact: See notes for region program representative below OWEB allocates $350,000 in plate receipts Fish will return to nearly 25 miles of streams as a result of six projects restoring fish habitat and improving water quality in watersheds throughout Oregon with grant funding from more than $350,000 in salmon license plate revenue. The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board approved the six grant applications at a meeting Thursday in Roseburg. “All these projects help maintain or increase fish populations that have been declining in these areas,” said Tom Byler, OWEB executive director. “The additional habitat should provide a significant benefit to fish in each stream,” he noted. Salmon plate purchasers pay an extra $30 every two years above regular passenger vehicle registration fees. Half the fee goes directly to fix road-related impacts to salmon and trout streams by improving water quality, fish habitat and fish passage through OWEB grants. The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department invests the other half in salmon habitat and related projects in state parks. Since the beginning of the salmon license plate program in 1997, OWEB and OPRD have each received more than $2 million. In 2004, salmon license plate purchases reached their highest, totaling more than $670,000. For more information about salmon plates and instructions for purchasing, call OWEB at 503-986-0178 or visit the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds Website at: www.oregon-plan.org. The projects, arranged by geographic regions, include: (Note to Editors/Reporters: Dollar amounts are rounded to nearest hundreds and subject to final staff review.) North Coast—Benton County: Lobster Creek Fish Passage Improvement Salmon plate funds allocated by OWEB: $85,400 Total project cost: $123,200 The project will replace a road culvert that creates a barrier to fish passage on Coal Creek, a tributary of Lobster Creek. Replacement of this culvert will open about two miles of fish habitat. Lobster Creek is an important production area for coho salmon in the Alsea basin. Improvement in productivity of the Alsea is a priority for recovery of this species. The funds will pay for placement of a larger culvert and reconstruction of the stream channel downstream to raise it to the level of the new culvert. Project partners are Benton County Public Works (the applicant) and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Central Coast—Lane County: Elk Creek Culvert Replacement Salmon plate funds allocated by OWEB: $47,900 Total project cost: $94,800 Elk Creek, a tributary of Indian Creek in the Siuslaw River watershed, passes under a county road through an undersized culvert. This stream supports Chinook and coho salmon, steelhead and cutthroat trout. At the downstream end of the culvert, erosion has created a drop in elevation that poses a barrier to juvenile fish and a partial barrier to adults at some water levels. The creek provides two miles of fish habitat. The funds will be used to construct an 18-foot-wide arched culvert. Project partners include the Siuslaw Watershed Council (the applicant) and the U.S. Forest Service Coastal Initiative, Lane County, the Siuslaw National Forest and Siuslaw Watershed Council volunteers. Southwest Oregon—Douglas County: Umpqua Basin Fish Passage Improvements Salmon plate funds allocated by OWEB: $194,900 Total project cost: $294,200 The project will replace seven culverts that impede fish passage in the Umpqua drainage. The Middle Umpqua is an important coho and steelhead production area. Work will open 16.5 miles of fish habitat. Four of the culverts will be replaced with bridges and three will be replaced with stream simulation culverts that create a natural streambed within the culvert. Project partners include the Partnership for the Umpqua Rivers (the applicant) and Seneca Jones Timber Co., the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Umpqua Fisheries Enhancement Derby, landowners, Bureau of Land Management and Douglas County. Willamette River Basin—Columbia County: Raymond Creek Tributary Culvert Replacement Salmon plate funds allocated by OWEB: $62,700 Total project cost: $109,500 The project will replace an undersized culvert with a 12-foot-diameter culvert on an unnamed tributary of Raymond Creek. This creek supports coho salmon, winter steelhead and cutthroat trout. Additional work includes placement of in-stream large woody debris and planting along the stream bank. The result will create about one-half mile of high quality spawning and rearing habitat. Project partners include the Scappoose Bay Watershed Council (the applicant) and the Bureau of Land Management, the landowner and Columbia County. Central Oregon—Wasco County: Turner Bridge Project Salmon plate funds allocated by OWEB: $19,600 Total project cost: $28,500 Funding will allow replacement of a bridge on Upper Eightmile Creek that was destroyed by a flood in 1996. Since loss of the bridge, vehicles have forded the creek, creating sediment runoff into the creek, which has very high winter steelhead spawning and rearing densities. The project includes stream bank plantings 150 feet above and below the new bridge. The project partners include the Wasco Soil and Water Conservation District (the applicant) and the landowner. Eastern Oregon—Wallowa County: Mahogany Creek Culvert Replacement Salmon plate funds allocated by OWEB: $41,200 Total project cost: $132,400 A fish passage barrier will be replaced with an open-bottom arch culvert that will reopen 3.5 miles of spawning and rearing habitat in a remote stretch of Mahogany Creek near Imnaha. This stream supports federally listed spring Chinook salmon and is one of three identified barriers in the entire Imnaha basin. The project design also will decrease erosion from the road and will lessen the likelihood of future road failure at this site. Project partners include the Nez Perce Tribe (the applicant) and the U.S. Forest Service and the Grande Ronde Model Watershed. The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board is a state agency led by a policy oversight board. The agency provides grants and services to citizen groups, organizations and agencies working to restore healthy watersheds in Oregon. OWEB actions support the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds, created in 1997. Funding comes from the Oregon Lottery as a result of a citizens’ initiative in 1998, sales of salmon license plates since 1997, federal salmon funds and other sources. For more information, visit www.oregon.gov/OWEB or call OWEB in Salem at 503-986-0178. |
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