Salmon restoration is so important to the Quinault Nation they were willing to take action themselves to complete the upper Quinault River habitat restoration project. However, a host of agencies and non-profit groups saw the value of restoring and protecting salmon habitat and stepped up in various ways to finish two years worth of work in half the time.
“We couldn’t have done it at all this year without the agencies really streamlining the permit process,” said Bill Armstrong, salmon resources biologist for QIN. The Nation also saved more than $130,000 in mobilization costs by completing 13 engineered logjams this year instead of nine.
“We took a leap of faith when we put it out to bid that we could come up with the money for the additional jams this year,” said Ed Johnstone, fisheries policy representative for QIN. To complete the additional four jams, QIN had to buy more logs. Thanks to last-minute donations of $10,000 from Pacific Coast Salmon Coalition in Forks, $15,000 from Wild Salmon Center in Portland and $25,000 from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, the project protecting one of the last remaining spawning channels for sockeye was completed.
“It’s just the beginning of probably half a century of work in this watershed, but it feels great to get this kind of support,” said Armstrong. “Many private landowners have been calling offering access and support and that’s really gratifying.”
Trees planted to help stabilize that section of the river will begin next spring, using some of the donations received.
“We want and need partners in this long-term project,” said Johnstone. “We are unlikely to succeed without them.”
