CDFW Awards $10.7 Million for Fisheries Habitat Restoration Program Projects, Many in Humboldt, Del Norte, and Mendocino Counties
Chinook [Image from CDFW]
FRGP 2020 Projects Approved for FundingThe California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) today announced the selection of 27 projects that will receive funding for the restoration, enhancement and protection of anadromous salmonid habitat in California watersheds.
The grants, which total $10.7 million, were awarded through CDFW’s Fisheries Restoration Grant Program (FRGP). Established in 1981, FRGP has included funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund since 2000. The federal fund was established by Congress in 2000 to reverse the declines of Pacific salmon and steelhead throughout California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska.
“The ongoing momentum to restore California’s habitat for these historic species hasn’t stopped as we face a global pandemic and devastating wildfires,” CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham said. “Awarding these projects highlights the resilience, passion and vison for salmon recovery by our state’s restoration community, for which we are grateful.”
In response to the 2020 Fisheries Habitat Restoration Grant Solicitation, CDFW received 80 proposals requesting more than $40.6 million in funding. As part of the competitive grant program, proposals underwent a rigorous technical review by CDFW and NOAA scientists.
The 27 approved projects will further the objectives of state and federal fisheries recovery plans, including removing barriers to fish migration, restoring riparian habitat, monitoring of listed populations, and creating a more resilient and sustainably managed water resources system (e.g., water supply, water quality and habitat) that can better withstand drought conditions. These projects further the goals of California’s Water Action Plan and CDFW’s State Wildlife Action Plan, as well as addressing limiting factors specified in state and federal recovery plans.
The list of approved projects is available on the FRGP website.
Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules
Comments system how-to: https://wpdiscuz.com/community/postid/10599/
Beautiful now more worthless scientists and biologists can do further worthless work to help our fisheries. Yawwwwnn. Where would the below par state employees be without state handouts and tax payers money. Scumbag wardens scumbag CDFA sad waste of state money when permitted grows that wreak havoc in the small watersheds are accepted. It’s almost comical unless your a fish.
That’s incredibly pessimistic. DFW has gone to extraordinary lengths to work on improving habitat, fish surveys, and code enforcement. If you just notice the sheer amount of code enforcement on unpermited and out of compliance grows. Most of the big fines that stick are levied by DFW. They’re making a huge difference in reducing unpermited grading, fertilizer dumping, and illegal pesticide use with their very limited budget.
Thank you DFW!
Why isn’t there a brown trout, and brook trout, hatcheries program? More waters need to be closed to harvesting and increase the number and types of catch and release trophy. Meat hogs be damned.
because brown trout and char ain’t endemic
The North Fork Elk River design evidences abject failure of NMFS, CDF, CFW, NCRWQCB to implement the assurances of the Headwater Forest Deal and Habitat Conservation Plan; the agencies unlawfully enabled the polluter to loot the forests that naturally grows and provides the large woody debris–so now the taxpayer will pay $250,000 for a greenwashed “socialized welfare” ad campaign complete with restoration of the year awards. This grant is an expose’ of the willful incompetence, collusion, and corruption in CEQA approvals and will do nothing to restore the fishery, or cultural uses and sustenance of Native Americans but will enable the Humboldt Redwood Company to profit and worsen the problem. The taxpayer gets the bill to pretend to fix their bleeding roads. Iconic socialism for the wealthy; a badge of triple stupidity for the public: you lose the water quality, the forest, the fishery, and you pay for it.
HATCHERIES!! Yes plural hatcheries on the eel alone!
This system needs a shot in the arm….I know, the purests say “ can’t have that blablabla. The salmon will be of native stalk and will have to fight The rigors of the The estuary and battle it out with all of the evils of the ocean to make it back, to and even past the hatcheries (which is well documented) to fight and spawn…
Furthermore, trucking of fingerlings to the lower river MUST be implemented to mitigate the near 100% predation of the record numbers of pike minnows, which are nothing like minnows at all at 18 inches!!
“Well”, I here,”the lower river couldn’t handle the large influx of Jumbo Sized returning adults at the present Poor state of the lower river….”
The way I see it is, one to three years of large returns with possible die-offs will kick the public’s *#%% in to doing something about it as they did during the klamath’s blue creek disaster a few years back!!
Bring the fish and the water will come! Really, it’s simple. We can do fine tuning of the ecosystem once the catastrophic low fish numbers is addressed.
Where did my comment go???
Please use only one name to comment with per article.
Some commenters are held until I have time to moderate and determine if they are spam or breaking the rules.