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$3.7 Million in Grant and Matching Funds Announced for Klamath River Coho Habitat Restoration Program

Grants will improve salmon habitat and support restoration activities in the Klamath River Basin

Media Contact: Shane Hunt, 916-978-5100, shunt@usbr.gov

For Release: June 15, 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Bureau of Reclamation, NOAA Fisheries, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) announced June 9, 2016, the award of 12 grants from the Klamath River Coho Habitat Restoration Grant Program. The restoration program will serve to enhance the survival and recovery of the Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast (SONCC) coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), a species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

The 12 grants announced today leverage over $1.37 million of funding from Reclamation with an additional $2.35 million in matching funds, for a total conservation impact of over $3.7 million that will enhance the survival and recovery of the threatened SONCC coho salmon. SONCC coho salmon are listed as threatened due to a range of limiting factors that have reduced the amount and quality of habitat available. Spanning 40 populations, SONCC coho salmon can be found in Coos, Douglas, Curry, Josephine, Jackson and Klamath counties in Oregon, and Del Norte, Siskiyou, Humboldt, Trinity, Mendocino, Lake and Glenn counties in California. Projects supported by the grant funds will focus on instream enhancements such as adding large woody debris and brush bundles in streams, creating off channel habitats and the improvement of salmon refuge sites to increase the duration and extent of cold-water plumes. Other projects will address existing fish passage barriers — including small dams, fords and culverts — to create permanent access to spawning and rearing habitats.

The Klamath River Coho Habitat Restoration Grant Program builds on partnerships with Reclamation, NOAA Fisheries and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The program is funded by Reclamation and administered by NFWF.

“For 2016, Reclamation was able to contribute over $1.37 million in funds that will be used to implement coho habitat restoration actions within the Klamath River and its tributaries,” said David Murillo, Regional Director, Mid-Pacific Region. “The restoration program demonstrates Reclamation’s commitment to threatened and endangered species recovery and highlights the federal, state, tribal and community partnerships in the Klamath Basin working toward implementation of projects that offer direct benefit to the coho salmon.”

“Approximately one quarter of all individual populations of SONCC coho salmon exist in the Klamath Basin,” said Barry Thom, Deputy Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region. “These 12 projects will address high-priority recovery actions that have been defined in our Recovery Plan and will also benefit the tribal and restoration communities within the Klamath River Basin.”

“Coho need access to high-quality spawning and rearing habitat to thrive, and the grants announced today will support on-the-ground efforts to ensure the recovery of this amazing fish species,” said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO at NFWF. “Improvements to these streams and rivers will benefit not only salmon, but also the many communities that depend on the freshwater flows of California.”

For a complete list of the grants announced today, please click here . For additional information on the grants please contact Andrew Purkey, 503-417-6009.

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