By Mara S. Zimmerman
Coast Salmon Partnership
The Washington Coast Restoration and Resiliency Initiative is a little-known program with a big impact. This program funds habitat restoration projects on the Washington coast where economies are struggling, ecosystem impacts are tremendous and funding sources for large-scale projects are limited.
WCRRI represents a profound shift in the way that Washington protects and restores our coastal ecosystems and rural coastal economies. In other areas of the state, we spend a lot of money and effort helping salmon and other important wildlife only after they are in critical decline and after habitat — be it forestland, wetland, river or meadow — has been damaged nearly beyond repair. Recreating those habitats and restoring what’s left becomes exorbitantly expensive, with heavy demands on landowners and governments.
Washington’s coast represents our last best chance to protect salmon and restore coastal ecosystems in a more cost-effective way. The coast’s wild rivers are supported by ample standing forests and park lands. As a result, these rivers are home to half of the state’s non-endangered salmon populations. Some of these same populations provide critical food to orca that feed along the outer coast during winter months. Investing now in habitat restoration will protect forests and water quality and keep the best coastal salmon runs from becoming endangered. This will be far less costly than trying to rescue endangered salmon runs later. But it all depends on proactive public leadership.
Restoration projects on the coast are core components of our natural resource-dependent economy, supporting a broad range of family-wage jobs in an area with unemployment rates among the highest in the state. There is no question that salmon and habitat restoration projects play a central role in the coastal economy and way of life. For every $1 million spent on watershed restoration, over $2 million is generated in total economic activity with most of the funds staying in the county where the restoration project is located.
The Washington coast represents a spectacular stronghold for salmon. Protecting and restoring coastal ecosystems here will spark much needed economic development. Ongoing funding for habitat restoration on the coast is the best investment Washington can make to ensure healthy salmon, vibrant coastal communities, and strong coastal ecosystems long into the future. Cuts to the critical projects that WCRRI supports would cost coastal jobs and put our ecosystems under continued threat. We hope the state Legislature will stand strong and rally support to invest in this proactive vision for decades to come.
The Coast Salmon Partnership is engaged in ensuring the long-term health of iconic salmon and steelhead populations while putting people to work on habitat restoration projects on the Washington Coast. Projects have restored hundreds of miles of river, healthy salmon habitat, and provided family-wage local jobs in coastal communities. The work is supported by state and federal funding as well as private donations. For more information, visit www.coastsalmonpartnership.org.
