Federal funds totaling up to $106 million are being made available through the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund for Pacific Salmon (PCSRF) and steelhead recovery and conservation projects.
The funds announced on Dec. 5 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) come from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. The deadline to apply is March 4, 2024.
The money goes toward supporting state and tribal salmon restoration projects to protect, conserve and restore the fish populations and their habitats. In a statement, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said the money would power transformational, high impact projects and support efforts by states and tribes to protect and conserve salmon populations.
The PCSRF program funds projects and activities necessary for conservation of salmon and steelhead populations listed as threatened or endangered or identified by a state as at-risk to be listed; for maintaining populations necessary for exercise of tribal treaty fishing rights or native subsistence fishing; or for conservation of Pacific coastal salmon and steelhead habitat.
NOAA is accepting proposals from eligible applicants in the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, California and Alaska, as well as federally recognized tribes of the Columbia River Basin and Pacific coast, including Alaska.
Since the program’s inception in 2000, the PCSRF has provided more than $1.7 billion to implement more than 15,000 salmon recovery projects, according to NOAA.