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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Nov. 16, 1999
99-239
Contact: Sandy Howard, 360-407-6239; pager, 360-786-3136
OLYMPIA - Today, state Department of Ecology Director Tom Fitzsimmons awarded $75,000 to local governments and tribes in west Clallam and Jefferson counties to support their efforts to protect water for people and fish.
The grant will benefit the Lyre-Hoko and the Soleduck-Hoh watersheds. A watershed is a geographic area in which all creeks and rivers flow toward the same destination.
Clallam County Commissioner Mike Doherty accepted the check on behalf of the county and other local government and tribal representatives who are part of the watershed planning group.
"Bull trout and three kinds of salmon - all listed as "threatened" under the federal Endangered Species Act - inhabit these watersheds. This state money will boost a locally created plan to protect them and to determine the other appropriate uses of water in the basins," said Doherty.
"Watershed planning provides a model for the coordination and community-based commitment that are needed if we're going to recover our salmon," said Fitzsimmons. "It's great to see the local governments and tribes in this area working so well together to balance their water resources for both economic and environmental needs."
The grant is part of $4.5 million going to 31 communities across the state to support collaborative planning for water needs of people and fish, to reduce water pollution and to protect fish habitat. The state legislature in 1998 established a framework for such planning and has provided money to help local groups pay for their efforts.
The Lyre-Hoko/Soleduck-Hoh watershed planning unit is one of nine new groups joining the effort this year. The planning unit was offered the full grant amount because its planning encompasses two watersheds.
The planning unit will include representatives of Clallam and Jefferson counties, the city of Forks, the Clallam County P.U.D., and four tribes: Lower Hoh, Makah, Jamestown-S'Klallam and Quileute.
In addition to the $4.5 million in grants offered now, Ecology will provide another $4.5 million next July.
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
