The coastal rivers of the Pacific Coast are vital to anglers, local economies, and tribes. Up and down the Pacific Coast numbers of steelhead and salmon returns are declining. This is especially true in Oregon, where some of the nation's best coastal river fisheries flow. Home to a variety of species but mostly known for steelhead and salmon, these rivers provide so much for so many. Some great news came out of the Pacific Northwest this week as the @NOAAFisheries Coastal Resilience Fund just awarded $8.1 million to @WildSalmonCenter for 11 #CoastCohoPartnership projects in the Nehalem, Siletz, Siuslaw, Coos, and Coquille watersheds.

The hard work of some great organizations will continue thanks to this grant.

Funds from NOAA will go to help the following:

-Restore 494 acres of tidal wetland habitat

-Improve 145.5 acres of instream, non-tidal wetland and/or off-channel habitat

-Enhance 86.5 acres of riparian habitat, including 1.3 miles of livestock exclusion fencing

-Reconnect 9.3 miles of streams for salmon.

Additionally, NOAA's award helps with the expansion of the #CoastCohoPartnership's work into the South Umpqua, Alsea, and Sixes watersheds.

There's a lot of work to be done, but this is a great step in the right direction to help protect and preserve this unique fisheries and help all coastal waters.

About the Wild Salmon Center

From the Wild Salmon Center:

Few animals have been as central to the Pacific human experience as salmon. Their annual migrations are a miracle of nature. They feed us and their presence tells us that our rivers are still healthy. From grizzly bears to orca whales, at least 137 different species depend on the marine-rich nutrients that wild salmon provide (see our interactive illustration to explore just a few). The last intact salmon watersheds around the North Pacific are composed of free-flowing rivers and dense forests, which provide clean drinking water and absorb carbon to slow climate change. Pacific salmon fuel a $3 billion industry, supporting tens of thousands of jobs and local economies and communities around the Pacific Rim. Millions of people around the Pacific rely on salmon as a healthy and reliable source of protein. Native people have always seen the salmon as the life-sustaining centerpiece of their culture, dating back millennia.

In short, salmon are the key to protecting a way of life rooted in the North Pacific environment: protect salmon and you protect forests, food, water, communities, and economies. But our work over the last two decades has shown that only an aggressive, proactive approach on the strongest remaining salmon rivers – salmon strongholds – can halt the decline of these iconic species and all the benefits we derive from them.

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