Asotin, Garfield counties becoming fish-friendly

The Washington Salmon Recovery Funding Board will send more than $430,000 to the southeastern corner of the state to improve steelhead habitat.

On Thursday, the board announced it would distribute $42 million in grants around the state. The money, which comes from the federal Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, includes $342,500 that will go to the Asotin County Conservation District. The bulk of it, $300,000, will be used to help replace a culvert on Rattlesnake Creek where it crosses State Route 129 about 1.4 miles upstream from the creek's confluence with the Grande Ronde River near Boggan's Oasis.

The work will allow steelhead and bull trout to access a nine-mile section of the creek that is currently blocked. The conservation district will pitch in $55,000 and the Washington State Department of Transportation will contribute about $1 million.

The conservation district will also receive $42,500 to restore 10 miles of stream banks in the upper Asotin Creek watershed. The work includes planting trees and bushes along Charley Creek and the north and south forks of Asotin Creek to provide shade and cooler water temperatures.

The Asotin County Public Utility District will get $91,080 to improve steelhead habitat in a 1.5-mile stretch of Alpowa Creek in Garfield County. Brad Johnson, a watershed planner for the district, said the grant will be used to create resting and rearing pools in the creek using small logs. He said the grant will allow the district to work with partners to improve habitat for the threatened fish.

"It's going to be a huge partnership between the U.S. Forest Service, Asotin County PUD and private landowners willing to do volunteer actions," he said.

Johnson said the district also recently received a grant worth about $200,000 to work with landowners to improve water quality in Alpowa Creek.

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