The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded a $25,868,000 grant to the Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation to support projects that help conserve and restore Pacific salmon runs and their habitats in the state of Washington. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The grant, part of the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, is administered by the WA-IAC, based in Olympia, Wash. The funds will support projects in Washington that provide harvestable surpluses of Pacific salmon to support treaty and non-treaty fishing opportunities consistent with existing law. The WA-IAC’s Salmon Recovery Funding Board works closely with local watershed groups, known as lead entities, to disperse the grant to smaller habitat protection and restoration projects. The SRFB has helped finance over 500 projects.

“NOAA is proud to be able to provide this level of support to fund this important work. The grant allows the committee to support efforts throughout Washington in habitat conservation and recovery along the Pacific coast, further supporting salmon recovery,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “The efforts of the Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation help reinforce NOAAs and the Bush Administration’s commitment to the environment.”

The Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, established by Congress in FY 2000, provides grants to assist state, local and tribal salmon conservation and recovery efforts in the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska and Idaho. NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service is the federal agency responsible for implementation and oversight of the PCSRF, in conjunction with States and Tribes.

The PCSRF supplements existing federal, state and tribal programs to foster development of partnerships in salmon recovery and conservation, while at the same time promoting efficiencies and effectiveness in local recovery efforts through enhanced leveraging of capabilities, expertise, and information.

Each year, NOAA awards approximately $900 million in grants to members of the academic, scientific and business communities to assist the agency in fulfilling its mission to study the Earth’s natural systems in order to predict environmental change, manage ocean resources, protect life and property, and provide decision makers with reliable scientific information. NOAA’s goals and programs reflect a commitment to these basic responsibilities of science and service to the nation for the past 34 years.

The Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources.

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