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Welcome to the Whatcom Salmon Recovery web site. Here you'll find
information on the basic issues surrounding salmon recovery, the
recovery projects in Water Resources
Inventory Area No. 1 (WRIA-1), and the policies and public
processes designed to recover salmon runs.
The WRIA 1 salmon
recovery plan is available!
Projects are currently under review for the WRIA 1 2009 Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB) and Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration (PSAR) grant cycles. Detailed information about submittal requirements and grant cycle timing can be found in the links below. The SRFB will make funding decisions at their December 10 and 11, 2009 meeting in Olympia.
2009 SRFB Letter of Intent_Final
Table 1_2009 SRFB Letter of Intent_Final
WRIA 1 Schedule for 2009 SRFB Grant Cycle_Final
The intent for this grant cycle is to target restoration efforts towards those reaches and actions that will provide the greatest benefit to speeding the recovery of the South and North/Middle Fork populations of Nooksack spring Chinook. The materials provided in the links below are intended to clarify geographic areas considered current priorities for restoration based on WRIA 1 salmon recovery assessments and planning.
2009 Grant Cycle_Lower South Fork_Table 1 Project Areas
2009 Grant Cycle_Acme-Saxon_South Fork Table 1 Project Areas
2009 Grant Cycle_Upper South Fork_Table 1 Project Areas
2009 Grant Cycle_North Fork_Table 1 Project Area Reaches
includes the ranked project list proposed by WRIA-1
 Whatcom County completes two recovery projects
Whatcom County constructed two restoration projects during summer 2009 to help recover salmon habitat and address known flood hazards. The Canyon Creek project in the North Fork Nooksack River removed 520 feet of levee and shifted rocks to remove a major channel constriction. The constriction worsened fish passage at a bedrock cascade and disconnected the stream from its floodplain. Subsequent phases of work are in development to help speed the habitat recovery process. Log jams were installed at the second project site in the South Fork Nooksack River near Acme. The log jams will slow bank erosion and improve pool habitat in an area known to have cool groundwater. The cooler water is hoped to provide a protected area of refuge for spring Chinook salmon as they migrate upstream to their spawning grounds during the late summer.
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 Bertrand
Creek
Originating in British Columbia and
crossing into the U.S. near the city of Lynden, Bertrand Creek is one
of the Nooksack River's largest lowland tributaries. The U.S. portion
of the creek is 9.8 miles long, and drains 42.5 square miles, about
half of which is in each country.
more
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Q. If
they’re endangered, why can I still buy salmon in the grocery
store?
A. Much of the salmon
you see at the supermarket is Atlantic salmon raised on farms in the
U.S., Canada, and Chile. Most wild salmon for sale comes from Alaska,
where runs are relatively healthy and habitat is functioning properly.
If Puget Sound
runs of chinook and other salmon go extinct, it’s true that
there would still be salmon in other parts of the world. (However, this
could change if currently healthy habitats and salmon populations are
damaged in the future. Their recovery is important because it indicates
how well our community is safeguarding our waters and our natural
environment. Because salmon use the entire ecosystem—from
headwaters to open ocean and everything in between—their
health, or lack thereof, is a sign of the health of the general
environment.
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County Site
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Design
