SALMON: Senator Murray Includes Critical Investment for Pacific Salmon Restoration

(Washington D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced that she included $65 million for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF) in the Fiscal Year 2013 Senate Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill, an increase of $15 million above President Obama’s proposed FY13 budget. The funds will be used to support state, local, and tribal programs that help improve salmon habitats.

“In Washington state, investing in a sustainable salmon population is incredibly important. It’s not only important to the economic, historic, cultural, and recreational identity of our state, but as part of our federal obligation to meet tribal treaty protected fishing rights” said Senator Murray. “This funding will continue to support projects that boost our local economies, create good paying jobs, and restore and protect salmon habitats.”

PCSRF was established by Congress in fiscal year 2000 to protect, restore and conserve Pacific salmon populations and their habitats, and to address the impacts of the Pacific Salmon Treaty Agreement between the United States and Canada. PCSRF supports the conservation and recovery of Pacific salmon across the rivers, watersheds and coastal habitats across Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho, Nevada, and California. With this funding states and tribes have undertaken well over 10,000 projects, resulting in significant changes in habitat condition and availability, as well as establishing concrete planning and monitoring programs that support prioritization and tracking for salmon and steelhead population conservation.

In Washington state, the PCSRF works through of the Salmon Recovery Funding Board, which provides competitive grants to Washington state projects.

Another Victory for Salmon Funding:

Senator Murray was also able to increase the funding level for Pacific Salmon under National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Protected Species funding account.  She included $65 million for this program, an increase of  $7 million above the President’s Budget request of $58 million.  This funding is critical for NMFS to retain staff on the ground in Washington state that work on ESA consultations and permitting processes.  Without this increase in funding, Washington state’s economy would have suffered due to delayed permit reviews and lack of capacity for consultation under the Endangered Species Act.