County receives grants

Motorcyclists and campers in the Tahuya State Forest, coho salmon and winter trout in Kennedy Creek, and summer chum in the Tahuya River will benefit from almost

$6.3 million in state grants awarded in Mason County.

The state Recreation and Conservation Office last week announced the award of almost $190 million in grants to communities statewide to improve outdoor recreation and conserve important wildlife habitat.

"These grants advance our priority to protect Washington's world-class outdoor recreation offerings enjoyed by locals and travelers from across the state," Gov. Jay Inslee said in a news release. "I'm proud of these investments. They will go a long way to ensuring Washington's outdoors areas are healthy, open and usable by everyone."

The largest local grant is almost $3.6 million to the Department of Natural Resources to buy 173 acres in the 1,460-acre Kennedy Creek Natural Area in Mason and Thurston counties to protect a salt marsh and salmon runs.

According to the state, the purchase will help permanently protect one of the few remaining high-quality salt marshes and one of the most abundant fall chum salmon runs in southern Puget Sound, with an average of 30,000 fish. Kennedy Creek also supports coho salmon and coastal and resident cutthroat trout and winter trout. After spawning, the salmon carcasses provide nutrients and supplement the diets of 129 wildlife species, including the northern river otter, bobcat and red-tailed hawks. The Kennedy Creek Salmon Trail is toured annually by about 3,500 students in the area, the state reports.

The Department of Natural Resources will use a $675,209 grant to buy 11 acres in the Skookum Inlet Natural Area Preserve to protect rare saltwater marshes in Little Skookum Inlet.

The department will protect a forested bog by expanding Schumacher Creek Natural Area Preserve with the purchase of 2.6 acres of forested wetland, courtesy of a $524,558 grant. The land is next to a protected wetland and will protect the wetland's water quality from stormwater runoff and wastewater leaching.

The other grants are focused in north Mason County.

The Great Peninsula Conservancy will use a $1.1 million grant to buy the lower 4 miles of the Tahuya River. According to the state, the Tahuya is the largest river flowing into the east side of Hood Canal and the lower 4 miles are privately owned, mostly in unsubdivided large parcels.

They are important as the watershed's only spawning and rearing habitat for Hood Canal summer chum and chinook salmon, both of which are listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. According to the state, the project represents a rare opportunity to conserve the entire lower part of a large, undeveloped river system in Puget Sound.

The conservancy will buy 145 acres and conservation easements on another 27 acres, covering 172 acres and 1.5 miles of riverfront and tributaries.

The Department of Natural Resources will also use a $20,495 grant to maintain trails for nonmotorized recreation in the Tahuya, Green Mountain and Hood Canal state forests, the Stavis Natural Resources Conservation Area and other dispersed properties in Mason and Kitsap counties. The grant will pay for part of the salaries of three staff, support volunteers and events and fund trail and facility maintenance.

A $167,425 grant to the Department of Natural Resources will pay for a crew and volunteer support to maintain 200 miles of trails, four campgrounds, seven trailheads and day-use areas in the Tahuya and Green Mountain state forests. Crews will cut overgrown brush, maintain drainage structures, harden trail services, move small sections of trail, maintain bridges, install signs, and clean restrooms, campsites, parking areas and signs.

The department will also use a $165,146 grant to maintain Tahuya State Forest's four-by-four trails and facilities, which include 15 miles of trail, one campground, two trailheads and four restrooms.