Twenty Northwestern treaty tribes, including the Nooksack Indian Tribe and the Lummi Nation, will receive $50 million in federal funding for fish and shellfish restoration projects in Puget Sound.
The money, which will be distributed to the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC) over the next five years, comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed by Congress last November, and represents a significant influx of money into fisheries commission, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Historically, the EPA has provided up to $50 million over 10 years for similar restoration projects, meaning the additional funding from the infrastructure package has doubled the federal government’s financial support of environmental restoration in the region.
Earlier contributions supported conservation projects in Lummi Bay and the Nooksack River, as well as in rivers and creeks around Puget Sound, in line with the Puget Sound Partnership (PSP) action agendas.
In June, the PSP adopted a new 2022–26 action agenda targeting recovery projects in floodplains, riparian buffers, salmon habitats and neighborhoods across the region.
“We appreciate EPA’s focus on supporting programs that protect our treaty resources,” NWIFC Chairman Ed Johnstone said in a statement Tuesday. “All of the tribes eligible for this funding depend on Puget Sound fish and shellfish for subsistence, ceremony and commerce. We are deeply concerned by the threat of climate change to our usual and accustomed areas and treaty-protected rights. Our economic and cultural well-being is directly linked to the health of our homelands.”
The funds will be used to support projects related to salmon, habitat and water quality in order to support Puget Sound recovery.
Locally, Tribes plan to use funds to continue restoration of shellfish beds and ESA-listed salmon populations around Lummi Bay, as well as restoration of chinook habitat in the Nooksack River.
“This funding made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law ensures that this region’s Tribes — the original stewards of Puget Sound — will continue to lead our joint efforts to restore and protect these waters for future generations,” said Casey Sixkiller, regional administrator of EPA’s Region 10 office in Seattle.
As regional administrator, Sixkiller represents the Biden administration in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho and 271 tribal nations.
“Today’s $7.5 million grant is a down payment on a $50 million investment over the next five years to support tribally sponsored projects to upgrade critical infrastructure, restore habitat, and address the impacts of climate change on treaty and cultural resources,” he said in a press release Tuesday.
