The Habitat Strategic Initiative Lead is investing an additional $1 million in three projects to advance Puget Sound habitat recovery.

The Habitat Strategic Initiative Lead (HSIL) is investing an additional $1.09 million of EPA Puget Sound Funds into 3 proposals from HSIL’s Spring 2024 Request for Proposals. 

The successful proposals implement the 2022-2026 Action Agenda and Habitat Implementation Strategies while supporting two investment priorities: 

• Increase capacity and workforce development to meet Puget Sound habitat recovery goals 
• New science, synthesis, and analysis for improved protection and restoration of kelp and eelgrass in Puget Sound 

These investment priorities were recommended by the Habitat Strategic Initiative Advisory Team to address systemic barriers and advance critical pathways in the Habitat Implementation Strategies. 

The three additional successful applicants include a nonprofit organization, a local government, and a state agency. Funded work will kick off in Summer 2025 with anticipated completion in 2027. 

Funding to support these investments comes from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Puget Sound funds through the Habitat Strategic Initiative Lead, which is a collaborative partnership between WDFW and DNR to protect and restore Puget Sound habitat through strategic planning, funding, outreach, and collaboration. HSIL investments provide funding for activities that have fewer dedicated funding sources; support pilots and programs from development through institutionalizing; capacity; research and monitoring to inform management; and activities that will result in successful leveraging of public works, construction, and real property acquisition funding sources for conservation and restoration. Selected proposals went through a technical evaluation and selection process. 

Read more about each project below. 

HSIL 2025 Additional Funding List 

Proposal title: Green River Restoration Staff Support 

Organization: Green River Coalition 

Coalition Organizations: Unleash the Brilliance, Orca Conservancy 

Funding Amount: $247,005 

Investment Priority: Increase capacity and workforce development to meet Puget Sound habitat recovery goals 

Proposal Summary: High water temperatures in streams within the Green River Watershed are negatively impacting the ability of salmon to survive. The Green River Coalition (GRC) will implement three riparian restoration projects within the Green River Watershed to improve fish habitat and water quality. Implementing these projects will add to GRC's list of over 30 restoration projects throughout the watershed. To implement these projects, funding will support employment for staff consisting of one operations manager and three field staff. Retaining GRC's operations manager has been a key asset in increasing the organization’s overall capacity. GRC's field staff conduct the restoration field work including landowner education and support as well as training of volunteers at community events at selected sites. These field positions provide hands-on experience in riparian restoration which can greatly assist young people in the pursuit of an environmental career paths. The GRC intends to continue building partnerships with Orca Conservancy and Unleash the Brilliance to support collective restoration efforts.  

Proposal title: Leveraging historical imagery to assess floating kelp canopy changes over 30 years in northeastern Puget Sound 

Organization: Washington Department of Natural Resources 

Coalition Organizations: Swinomish Indian Tribal Community; Samish Indian Nation; Skagit County Marine Resources Committee (MRC); Whatcom County MRC; Island County MRC; Puget Sound Restoration Fund; University of Washington Friday Harbor Labs; Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; Kelp Forest Monitoring Alliance of Washington State 

Funding Amount: $338,990 

Investment Priority: New science, synthesis, and analysis for improved protection and restoration of kelp and eelgrass in Puget Sound 

Proposal Summary: Widespread concerns about kelp losses have inspired diverse communities across WA State to prioritize efforts to understand and protect kelp. One recent milestone is the new statewide Floating Kelp Indicator. The Indicator results show that major data gaps preclude assessment of status and trends of floating kelp in half of the sub-basins. These data gaps reflect missing historical baselines, which are essential to understanding long-term changes and to guiding future protection and restoration actions. This project will fill a critical historical data gap through digitizing and analyzing aerial imagery collected 30 years ago (1995/96). The project team will then compare it with recent aerial imagery (2022) to assess changes in kelp canopies in northeastern Puget Sound. The project area includes 340 miles of shoreline in Whatcom, Skagit, and Island counties, and portions of three oceanographic sub-basins that are currently excluded from definitive status assessment in the Indicator. Findings will directly support scientific and management work by coalition members, including monitoring, research, and management by rightsholders and stakeholders. 

Proposal title: Enhancing Shoreline Management, Habitat Restoration, and Carbon Sequestration in Pierce County through South Puget Sound Eelgrass Monitoring 

Organization: Pierce County Planning and Public Works 

Coalition Organizations: Washington Department of Natural Resources 

Funding Amount: $499,470 

Investment Priority: New science, synthesis, and analysis for improved protection and restoration of kelp and eelgrass in Puget Sound 

Proposal Summary: Pierce County’s division of Planning and Public Works (PPW) will partner with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on the collection and analysis of marine vegetation data (e.g. eelgrass and kelp) in Pierce County's nearshore environment. These efforts will support new analysis for improved conservation, protection, and restoration of eelgrass in Puget Sound, driven by a need to address gaps in data and document the impacts of loss of the species. Data gathered by this project will be utilized in the development of Pierce County's required 2029 Shoreline Master Program (SMP) update, salmon and shellfish recovery programs, and local, regional, and state initiatives for the protection and restoration of underwater aquatic vegetation. 

Did you know?

HSIL has begun development of the Marine Vegetation Implementation Strategy. The Implementation Strategy will synthesize existing kelp and eelgrass plans to describe priority strategies to protect and recover marine vegetation in Puget Sound. Check out our Marine Vegetation webpage for more information, and sign up for our Marine Vegetation email list to stay updated on the development of the strategy.