Conserving land along our waterways protects important habitat and helps keep our rivers healthy, clean, and more resilient to drought. Riparian Protection projects conserve and restore fresh and saltwater habitat while protecting fish habitat. In doing so, the grants help provide our families, farms, and fisheries with clean water across the state.
Pierce County will use this grant to buy 55 acres for floodplain habitat on the Puyallup River. The land will be used for a future project to setback a levee and restore floodplain habitat about 2 miles from Puyallup, Sumner, and Orting. The existing levees significantly limit river channel and floodplains from functioning properly, and restoration would lead to dramatic improvements in habitat, benefiting Chinook salmon, bull trout, steelhead, and other salmon species.