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Salmon Recovery and Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration
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Program level:
State
Provider:
Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office, Salmon Recovery Funding Board
Benefits provided:
Financial, Free technical assistance
Land use:
Agriculture, Forest
Water-focused program:
Yes
Restore degraded salmon habitat and protect existing, high-quality habitat.
Overview
Description:
Salmon recovery grants are used to restore degraded salmon habitat and protect existing, high-quality habitat. These twin activities are aimed at increasing the amount and overall health of the places salmon live, which will increase the number of salmon.
Projects may include the actual habitat used by salmon and the land and water that support processes important to salmon.
Some of the money for salmon recovery is targeted at helping salmon in Puget Sound. Restoring the health of Puget Sound–our nation’s second largest estuary–is a priority for the State and nation. In 2007, the Legislature created the Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration (PSAR) program to help implement the most important habitat protection and restoration priorities. PSAR is co-managed with the Puget Sound Partnership.
The grant program for both salmon recovery and PSAR grants are run together and generally have the same requirements. Applicants must demonstrate how their projects address the goals and actions defined in the regional recovery plans or lead entity strategies. The grant cycles consist of steps required both by the local lead entity and RCO. Lead entities are watershed-based groups that develop and implement strategies to restore salmon habitat. Lead entities establish their own schedules not on this website for required grant cycle steps including site visits, rating, and ranking.
Typical projects include:
- Replacing barriers to fish migration
- Replanting stream banks
- Removing dikes, levees, and shoreline armoring
- Installing logjams to slow rivers and create habitat
- Restoring estuaries
- Buying pristine habitat
- Completing designs for future projects
Please visit the website to see the grant schedule with pertinent dates and deadlines.
Use the "local service" button to find your local grant manager.
Eligibility:
Eligible projects include:
1. Acquisition including the purchase of land, perpetual conservation easements, or water rights.
2. Restoration:
- In-stream fish passage
- In-stream water diversion
- In-stream and floodplain habitat
- Upland riparian habitat
- Estuarine and marine near-shore
3. Planning projects
- Conceptual, preliminary, or final design projects
- Assessments and inventories
4. Combination projects include elements of two or more project types (restoration, acquisition, and planning).
Financial benefit:
Benefits are dependent upon the project.
Match may be required for some acquisition and riparian planting projects in the following situations:
- A project with the primary purpose of riparian planting that does not meet minimum riparian buffer widths is required to provide 15 percent match. See Appendix K for details. This applies to a project funded with regular SRFB or PSAR funds but excludes a project funded through the riparian program.
- A SRFB acquisition project, with an upland portion greater than 50 percent of the total acreage, is required to provide match as part of its total budget. For this purpose, uplands are those areas that fall outside of other specified habitat types and their buffers, as defined in appendix L. For exceptional projects based on scale, rarity, cost-benefit, or value, some flexibility of match may be considered.
- 25 percent match: Upland acres are greater than 50 percent but less than 75 percent of the total acreage.
- 35 percent match: Upland acres are greater than 75 percent of the total acreage.
Match may include the following:
- Appropriations or cash
- Bonds
- Donations of cash, land, labor, services, equipment use, and materials
- Other grants
- Applicant’s labor, equipment, and materials
Contact information
Information last updated on July 15, 2025.
Planning Importance
Developing a forest, agricultural, or conservation plan helps identify and prioritize objectives for landowners. These objectives can determine what type programs to search for. Supporting organizations in your area often provide free consultation and planning.
Landscape Characteristics
See how your land fits into the broader context of regional conservation, ecosystem services, and working lands' values across the landscape through our interactive mapper tool. It could help you determine which program is a good fit for you!
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