The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration granted $589,000 to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation to fund the Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The grant will provide funding for anadromous fish recovery and restoration projects in the Okanogan River, and the Upper Columbia River watershed in Washington. Projects will include habitat assessment and restoration, locally adapted summer steelhead supplementation, salmon recovery education and outreach, and operation and maintenance of acclimation ponds.

“Funding from this NOAA grant will provide the Colville Tribes with the tools and information that they need to make sound decisions regarding pacific salmon populations,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “This is another example of NOAA’s and the Bush Administration’s strong commitment to species conservation and environmental stewardship”

The PCSRF was established in 2000 to provide grants to the states and tribes to assist state, tribal and local salmon conservation and recovery efforts. Earlier this year, the Bush Administration announced a $10 million increase for the Fund in the President’s FY 2005 budget request, totaling $100 million. The PCSRF supplements existing state, tribal and federal programs to foster development of federal-state-tribal-local partnerships in salmon recovery and conservation; promotes efficiencies and effectiveness in recovery efforts through enhanced sharing and pooling of capabilities, expertise and information. The goal of the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund is to make significant contributions to the conservation, restoration, and sustainability of Pacific salmon and their habitat.

Each year, NOAA awards approximately $900 million in grants to members of the academic, scientific and business communities to assist the agency in fulfilling its mission to study the Earth’s natural systems in order to predict environmental change, manage ocean resources, protect life and property, and provide decision makers with reliable scientific information. NOAA’s goals and programs reflect a commitment to these basic responsibilities of science and service to the nation for the past 34 years.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources. To learn more about NOAA, please visit: http://www.noaa.gov.