NOAA Fisheries has awarded $103 million in funding for 16 habitat restoration projects across the country. These projects will recover and sustain our nation’s fisheries by ensuring fish have access to high quality habitat.

The Moon Valley project is reconnecting the Big Quilcene River to 140 acres of floodplain, creating a new multichannel river network, and restoring habitat for summer chum. Together with a complementary project led by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe downstream, the work is helping reduce flood impacts and improve the Quilcene Bay estuary.

NOAA Fisheries and partners rebuilt floodplain habitat in the heart of redwood country, benefiting salmon, restoring tribal stewardship, and creating new opportunities for recreation and jobs.

When any habitat restoration project finishes, a critical question remains: Will the project help threatened fish and other species recover? At the Prairie Creek habitat restoration project, researchers have conducted monitoring before, during, and after construction to determine whether the project would improve the survival prospects of coho salmon.

The natural resource trustees for the Weyerhaeuser Plymouth Mill case have released a Draft Phase 2 Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment. They seek public comment on proposed restoration projects that would compensate the public for injuries to fish, aquatic habitat, and recreational fishing caused by releases of hazardous substances from the former Plymouth Mill in Plymouth, North Carolina.

The Florida Trustee Implementation Group is drafting its fourth post-settlement restoration plan and associated environmental analysis to address, in part, natural resource injuries caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.