For Immediate Release

April 22, 2009

PARK STIMULUS FUNDING
TO BOOST ELWHA PROJECT

WASHINGTON, D.C. – National Parks in Washington State will receive nearly $62 million in construction and rehabilitation funding that is being released by the Interior Department as part of the government’s economic stimulus program effort, U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks said Wednesday.

The largest portion of the funding will be for work within Olympic National Park to accelerate the Elwha River ecosystem and fisheries program, the congressman said, allowing the Park Service to issue the contract solicitation for removal of the two dams and restoration of the river in the next fiscal year.

A total of $54 million from the stimulus funding will be used this year for preparation work on the Elwha project, including removal of culverts, reinforcement of flood protection, water quality enhancements and replacement of a tribal fish hatchery, Rep. Dicks said.

The Washington State  funding was announced by Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar today in Washington among a series of investments at park facilities around the nation that are designed to create jobs in the near term and to restore quality visitor experiences at many of the 391 parks and historic sites managed by the National Park Service.

“This acceleration of the Elwha River restoration project brings us much closer to the actual dam removal, which will soon result in significant ecological, cultural and economic benefits to the Olympic Peninsula,” Rep. Dicks said.  The Elwha is the largest watershed on the Olympic Peninsula and it was once one of the most productive salmon streams in the Pacific Northwest, home to all five species of Pacific salmon, as well as other fish species.  Two dams, constructed in the early 1900s, now block fish from all but the lower five miles of the river.  Removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams  – authorized by Congress in 1992 --  will restore the Elwha to its natural, free-flowing condition and will once again allow fish access to over 70 river miles of habitat now protected within Olympic National Park.

In addition to the Elwha funds, Secretary Salazar also announced that $3.3 million was being released for deferred maintenance projects on roads, trails and buildings at Mount Rainier National Park and another $3.1 million will fund similar work at Olympic National Park.   At Lake Roosevelt, $353,000 would be spent for energy improvements.

The stimulus funds were authorized and appropriated by Congress in February as part of the effort to counter the national economic downturn by initiating federal spending for long-planned infrastructure improvements that could create immediate employment to blunt the sharp rise in the nation’s unemployment rate.


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