OLYMPIA – The Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office this week announced the award of nearly $190 million in grants to communities statewide to improve outdoor recreation and conserve important wildlife habitat for all of us and the plants and animals that live here. Several projects in Clallam County are included in this funding.
The Port of Port Angeles was awarded $257,000 to replace the thirty-seven-year-old boarding float at the John Wayne Marina public boat launch. The new float will be accessible to people with disabilities.
The Washington Department of Natural Resources got a $185,000 grant to maintain 44 miles of off-road vehicle trails and trailheads in the Foothills and Sadie Creek trail systems in the Port Angeles area. Crews will reroute trail sections, lay crushed rock to harden sections of trail, and maintain and repair restrooms and signs.
Clallam County was awarded $110,000 to repair the boat dock at Lake Pleasant County Park. The boat launch there is the only public access to Lake Pleasant.
The City of Forks got a grant of $350,000 to upgrade Spartan Field in the Quillayute Valley School District. They’ll use the money to add a bathroom, fencing, and paving at Spartan Field.
North Olympic Land Trust received two awards. $137,000 to buy a conservation easement to conserve the 10-acre Dungeness Hub, owned by Nash’s Organic Produce. The farm contains prime agricultural soil and supports several surrounding farms with infrastructure and access to water.
North Olympic Land Trust also got a $421,000 grant to buy a conservation easement for the 54-acre Mid Valley Farm. The farm is on the edge of Sequim, and is integral to Maple View Farm, one of the last two dairies in Clallam County.
State Fish and Wildlife got a $1,000,000 grant to buy 38 acres just north of Forks to provide access to the Sol Duc River for boating and fishing, and another $1.1 million grant to buy 216 acres of habitat along the West Twin River directly adjacent to the Salish Sea.
You can visit Recreation and Conservation Office’s website for more information and photographs of all these projects at rco.wa.gov.
(Photo: Forks High School’s Spartan Field)