Re: “Trump administration’s salmon funding cut threatens decades of progress” (Aug. 20, Opinion):
Thanks for highlighting the Trump administration’s elimination of $1.3 million in federal funding for Washington’s Regional Fisheries Enhancement Groups and for making a case for why the administration should reverse course.
In addition to the loss of federal investments in enhancement groups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service informed Long Live the Kings that we will be losing $139,000 in annual funding to support salmon recovery in Hood Canal. These dollars have been critical to restoring Hood Canal summer chum and preventing the extinction of Puget Sound steelhead — both listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Salmon recovery can work. Summer chum adults that were returning to streams in single-digit numbers in 1999 now number in the thousands and are on track to being one of the first salmon populations removed from the ESA.
But steelhead, our official state fish, are in crisis. The “State of the Salmon” report shows that where we have adequate data, Puget Sound steelhead are below recovery targets and falling. This year, the state pulled the bulk of the funding to reduce steelhead mortality at the Hood Canal Bridge, and now the federal government is reducing support as well. We must do much better.
Jacques White, CEO, Long Live the Kings, Seattle
