Category Overview
Conserving land along our waterways protects important habitat and helps keep our rivers healthy, clean, and more resilient to drought. Riparian Protection projects conserve and restore fresh and saltwater habitat while protecting fish habitat. In doing so, the grants help provide our families, farms, and fisheries with clean water across the state.
Project Highlights
Kittitas Conservation Trust proposes to prevent development of riparian habitat along approximately 1.18 mile of Yakima River frontage in Thorp Washington, by acquiring the 235-acre property for conservation and restoration. If successful, this large conservation project will protect and allow for future restoration of critical floodplain and riparian habitats in the Upper Yakima River watershed. The habitats within the property boundaries include riverine, open and closed riparian forests, woodlands, shrub steppe, and wetlands. This conservation effort will protect habitats and migration corridors for threatened Mid-Columbia Steelhead, Spring Chinook, Coho, bull trout, rainbow trout, cutthroat trout, and other native fish and aquatic species. Functioning floodplains and riparian forest habitats are essential to providing critical ecosystem services for fish, wildlife, and people. The acquisition of the property will allow KCT and our partners to consider actions that will reverse some of the negative impacts of human made floodplain modifications that have disconnected the river from it’s historic floodplain in this reach.