Wednesday August 23, 2023
Public News Service —
Fish passage is set to improve in the Northwest with an investment from Congress’s bipartisan infrastructure law.
The Biden administration has announced its first round of grants totaling $196 million to fix or remove culverts across the country. Culverts channel water under structures such as roadways, but can be barriers to fish who use streams and rivers.
Michael O’Casey, deputy director of the Pacific Northwest region for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, said culverts are especially hard for young salmon and other species to pass.
“This is really an incredible opportunity to improve passage and ecological connectivity of rivers and streams here in the Northwest and across the country,” O’Casey emphasized.