Date Published to Web: 5/5/2009

SALEM -- The Luckiamute Watershed Council was among seven recipients of environmental improvement funds presented April 23 by Gov. Ted Kulongoski at a gathering to commemorate Earth Day.
   The Luckiamute Watershed Council will add the $15,000 it received from the governor's fund to another $121,866 from Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board and other partners to replace barriers that are blocking spawning or rearing native fish from moving upstream.
   The projects will replace failing culverts on Waymire and Grant creeks, which flow into the Little Luckiamute River, and on Berry Creek, which flows into the Luckiamute River.
   By replacing the culverts, native fish will be able to access another 1.1 miles of habitat, according to Michael Cairns, the council's project manager.
   Polk County Soil and Water Conservation District will also benefit from another $50,000 piece of the governor's fund awarded to the Yamhill Soil and Water Conservation District. Funds will support two technical staff, working mostly in the Yamhill Basin, to develop Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program projects.
   The new riparian technicians will also be available countywide to maintain CREP projects already under way on private lands in Polk and Yamhill counties. The governor's funds will be added to $416,020 in funds from other partners for the two-county project.