Two projects led by Washington Sea Grant (WSG) will receive a total of $1.59 million through the Puget Sound National Estuary Program’s Habitat Strategic Initiative, a partnership between Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Washington Department of Natural Resources. The WSG-led projects will focus on sea level rise vulnerability and on managing invasive European green crab, which will receive $798,785 and $794,789 in funding respectively. In addition, WSG is a partner on a third project led by the University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, which will receive $797,256 to monitor the impacts of shoreline restoration efforts.

In total, the Habitat Strategic Initiative Leads chose 25 projects in which they will invest approximately $14 million to advance Puget Sound habitat recovery. The projects will advance protection efforts to restore eelgrass habitat and enhance kelp forest conservation, expedite floodplain and estuary restoration projects, and provide incentives to private landowners to improve habitat along shorelines and streams and in working farms and forests. Projects will also provide information and tools to increase resiliency for people and habitat to climate change and assist local governments with land-use planning efforts to protect habitat and integrate nature-based solutions.

Investments are distributed across five investment priorities: changing planning paradigms, supporting project development and readiness, behavior change, regulatory support, and information and evaluation. These five investment priorities represent a systems approach and holistic vision for habitat investment in Puget Sound to achieve multiple outcomes for streams and floodplains, forests and wetlands, estuaries and beaches and marine vegetation.