In coordination with our partners, we work towards removing policy and funding barriers that slow down and prevent salmon recovery

Policy Barriers

Policy barriers at the local, state, and federal levels can cause delays in salmon recovery efforts. Salmon habitat restoration projects often face the same permitting hurdles as large development projects that can potentially harm habitat. We work to streamline the permitting processes for salmon habitat restoration projects that have gone through state and local review, like the PSAR Large Capital Projects and Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB) processes. We also work with partners to integrate salmon recovery into all levels of development policy. This includes encouraging:

• Sound Safe Infrastructure,
• Salmon smart critical areas, and
• Shoreline development policies.

By adding salmon recovery objectives into these development policies, we are helping to prevent future recovery barriers while addressing current barriers that slow salmon recovery progress.

Funding Barriers

Our partners also experience funding barriers which prevent them from accessing and acquiring funding needed to support projects and initiatives. These barriers can include complicated application processes or not enough staff to search for available funds. These are not the same as funding gaps (which refer to a lack of available dollars), but they can still prevent projects from moving forward. For more information on funding barriers, please visit our Strategic Funding Team’s webpage.

Last updated: 12/05/25