The Washington Salmon Recovery Funding Board has awarded San Juan County with a grant of $405,830 for two projects aimed at restoring salmon populations.

Nearly $30 million in grants were given to Washington state organizations by WSRFB to support the return of salmon, which are on the brink of extinction.

The first project In San Juan that the funds will go towards is a Neighborhood Conservation Easement Program that will create conservation easements on multiple properties.

“As far as we can tell, this approach has never been done before,” said Susan Zemek, Recreation and Conservation Office communications manager. “So we anticipate that this is a pilot project that will create a mechanisms that other jurisdictions would also be interested in using.”

The second program is called the Fishing Gear Removal project that will fund removal of the last remaining documented derelict fishing nets in the San Juans.