The state Recreation and Conservation Office is being asked for almost 50 grants totaling about $32 million for trails, parks, fish and wildlife habitat and boat ramps for Southwest Washington in 2015.
The RCO is a relatively little-known state agency that provides financing and technical assistance to build and maintain parks, trails, boating facilities, water access areas, firearms and archery ranges, off-road-vehicle areas, athletic fields and to conserve wildlife habitat and working farms.
The agency, through its boards, averages awarding about 230 grants across Washington for $60 million each fiscal year.
The source of the money is a plethora of programs dedicated to specific purposes.
Among these sources are the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program, state and federal salmon recovery dollars, and the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund and Recreational Trails Program.
Applicants for grants to be spent in Clark, Skamania and Klickitat counties includes the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, Washington Department of Natural Resources, the Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board, Cowlitz Indian Tribe and Gifford Pinchot National Forest, along with a variety of cities, port districts and conservation districts.
Hundreds of grants applications from agencies throughout Washington are evaluated and ranked on a competitive basis. Projects getting funded depends on how much money is available for the upcoming financial period.
Most of the grants awards will be announced in June.
Among the grant applications (although not a complete list) are:
Siouxon trail bridge — The Gifford Pinchot National Forest is asking for $62,000 to pay for 75 percent of the cost of replacing the bridge where Siouxon trail No. 130 crosses West Creek.
The 46-foot-long log bridge is near the end of its life expectancy. An estimated 8,100 visitors used the Siouxon Roadless Area annually. During spring and summer, West Creek is unsafe to cross without the bridge.
Marble Mountain Sno-Park warming shelter — The Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument is seeking $125,000 to pay for 47 percent of the $286,000 needed for a new warming shelter at Marble Mountain Sno-Park.
The shelter along road No. 83 on the south side of the volcano burned in April 2012. An estimated 8,500 to 12,000 visitors use the sno-park annually.
It also served as a gathering spot for social events, search-and-rescue staging and more.
Battle Ground Lake State Park boat dock — A grant for $516,500 is being sought by the state parks agency for new boat dock that is closer to the launch ramp.
The 35-year-old existing dock is not stable and partially sinks below the water when occupied. A handicapped-accessible fishing pier also would be installed just beyond the dock.
Rowland Lake boat ramp — The Department of Fish and Wildlife is requesting $265,000 to build a new concrete ramp, turnaround, toilet and parking at Rowland Lake in western Klickitat County.
The lake is four miles east of Bingen and split by state Highway 14. The ramp is on the north side of the northern section of the lake.
Rowland Lake is stocked with trout, but also provides fishing for bass and panfish species.
It often can be fished when strong winds make the adjacent Columbia River unsafe.
Simcoe Mountains — The requested $3 million would allow the Department of Fish and Wildlife to buy 2,700 acres of a 22,000-acre parcel east of Highway 97 in northern Klickitat County.
This is prime deer-hunting terrain, plus includes the headwaters of Rock Creek.
The creek contains steelhead listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.
The property is mix of conifers, Oregon white oak, white alder, grassland and shrub steppe. It currently is gated closed.
Western Pacific Timber owns the land. The Department of Fish and Wildlife and Eastern Klickitat Conservation District would jointly manage the land to include forestry and grazing.
Rock Creek — The state Conservation Commission is seeking two grants to buy agricultural easements in the Rock Creek and Chapman Creek areas of central Klickitat County.
The grants total $7.5 million and include easements on slightly more than 18,000 acres.
