Program areas at RCD
YAKIMA TRIBUTARY ACCESS AND HABITAT PROGRAM (YTAHP) is dedicated to salmon, steelhead,and bull trout recovery under the Endangered Species Act.The YTAHP program is committed to protecting and enhancing riparian and floodplain habitat currently or historically used by salmon in Yakima Basin and assisting landowners to voluntarily implement best management practices to improve conditions for salmon and promote working with lands.YTAHP supports landowners and partnering conservation organizations to construct projects, maintain program planning and administration, support project development, including planning, design, and permitting, and conduct landowner outreach and coordination.YTHAP supported the implementation of 12 fish passage and habitat restoration projects, ongoing riparian vegetation, and site stewardship on 6 projects and provided significant work toward project development, permits, design and/or funding for an additional 2 projects. The projects completed in 2022 cumulatively resulted in screening 3.8 cfs of diverted surface water, restoring fish passage to 13.6 mile of tributary habitat and installing over 2.1 acres of riparian planting on 8 streams in the Yakima Basin.YTHAP supported the Northwest Power and Conservation Council Anadromous Fish Habitat and Hatchery Review process.
Cooperative Forestry Assistance and Community Resilience Programs: A series of projects completed to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity, or the nations forests, grasslands to meet the needs of the present and future generations. The WRCD worked to increase workforce capacity through prescribed fire training in northeast Washington; initiated a community wildfire protection planning process in Yakima County; and continued planning and implementing wildfire preparedness training and workshops for community wildfire practitioners across the state. Provided facilitation and coordination support to forest health collaborative working groups and community-based coalitions in south central Washington and Chelan, Kittitas, and Okanogan counties. Through these collaborative efforts, the WRCD provided outreach, technical assistance, communication plans, and landscapes projects development to improve landscape and community resilience, and reduce the risk of wildfire near homes and communities.
Fire Adapt Communities Program: The WRCD works to support Washington communities before, during, and after fires by providing tools and resources to local organizations and agencies to develop and act on place-based strategies and priorities to increase resilience towildfires. WAFAC provided 14 trainings to nonprofit organizations, fire districts, conservation districts, homeowners associations, local wildfire coalitions, and hosted two workshops on wildfire preparedness, recovery, and equitable partnerships. WAFAC supported Tribalpartnerships with local organizations focused on forest restoration through Indigenous practices, the development of forest and fire curriculum at the Northwest Indian College, and Latin-led organizations in their local community wildfire preparedness and recovery efforts.