HB 1838: Salmon habitat

Summary

• Requires, with certain specified exemptions, public and private landowners who own property adjacent to a body of water identified and mapped on a riparian management zone map to establish, maintain, and protect the riparian management zone (RMZ).
• Requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to develop a map that illustrates the RMZ for salmon and steelhead bearing rivers and streams.
• Requires the Salmon Recovery Funding Board to develop and implement a statewide riparian habitat conservation grant program to both protect and restore RMZs and ecosystems and provide an opportunity to cost share with landowners.
• Requires the WDFW to provide landowners in priority watersheds with an offer of grant funding to assist in implementation of RMZ requirements.
• Directs the WDFW to ensure compliance with RMZ requirements in prioritized watersheds where progress goals established by the WDFW have not been met.
• Requires the WDFW to maintain a digital web-based atlas of data pertaining to the amount and condition of RMZs.

From the House Bill Analysis 2022 (HB 1838), written by the Legislature's nonpartisan staff. Read the full report ↗