The karuk tribal fisheries program (KTFP) is a leader in fisheries restoration projectplanning and implementation in the middle klamath river

The Karuk Tribe of California will receive $1,599,906 under a Cooperative Agreement awarded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to support fisheries habitat restoration and project management activities through September 2027. Funded under the Partners for Fish and Wildlife program (CFDA 15.631), the award will allow the Karuk Tribe to hire a full-time Habitat Restoration Project Manager to lead planning, design, permitting, implementation and effectiveness monitoring for fisheries habitat restoration projects in the Middle Klamath River watershed of California. Key activities will include restoration planning and design, project management, grant proposal development, coordination with partners, and assessments to support habitat and fisheries restoration goals. The funding increase will help address capacity needs for the Karuk Tribe's fisheries program as demand grows for habitat improvements benefiting salmon populations in the Klamath Basin.

Karuk fisheries works closelywith the U.S. Fish and wildlife service partners for fish and wildlife program (PFW) andlocal partners to accomplish this important work. Karuk fisheries works in closecollaboration with the middle klamath watershed council to increase local capacity toimplement projects, but staff continues to work on many unfunded tasks including; projectoutreach, project planning and design, permitting, project management, grant writing andcoordination with private landowners. The KTFP also collaborates with the salmon riverrestoration council and siskiyou RCD on projects in other klamath river sub basins. Thereis a critical need for increasing our program capacity to keep pace with the increasing demandfor actions that improve salmon habitat in the klamath basin. Increasing karuk fisheriesprogram capacity is the primary goal of this project. Karuk fisheries will hire a full timehabitat restoration project manager whom will work on tasks including: 1) restorationplanning, design, permitting, and implementation; 2) project management and matching fundsgrant proposal development; 3) project effectiveness monitoring and restoration-relatedhabitat and fisheries assessments,4) coordinating with other karuk natural resourcedepartment programs, state and federal resource agencies, basin partners, and/or stakeholderson various issues related to implementation of klamath river basin habitat restorationprojects. The karuk tribe relies solely on annual grants and agreements to support fisheriesprogram staff and program development and has a difficult time maintaining the capacitynecessary for a functional habitat restoration program. To address this problem the karuktribe is requesting funding to support a full time habitat restoration project manager for fouryears begin in FY 2022 through FY 2025.