Herrera Beutler touts salmon bill during Washougal visit

U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler looked over Tony Meyer’s shoulder as he flipped through a stack of old black-and-white aerial photos showing the lower Washougal River dating back to 1939.

Meyer, with the Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group, directed the congresswoman to focus on a cluster of old Oregon oak trees. The trees were a steady presence as the river changed throughout the years; gravel mining scarred the river’s banks, a road altered the river’s course and the city encroached on its boundaries.

Herrera Beutler strolled with Meyer along the Washougal River Greenway Trail on Monday afternoon as he pointed out all the improvements his crew has made along the river, from creating spawn-friendly habitats to improving riparian areas.

“This reinforces the need to let funds work locally,” Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, said.

She is pushing a bill that would give the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers the ability to contract with local nonprofits and let them take the lead on smaller salmon habitat restoration efforts.

It can be hard, Meyer said, for a nonprofit like his, which has four full-time employees, to work through a cumbersome grant application process.

Herrera Beutler said she hopes her legislation, coined the Fundamentally Improving Salmon Habitat Act, would let the Corps contract with local nonprofits on projects costing less than $2 million.

If the legislation gains momentum and passes, Meyer’s group would be eligible to contract with the Corps, along with other nonprofits such as the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, the Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board and the Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group.

Herrera Beutler has signed on to the legislation with Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., and Kurt Schrader, D-Ore.

Meyer’s work, she said, illustrates perfectly the need to “shake loose the logjam in the Corps” and let smaller, local groups access more resources so they can continue to dedicate their time and resources to helping the region’s salmon and steelhead populations thrive.