Habitat for endangered salmon and other wildlife in three King County watersheds will see added improvements, thanks to more than $1.5 million in Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration (PSAR) grants from the state Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB).

The grants include nearly $900,000 for projects on the Cedar River. Those projects include land acquisition for future restoration of Cedar River Elliot Bridge Reach, restoration of South Lake Washington shoreline near Cedar River mouth and land acquisition for future restoration of Cedar River Royal Arch Reach

The PSAR grants were created in 2007 as part of Gov. Christine Gregoire’s initiative to restore Puget Sound.

Projects funded include floodplain restoration, levee setbacks, and restoring Puget Sound shoreline.

“These grants will do a number of things. They will put people to work repairing damage to salmon habitat, and they will help us conserve land important for salmon recovery,” said Steve Tharinger, SRFB chair. “Without grants such as these, there would be no hope that we ever would recover salmon from the brink of extinction.”

Three projects in the Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish Watershed received $888,377.

The three watersheds receiving grants stretch from the Cascade crest west to the shoreline of Puget Sound, and are home to chinook salmon, steelhead trout, and bull trout.