What is a Salmon Recovery Lead Entity?
Lead entity organizations were created in 1999 and perform an essential role in salmon habitat recovery activities in Washington State as provided in Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 77.85 Salmon Recovery (HB2496).
The local Lead Entity is a local watershed based organization devoted to recovery of sustainable salmon populations to support the needs of the local ecosystem, wildlife and people in the San Juans. The salmon recovery program is a local process to protect and restore ecosystem habitats and processes utilized by salmon in San Juan County. The Lead Entity consists of:
- a coordinator (usually a county, conservation district, or tribal staff). The San Juan County Lead Entity Coordinator is county staff.
- a committee of local technical personnel - the San Juan County Salmon Technical Advisory Group.
- a committee of local citizens - the San Juan County Marine Resources Committee.
The local technical experts assist in development of salmon recovery strategies, and identification and prioritization of projects. The local citizens committee is responsible for developing the final prioritized project list and submitting it to funding sources. In salmon recovery regions of the state, Lead Entity strategies serve as the foundation of the recovery planning process.