The Clallam Conservation District presented its annual update to county commissioners on Aug. 18, reporting expanded plantings, growth in agricultural cover-crop assistance and ongoing on‑site septic replacement work while flagging rising administrative costs.
Major program highlights: the district said it planted 24,831 trees and shrubs across 47.48 acres of streamside buffers in the 2024–25 planting season (nine projects), assisted 40 farms with on-site visits and distributed 20,500 pounds of cover-crop seed covering about 272 acres across 15 farms.
Septic and fish-passage work: the district reported it has replaced 32 failing on-site septic systems since 2014 and completed five replacements in the most recent year; it said it has funding and designs in place for five more fish‑passage projects and supports private-land riparian restoration in coordination with landowners and state partners.
Administrative pressures and requests: the district said it handled an increase in public-records requests (12 requests requiring review of more than 13,000 documents and over 200 staff hours) and that election activity tripled (voters from 321 to 934 year over year), raising election-related costs (about $20,000 in the most recent cycle; projections higher next cycle). A district representative said some program‑administration costs (staff time) are not fully covered by grants and asked for continued county support for general operations.
Volunteers and partnerships: the district tracked 399 volunteer hours and listed partners including WSU extension, WCC crews, Pacific Forest Management and state agencies. The district said irrigation-related federal grants are stalled pending Bureau of Reclamation environmental-review scheduling and asked staff and commissioners to note the uncertain timing.
Commissioner response: commissioners thanked the district for the update, acknowledged the conservation benefits of riparian planting and cover-crop programs and agreed continued county-district partnership will be important for grant administration and countywide resource goals.