Fish projects hope to return more salmon.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Fisheries Program and its partners in 19 states will spend a combined $7.4 million this year to remove or bypass more than 150 barriers to fish passage.

Here in Alaska, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has invested $421,112, backed by an additional

$185,615 in matching funds from its various partners, to remove a total of 17 barriers to fish passage. When completed, these projects will reopen more than 73 miles of waterway to salmon and other fish species. "The National Fish Passage Program is a natural for Alaska," said Rowan Gould, Alaska regional director for the Fish and Wildlife Service. "We have plenty of willing partners because this is a program where everyone wins. These relatively small investments result in more fish being found in more miles of river and stream where more people can enjoy them."

The popular National Fish Passage Program enlists municipal, state, tribal and other federal agencies, as well as non-governmental organizations, to open habitat in the nation's streams and rivers by removing or bypassing dams and other obstructions and improving or replacing culverts under roads or railroad tracks. Partner participation is strictly voluntary.