OR SB1584

Department of State Lands and Department of Fish and Wildlife shall develop a salmon credit pilot program for voluntary restoration of wild coho and chinook salmon habitat in the Coquille and Coos watershed basins

Agricultural and forestland owners can become "credit generators" by completing habitat restoration projects, with salmon credit prices set at double the average project costs to provide financial incentives

Credit generators receive half the credit purchase price upfront, with the remaining half deposited into the new Salmon Credit Trust Fund to pay ongoing annual dividends as long as the project meets program requirements

Program requires federal approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a bank instrument before becoming operative, and no new projects may be approved after January 1 of the sixth year following federal approval

Completed salmon credit projects must be preserved as salmonid habitat through recorded deed instruments with access easements, and projects must be inspected at least every three years