Blue Sky Habitat

Lower Columbia River, Clatsop County, Oregon

This project will support salmon on their journey from freshwater streams to the Pacific Ocean and back. This project will restore access to 22 acres of critical habitat along the Columbia River that juvenile salmon need to feed, rest, and grow. Only 13% of this once abundant habitat remains. At Warren Slough, two undersized culverts in the railroad embankment will be removed and a 60-foot-wide breach created. The area will be revegetated with native wetland plants and Sitka spruce trees, increasing habitat diversity and resilience. A new bridge will allow tidal waters, fish, and food to move freely, helping to restore natural tidal cycles and improve wetland function. Because Warren Slough is located within a region of ongoing habitat restoration, its impact will be amplified, contributing to a growing series of high-quality habitat for salmon and their prey. As these projects succeed, they not only support struggling salmon populations but also benefit the people and communities that depend on healthy ecosystems. This project is led by CREST in partnership with the North Coast Land Conservancy, Oregon Department of Transportation, Portland & Western Railroad, Bonneville Power Administration, and the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board.

Native fish benefited: Lower Columbia River Chinook and Coho Salmon and Steelhead; Columbia River Chum Salmon

Upper Rogue River, Jackson County, Oregon

This project will enhance critical spawning and rearing habitats for salmon and native aquatic species by installing large wood structures along a one-mile stretch of West Fork Trail Creek, a rain-dominated perennial stream. As drought conditions intensify across the region, salmonids are increasingly dependent on cooler, upstream habitats like West Fork Trail Creek. Strategically placed large wood accumulations and log jams will strengthen stream processes by helping to promote the formation of secondary channels, scouring pools, encouraging sediment sorting, regulating water temperatures, and increasing floodplain inundation and water storage. These improvements are essential for the survival, migration, and reproduction of anadromous fish species and contribute to a broader, watershed-scale restoration initiative. This project is supported by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Bureau of Land Management, and local private timber companies.

Native fish benefited: SONCC Coho Salmon and Fall Chinook Salmon, Steelhead, Coastal Cutthroat Trout

Mid-Columbia Hood Watershed, Hood River County, Oregon

The Hood River Watershed Group, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs, and Columbia Land Trust have prioritized habitat enhancement projects on the mainstem Hood River along the Powerdale Corridor, a former hydroelectric project site whose dam was removed in 2010. The goal of the project is to improve aquatic habitat and ecological functions that support Endangered Species Act-listed salmon and steelhead populations, as well as other native fish that utilize the mainstem. Specific restoration actions include enhancing existing habitat and creating new side-channel and floodplain habitat through large wood placement and excavations.

Native fish benefited: Lower Columbia River Spring and Fall Chinook Salmon, Summer and Winter Steelhead, and Coho Salmon; Pacific Lamprey

Sandy River, Clackamas County, Oregon

The Freshwater Trust, Bureau of Land Management, and US Forest Service are leading this project on behalf of the Sandy River Basin Partners. The project will address primary limiting factors by increasing off-channel habitat, floodplain connectivity and large wood abundance on two high-priority salmon and steelhead reaches in the upper Sandy: Zigzag River and Salmon River. The project on public land is part of a collaborative, multi-year effort to accelerate recovery of naturally functioning conditions within prioritized stream channels and riparian areas of the Sandy River basin. Data shows that these actions have consistently achieved the desired habitat and fish response.

Native fish benefited: Lower Columbia River Coho Salmon, Spring and Fall Chinook Salmon, and Winter Steelhead

Upper Rogue River, Jackson County, Oregon

This interdisciplinary project will advance ecological restoration using low-tech process-based restoration (LTPBR) strategies at the Vesper Meadow Restoration Preserve. The Little Butte watershed has experienced significant hydrologic alteration and degradation of native species’ habitat in the last 200 years. Project actions include enhancing native fish and riparian habitat, restoring native vegetation, reducing entrenchment of three miles of creek channel, increasing annual floodplain inundation, expanding the meadow’s wet season, and increasing public awareness of the connections between watershed-level restoration and drinking water quality through direct engagement with hands-on restoration as well as outreach. Project partners include the Project Beaver, Indigenous Gardens Network, Bureau of Land Management, Coalicion Forteleza, and local schools.

Native fish benefited: SONCC Coho Salmon, SOCC Coast Chinook Salmon, Steelhead, Sea-Run Cutthroat Trout

Upper Willamette River, Benton County, Oregon

The Marys River Watershed Council continues its long-term program of controlling invasive knotweed species along river and creek banks. Knotweeds outcompete native vegetation and limit plant community diversity, diminishing the healthy function of the ecosystem, which is harmful to migratory aquatic organisms that spawn and rear in the cool waters of the Marys River basin.

Native fish benefited: Coastal Cutthroat Trout, Spring-run Chinook Salmon, Winter-run Steelhead, and Pacific Lamprey