Restoration on Stump Creek and Caddis Creek

Through the implementation of restoration along two tributaries of the South Fork Toutle River, this project aims to increase water storage and improve the quality and quantity of available spawning and rearing habitat for three threatened Lower Columbia salmonids. This work is focused on creating and enhancing habitat along Stump Creek and Caddis Creek where they join the South Fork Toutle. These streams are important parts of an undammed watershed that flows from the western slopes of Mount St. Helens to the Cowlitz River and ultimately to the Columbia River. They have high habitat potential and long-term ecological value as areas of off-channel refugia. Our species of focus are Lower Columbia River (LCR) coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch), LCR fall Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), and LCR winter steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss). This project builds on the Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Groups extensive work in the Toutle River watershed.

This project builds on Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Groups extensive work in the watershed where they continue to implement large-scale wood placement on the mainstem South Fork Toutle. Our project will complement those efforts by expanding the on-the-ground benefits into vital off-channel habitats and smaller, connected waterways. Our goals include: Increase the habitat complexity and quantity for spawning, prespawning holding, and rearing of fall Chinook, coho, and winter steelhead Moderate seasonal flows and improve water storage benefiting Chinook (pre-spawning holding), coho (winter and summer rearing) and steelhead (winter and summer rearing) Ameliorate sediment issues and improve sediment processes by creating off-channel habitat areas and diversifying flows. Mitigate increases in water temperature. Reconnect floodplains for the benefit of rearing coho and steelhead. In all cases, this process-based work addresses the root causes of habitat degradation by mimicking the way wood pieces and other assorted debris accumulate in a well-functioning system. Further, by addressing the streamside conditions and increasing tree species and variety of age classes, we are setting the system up to seed its own wood from the riparian zone into the future. The desired future conditions are tributary habitat areas with an abundance of deep pools for fish, stabilized flows, healthy sediment transport, and an increase in the overall habitat complexity.