Green River (Toutle) - Cascade to Shultz Cr Design

The Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group will initiate process-based restoration in the Green River with a design. This design will identify limiting factors for ESA-listed Chinook, coho, and steelhead and develop a restoration strategy to address these limiting factors. The project is located between the confluences of Cascade Creek and Shultz Creek including the confluence of Elk Creek. This project expands LCFEGs work in the Toutle watershed where we are concentrating on enhancing the volitional zones productivity for salmon, trout, lamprey, and other resident fish.

1. Re-establish structure in the Green River channels and floodplains to retain wood and sediment that will improve spawning and rearing habitat and water quality and quantity for ESA-listed Chinook, Coho, and Steelhead. 2. Create side-channel and off-channel habitats in the Green River, where valley width allows, to improve winter rearing habitat for ESA-listed spring Chinook, Coho and Steelhead. 3. Expand riparian plant communities from a monoculture of same-age Douglas fir and remove noxious weeds (especially Scotch Broom), restore long-term wood sources, and provide forage and building materials for beaver. 4. Establish baseline water temperature data for all reaches to inform restoration actions. The Green River (listing ID 72824) and Shultz Creek (listing ID 7803) are both 303d listed as Category 5 impaired for water temperature.