Neal Creek Phase 3 Habitat Restoration Project

The Neal Creek Phase 3 Habitat Enhancement project is located on Neal Creek in Hood River County, OR, exclusively on Hood River County forestland and outside of the FEMA floodplain boundary. Neal Creek is one of the few clear water (non-glacial) tributaries of the lower Hood River and contains a viable population of threatened winter steelhead, threatened coho salmon, cutthroat trout, and resident rainbow trout. Based on ODFW sampling and population estimates, Neal Creek is estimated to provide 5-10% of steelhead production in the Hood River Basin. The combination of channel alterations, fill from private and county roads, and large wood removal has led to entrenched channel segments that are disconnected from the floodplain and have limited amounts of large wood and pool habitat elements. The purpose of this project is to restore aquatic habitat as an aid to the recovery of ESA-listed winter steelhead and coho. Improving instream habitat is listed as a priority action within the Hood River Basin Strategic Action Plan (2021) and numerous local planning and assessment documents. The project will enhance Neal Creek by returning a section of Neal Creek to its historic channel length and adding large wood to the channel to reconnect the floodplain. This project will restore 1.25 miles of Neal Creek and its floodplain for juvenile rearing and adult holding and spawning habitat.

The resulting project will enhance two miles of instream habitat and over 20 acres of floodplain habitat for winter steelhead and coho salmon by installing approximately 693 pieces of large wood in 50 large woody debris jams, and along a proposed channel realignment. This will increase spawning and rearing habitat by increasing the number of key pools, spawning gravel patches, channel complexity, and floodplain connectivity. The large wood structures will also improve cover so that juvenile and adult salmonids can find low velocity areas during high flow events and greater protection from predation. Suitable spawning and rearing habitat is limited in both Neal Creek and the Hood River Watershed.