Lower East Fork Hood River Phase 2 Habitat Enhancement Project

The Hood River Watershed Group (HRWG), in partnership with the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs (CTWS) and private landowners, is developing an instream habitat enhancement project within the Phase 2 project reach of the Lower East Fork Hood River, located approximately
1.5 miles northwest of the town of Mount Hood, Oregon. Improving instream habitat is listed as a priority action within the Hood River Basin Partnership Strategic Action Plan (Thieman et al. 2021) and multiple local planning and assessment documents. These documents identify the lack of habitat quantity and quality, streamflow, channel stability, habitat diversity, and sediment load, as primary factors limiting the natural production of spring Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), steelhead O. mykiss, and Coho salmon (O. kisutch) in the East Fork Hood River (EFHR).

The goal of this project is to improve juvenile rearing and adult holding and spawning habitat for ESA-listed native fish species. This project will enhance and reconnect approximately 1.7 miles of instream and off channel habitat on the Lower East Fork Hood River. This will be accomplished by reconnecting the floodplain and side channels through excavation and grading, and large wood placement to improve instream habitat.

Improving instream habitat is listed as a priority action within the Hood River Basin Partnership Strategic Action Plan (Thieman et al. 2021) and multiple local planning and assessment documents. These documents identify the lack of habitat quantity and quality, streamflow, channel stability, habitat diversity, and sediment load, as primary factors limiting the natural production of spring Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), steelhead O. mykiss, and Coho salmon (O. kisutch) in the East Fork Hood River (EFHR). The goal of this project is to improve juvenile rearing and adult holding and spawning habitat for ESA-listed native fish species. This project will enhance and reconnect approximately 1.7 miles of instream and off channel habitat on the Lower East Fork Hood River. This will be accomplished by reconnecting the floodplain and side channels through excavation and grading, and large wood placement to improve instream habitat.