Cispus-Yellowjacket Phase 1 Restoration

The Cowlitz Indian Tribe collaborated with the USDA Forest Service to build in-stream structures in 1,800 of main stem Cispus River to scour pools, sort gravels, support floodplain forest succession, and provide cover. The mainstem structures also increased flows in a 3,100 long side channel, providing rearing habitat for spring Chinook, winter steelhead, and coho. This project followed on a first-phase consensus recommendation of stakeholders identified and consulted during a PCSRF/Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB)-funded design for a suite of projects in the Cispus-Yellowjacket reach. Cascade Forest Conservancy staff and volunteers planted locally-adapted native riparian trees and shrubs in 22.5 acres of disturbed areas and areas identified by Forest Service staff as lacking in riparian forest diversity or density. A concurrent project was funded by SRFB for a portion of the construction funding, so reported metrics for this project have been halved to prevent duplication in the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund database. For example, while the total length of stream treated is 1,800 (0.34 miles), the PCSRF metric C.0.b. shows half that amount: 0.17 miles.

The Tribe used grant funds to implement in-stream work at the project site to increase the quality and quantity of spawning, rearing and adult holding habitat on site and in downstream reaches for salmon and steelhead, as specified in the 2010 Lower Columbia Salmon Recovery and Fish & Wildlife Subbasin Plan (Recovery Plan).