Newaukum Creek, a major tributary to the Green River, flows from the Cascade foothills through the Enumclaw Plateau in western Washington. The Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group, along with other local organizations and businesses, have committed to a long-term regional effort to mitigate anthropogenic influences impacting salmon and address habitat quality issues along all 14 river miles of Newaukum Creek. A suite of projects has been developed to restore spawning and rearing habitat by improving in-stream migration, stream morphology, water quality and riparian conditions vital for salmonid populations, and seven river miles have been enhanced to date through several years of community partnerships. MSFEG will continue to restore chinook and coho habitat in Newaukum Creek by partnering with NOAA and ASA to repair 180 feet of stream channel and revegetate a section of stream bank. Plans are to regrade the stream banks back to a 3:1 slope ratio and replant them with native wetland and riparian vegetation to complete the restoration. The restoration will result in $118,000 of habitat enhancements to compliment other ongoing projects, which include the replacement of two undersized culverts, removal of another culvert, installation of a livestock bridge, installation of large woody debris habitat features, and construction of a salmon rearing channel. The restoration will serve as an education tool for the community and continue th long term goal of instilling local school students, local tribes and community volunteers with a sense of stewardship for te watershed as a whole. Design work for the streambank revegetation is complete. Before and after photographs will document streamside conditions, and spawning surveys are ongoing to record fish use above andbelow project sites. School programs will involve students in water quality monitoring, juvenile salmon usage, and stream assessments. Riparian plantings will be monitored and maintained by volunteers to increase plant survival, and increased participation in the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe Streamside Monitoring Program is expected. The project has been submitted to this inventory by USEPA with the permission of NOAA. For more information about NOAA or their projects, you can visit either the NOAA homepage at www.noaa.gov or the NOAA Restoration Center at www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/restoration. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Partners for Fish and Wildlife Grant Number 16
