This project involves restoring riparian habitat along 4,000 of the East Fork Lewis River. The project is located between river mile 23.5 & 24.5. Specific elements include replacing 4 under-sized upland drainage culverts; restoring 5 slide areas; revegetation; design & engineering; & monitoring. Sedimentation is a severe limiting factor in the East Fork Lewis. The East Fork Lewis is Clark Countys largest free-flowing stream. It supports runs of summer & winter steelhead, chinook, coho, and sea-run cutthroat trout. Historically, the East Fork Lewis also supported runs of chum. NMFS has listed lower Columbia steelhead, chinook, & chum as federal threatened species. Sea-run cutthroat trout are proposed for listing. WDFW has documented through aerial surveys steelhead redds as close as 600 feet below the project site. Geotechnical Resources estimates recent slope failures have placed approx. 1,720 cu. yds of material - 60% silt & 40% rock - into the East Fork. Under current conditions, another 1,000 - 1,200 cubic yards is expected to enter the river in the near-term without corrective measures. Moreover, field biologists with WDFW state that this kind of slope failure and sedimentation impact the entire river system as far downstream as the mouth.
