Habitat

Regional Priorities

The region is removing barriers to fish migration, keeping water in streams, planting trees to shade and keep the water cool, and removing and setting back dikes to allow rivers to reconnect with their floodplains. Recent accomplishments include the following:

• Completed projects that placed tree root wads and log structures in the Tucannon and Touchet Rivers and along Alpowa and Asotin Creeks to improve salmon habitat.
• Reconnected more than 1 mile of floodplain on the Tucannon River by moving a dike back from the riverbank.
• Restored fish passage by removing culverts (pipes and other structures that carry streams under roads) in Buford and Cottonwood Creeks, opening nearly 7.5 miles of habitat.
• Made progress on projects that will restore fish access to more than 50 miles of habitat in Mill Creek.
• 505 miles of stream made accessible
• 76 blockages, impediment, and barriers impeding passage
• 668 riparian acres treated*
• 47 riparian stream miles treated*

*Riparian areas are streamside forests, wetlands, and vegetated areas. “Treated” usually means fenced to exclude cattle, planted with native trees and shrubs, removed invasive plants, or a combination of those.

For more information about habitat project actions, visit the Recreation and Conservation Office’s Salmon Recovery Portal and Project Search public databases.

View statewide data on Habitat. Visit the Salmon Data Hub for more of the data behind the indicator charts and graphs used throughout this site.