Thursday August 4, 2022
EstacadaNews —
The Clackamas River Basin Council has begun construction on a section of the Clackamas River that will provide increased habitat for juvenile fish. The project, officially titled the Sieben-Riverbend Side Channel Enhancement Project, will focus on expanding a 1,750-foot side channel of the river.
“The overall effort of all of the projects we’re doing is to hopefully increase the survival rate of the juvenile fish as they move out,” said Issac Sanders, the Clackamas River Basin Council restoration program manager.
The primary species the council is looking to support is chinook salmon as the push to get the fish off the endangered species list has been a goal of many conservationists since its addition in 1989.
“The recovery plan that we’re working off of largely is the state’s plan on how to get them delisted,” Sanders said. “There are habitat goals in there, and we’re working toward achieving those for our little piece of the puzzle, and the Clackamas is a very significant piece of that puzzle.”