Friday September 23, 2022
Department of Ecology Washington —
Sometimes the best of intentions don’t work out as hoped. More than 40 years ago, land managers built levees on the Little Naches River to protect Forest Service Road 1900 from flooding. They removed log jams and bulldozed the riverbed. The levees constricted the stream, keeping it from spreading out into its natural floodplain. This damaged habitat for many fish species, including endangered salmonids. The modifications also reduced fishing and wading opportunities in the most popular recreation area on the Naches Ranger District of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. That’s all changing, thanks in part to a 2020 Streamflow Restoration Grant from Ecology.
Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group worked with partners to put together a collaborative plan to reverse the damage and restore the habitat in a one-mile stretch of the river. The Little Naches Workgroup Aquatic Sub-Committee, staff from Yakama Nation Fisheries, the USDA Forest Service, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, NOAA Fisheries, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mid-Columbia Fisheries, and the Yakima Basin Fish and Wildlife Recovery Board met regularly with engineers from TetraTech, LLC to craft an effective restoration project.