August 29, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Debrah Marriott, Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, 503‐226‐1565 x227 Patrick Lee, Clark County Legacy Lands Program, 360-397-2121 x 4070 Steve Manlow, Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board, 360-425-1553

Project Improves High Priority and Steelhead Habitat Along East Fork

The Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership (Estuary Partnership) and multiple local partners are improving habitats important for salmon and steelhead within two side channels along the East Fork Lewis River. Off-channel and floodplain habitats are critical for juvenile salmon and used to be abundant along the East Fork Lewis, but now these habitats are rare. Construction begins in early September and will be done by the end of the month.

The Estuary Partnership crew will excavate the side channels to reconnect them to the East Fork Lewis, allowing salmon to access critical off-channel habitat. The project also will add more than 175 pieces of large wood to the mainstem and side channels to create pools for salmon rearing. In addition, crew members will remove invasive plants, and over the next few years, will replant 12 acres of native riparian trees and shrubs to shade and cool the water to temperatures favorable for fish and wildlife.

The project is part of a large-scale, multi-phase project to restore critical habitat for juvenile salmonids on the East Fork Lewis River between La Center and Daybreak, . Other phases included the La Center Floodplain Wetlands Restoration Project, which restored 453 acres of floodplain habitat in 2015, and another site upstream, proposed for design in 2018. The areas being restored have been impacted by deforestation, cattle grazing, gravel mining, and agriculture.

The project is the culmination of more than six years of planning to return sections of the East Fork Lewis River to a more natural state. Improving fish passage from the East Fork Lewis and Columbia rivers provides access to an ideal area for wildlife and migrating salmon to feed, rest, and escape extreme conditions during large flows. Songbirds, waterfowl, Columbian white-tailed deer, beavers, amphibians, reptiles, salmon, lamprey, and other wildlife will benefit from the restoration.

“The East Fork Lewis River is an important area for the local community because it supports so much fish and wildlife. The collaboration with so many local partners will help threatened salmon in a high priority habitat,” said Debrah Marriott, Estuary Partnership Executive Director.

“This project is especially important because of the high number of priority salmon and steelhead populations in the East Fork Lewis River,” said Steve Manlow, Executive Director of the Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board.

Estuary Partnership scientists will be on site during September while construction lasts, and are available to lead project tours for press and the local community.

Project funding comes through the Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board as part of its ongoing effort to restore salmon and steelhead habitat in the southwest Washington and the Washington Department of Ecology 319 Program for the improvements to water quality conditions. Inter-Fluve Inc. designed the project; Aquatic Contracting LLC, a small firm from Oregon, is the contractor. Both the La Center Floodplain Wetlands and this project site are part of the Clark County Legacy Lands Program, which are a critical component of the restoration of the East Fork Lewis River.

“Clark County assembled a substantial greenway along the Lower East Fork Lewis River over the last 25 years” said Patrick Lee, Legacy Lands Program Coordinator. “This has provided the opportunity to actively support salmon recovery in the Lower Columbia region.”

About the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership The Estuary Partnership was established in 1995 by the States of Washington and Oregon and the US EPA to provide regional coordination, to advance science, and to get on‐the‐ground results in the lower Columbia River and estuary. It is a collaborative program of the states of Oregon and Washington, federal agencies, tribal governments, non‐profit organizations, businesses and economic interests, and citizens. The Estuary Partnership restores and protects habitat, improves water quality and reduces pollution, and provides information about the river to a range of audiences. The lower Columbia River and estuary is an “Estuary of National Significance,” one of only 28 National Estuary Programs in the nation. The US EPA administers the National Estuary Program, created in the 1987 amendments to the Clean Water Act. The Estuary Partnership is a 501(c)3 non‐profit corporation. For more information, visit www.estuarypartnership.org.