The project serves as the overarching habitat stewardship program for YKFP in the Yakima Subbasin, for off-reservation activities.  Examples of work that is performed under this project includes all aspects of stream restoration including revegetation, weed control, fencing, removal of fish passage barriers, installation of NOAA-compliant fish screens, placement of woody material in streams at strategic locations, levee removal and road relocation.  Other activities include collaboration with other resource management entities, review and input on restoration plans and programs, review and comment on land use plans and development projects.  The project has a strong history of collaboration with many entities.  Over 50 miles of habitat has been reopened to anadromous fish through this program, dozens of screens have been installed and over 80 restoration and protection projects have been implemented.

ADDED WORK FOR CCR-36856
Research on stream flow characteristics in the Teanaway infer that base flows are declining and high runoff is occurring earlier in the water year. Research on climate change effects on cold-water fish hypothesize a future convergence of peak stream temperature and base flows. This phenomenon could have dire consequences for treaty-reserved fish resources including spring chinook salmon, coho salmon, steelhead, bull trout, lamprey and resident fish. The need for restoration actions that reconnect cold-water habitats vertically, horizontally, and longitudinally is supported by recent peer reviewed research conducted and published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Science Center (Beechie et. al 2013)

In the Teanaway Watershed, historic uses (splash dam logging, railroad and tractor logging, grazing, road construction and management) have involved wood removal, channel straightening and reduction in the potential for re- establishment of large woody material at many locations. Many stream reaches have incised. As the stream cuts deeper, hydraulic energy within the channel increases during peak runoff events because the flow is concentrated rather than spread out over meadows and floodplains. Channel incision has positive feedback which leads to rapid, down-valley channel migration. Moreover, less frequent and shorter duration inundation of floodplain surfaces means less groundwater recharge. This project will reverse the downward spiral by adding roughness to the system. Further, streams identified for work have been identified in the Teanaway Management Plan.

The goal of the proposed work within the Teanaway Community Forest (TCF) is to restore hydrologic and habitat function for improved production of Yakama Nation treaty reserved fish species, including the Middle Columbia River Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), a species listed as threatened by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). This goal will be achieved through the following objective: Place woody material in tributaries of the Teanaway River and on adjacent floodplain surfaces to provide roughness which will help capture mobile sediment and promote stream aggradation, create channel complexity, attract beavers, recharge shallow groundwater (improve base flows), reduce peak flows, improve stream temperatures, and establish a robust and species rich riparian corridor.

The proposed work will treat 8.57 miles of stream and 125 acres of floodplain in eight sub-watersheds of the TCF. The cumulative effects of this work directly address the limiting factors faced by treaty reserved Fish Species such as temperature and minimum in stream flows. Restoration materials will be harvested from state owned upland forests, which are densely forested due to a legacy of fire suppression. A silvicultural harvest prescription will be implemented that will remove the least vigorous trees. The dominant trees will be retained, and spacing will promote fire resiliency. The project will harvest fuel, which will reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire in treated forests.