The West Fork Hood River provides spawning and rearing habitat for spring Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), summer steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and resident rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).  The U.S. Forest Service –Hood River Ranger District (USFS) and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon - Hood River Production Program (HRPP) propose to restore a section 0.6 mile section of the West Fork Hood River starting at the Jones Creek confluence, extending downstream to the Ladd Creek Confluence (RM 13.8 – 14.4).  The purpose of this project is to restore aquatic habitats to aid in the recovery of ESA listed salmonids.  This project is listed as a priority action within the Hood River Action Plan and numerous local planning and assessment documents.  These documents identify the lack of Large Wood as the primary factor limiting the natural production of spring Chinook in the West Fork Hood River

The proposed restoration reach has a gradient of 1-2% and contains several prominent remnant side channels and is suitable for salmonid spawning and/or rearing habitat. The project is located entirely on USFS property and as such, the USFS Hood River Ranger District is the project lead on this collaboration.  In addition, all environmental compliance and cultural resources will be covered under the USFS ARBO II. Copies of these documents will be provided to BPA.  

The HRPP and the USFS have been partnering on instream salmonid habitat improvement projects in the Hood River Basin since 2006 – primarily the addition of large wood.  Collaborative stream restoration projects implemented by the two entities have focused on the Upper West Fork Hood River 6th-field watershed, for several reasons:

• The West Fork Hood River is the highest priority watershed in the Hood River Basin for recovery of threatened spring Chinook salmon and summer steelhead trout.
• The West Fork Hood River provides the highest densities of spawning and rearing habitat for spring Chinook salmon in the basin.
• The Upper West Fork Hood River is home to a variety of wildlife species, such as deer
(Odocoileus hemionus), elk (Cervus elaphus spp.), black bear (Ursus americanus), numerous songbirds, and the Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis). Some of these species are culturally important to the CTWS.

Much of the West Fork Hood River watershed has been degraded due to current and past land management.  Timber harvest and associated stream clean-out removed much of the large wood from the system in the mid to late 20th century and much of the remaining instream wood was scoured out during flood events.  Stream systems are still struggling to recover from past land management practices – they are void of appropriate large wood, lack sufficient habitat complexity, are disconnected from their floodplains, and are without the healthy mature riparian forests needed to naturally replenish the large wood component of the stream ecosystem.  As a consequence, stream processes are altered, stream function is compromised, and salmonid habitat is negatively impacted.

Habitat surveys were conducted by the HRPP on the entire West Fork Hood River in 2011 to quantify the physical characteristics of the area.  The Jones Creek restoration reach was found to be deficient in suitable substrate size, pool frequency, and LW.  Intrinsic Potential Modeling and restoration reconnaissance indicate that the reach has the gradient and valley width / floodplain connectivity to benefit from restoration efforts and, once restored, support salmonid spawning and rearing. This project will address the habitat deficiencies by adding large wood back into the system to restore stream processes and increase habitat complexity.

Project Goals:
The overall goal of the project is to restore salmonid spawning and rearing habitat within the treatment reach by the placement of large woody debris and the reconnection of remnant and active side channel habitats.  Restoration actions have been designed to maintain or improve the connections between the channel and floodplain, collect and sort spawning sized gravel, increase habitat complexity in side channels and maintain river processes that ensure side channel formations/stability.   All project designs have been completed by USFS and HRPP personnel and strictly adhere to National Marine Fisheries Service Biological Opinion (NMFS) design criteria for large wood projects and reconnection of side channels.

Project Description and Design:
Ten to 15 log jams (10-25 logs each, 350-450 logs total including tipped trees) will be added to the stream channel, side channels, and associated floodplain of the West Fork Hood River within the Jones Creek project area.  In general, main channel large wood debris structures will be placed in close proximity of low elevation floodplain areas or remnant side channel entrances to raise streambed elevations and further accentuate the stream / floodplain interaction.   Smaller large wood structures may also be placed within side, remnant channels, and along the floodplain to increase habitat complexity, further dissipate flood waters and energies, and to limit channel avulsion.  Large wood will be dug into the stream channel, keyed into existing vegetation, and woven together to further increase structure stability and longevity.  Trees will be tipped from the mature riparian area onto the top of many of these structures to add complexity and further stabilize these structures.

Access to this reach is along several logging roads located on the east bank of the West Fork Hood River.  Any disturbed ground areas (deck locations, access roads, or skid roads), will be rehabilitated after the wood placement is complete by restoring the natural contours, scarifying compacted soil, seeding with native grass/forb mix, and mulching with certified weed-free straw; if needed.

Logs and logs with rootwads have already been acquired for this project and were brought from off-site sources – primarily USFS forest lands associated with the Mt Hood Meadows Twilight Parking Lot expansion. Logs will be airlifted into the restoration area from the log deck area near Ladd Creek gravel pit via Vertol or similar aircraft.  A 300 class trackhoe will then be used to place the wood and tip trees from the riparian area onto the LW structures.  Implementation will take place during the ODFW in-water work window; July 15 - August 15.  

If helicopter contract time allows, the ship will be used for approximately half a day to move logs that were placed in 2012 – in a separate stream restoration project in the West Fork Hood River (near the confluence with Marco Creek).  The West Fork Marco LW Project (2012) placed 23 large wood structures in side channels within the project reach (RM 10.5 – 11.3).  Approximately 565 logs were placed in total.  Because some of these structures are not functioning as intended (flow in the side channels is reduced), the objective is to adjust the placement of some of the logs to improve flows and enhance the connection of the main channel to the side channels.  Logs from the side channels will be airlifted into the main channel in several locations to accentuate a tree tipping project with in this reach.   Approximately 25 whole trees were tipped by hand into the main West Fork channel in 2018 (BPA Contract 78530), to reduce water velocities and encourage flow into the floodplain and multiple side channels.  The proposed FY19 log manipulations will add LW to these structures, increase the stability of these structures, and increase habitat complexity within the West Fork Hood River.