The Yankee Fork River, historically a major Chinook salmon producer, has been severely altered by dredge-mining that occurred between 1938 and 1952, eliminating much of the natural meander pattern of the stream and associated in-stream habitat, riparian vegetation, and function. The restoration and monitoring work contracted under project 2002-059-00 is implemented with the goal of restoring natural river channel characteristics, floodplain function, hydraulic and sediment regimes, and aquatic habitat within the dredged reach of the Yankee Fork Salmon River (YFSR). The Yankee Fork Restoration Project has focused on restoring an approximately six mile section of stream habitat on private land in the Yankee Fork basin by removing or redistributing dredge tailings piles to restore or improve the connectivity of aquatic and floodplain habitat; by the addition of large woody debris, boulders, substrate, and riparian plantings to improve the complexity of aquatic and riparian habitat; and by creating or rehabilitating existing side channels.  

While the majority of restoration work within the six mile dredged reach has been completed, this project continues to have the goals of increasing the quantity and quality of instream habitat and improving floodplain function for all fish species and life stages (with a focus on anadromous fish).  A large part of the restoration work has been implemented through concurrent contracts under this project with Trout Unlimited (TU) because of TU's relationship with the Simplot Company, the largest private landowner within the Yankee Fork drainage. Beginning in FY25, the focus will be to implement additional restoration projects identified in the DRAFT Yankee Fork Interdisciplinary Team's 5-Year Plan (2024-2028).

The Yankee Fork Restoration Project has been collecting data since 2006, including juvenile abundance and distribution (via snorkel surveys) at restoration sites and unrestored sites in the basin. In 2020 topographic habitat surveys were conducted to monitor changes in habitat at the Bonanza site. These data can be compared to data at a later date to assist in determining any significant changes with large wood mobilization, depth of pools and number of pools, sediment deposition/aggregation, and changes to other habitat features.  Staff will collaborate with other Yankee Fork ID team members (e.g., Trout Unlimited, U.S. Forest Service) to assess fish presence, habitat use, and movement, as well as assessing stream flows and groundwater dynamics through the Bonanza reach.  Data collected for these surveys will include discharge measurements and photo points. The project will also enter data collected from past years into a database and the Yankee Fork ArcGIS platform.

The Bonanza City project is at the upstream end of the dredged area, near Jordan Creek. The final phase of instream habitat construction at this site was completed in 2020. Post-construction monitoring and adaptive management has been necessary each year since completion in order to address low flow conditions and potentially compromised fish passage in the project area. Monitoring and adaptive management has been a coordinated effort between Trout Unlimited and the Bureau of Reclamation. YFSR Restoration staff provide continued oversight, and that the information generated is shared across other projects.

The SBT will continue to work with the Yankee Fork Interdisciplinary (ID) Team in 2025-2026 to refine and update the DRAFT Yankee Fork Interdisciplinary Team 5-Year Plan (2024-2028). This document is posted in Contract 84068 REL 12 and portrays the prioritized list of projects for implementation through at least 2028. Contract staff have been working collaboratively with the Yankee Fork ID team to develop an Atlas planning and prioritization framework that incorporates fish and habitat data in the basin. This effort builds on past geomorphic assessments and basin planning documents (e.g., Yankee Fork Tributary Assessment [2010] and the 5-year strategy plan developed under a previous contract [Yankee Fork Habitat Restoration Plan, Yankee Fork Salmon River, Idaho, December 2019]) to help define the future direction of fish and habitat restoration in the Yankee Fork basin.