Selected for funding under FY21 PLCI Umbrella Project:

The overall goals of our project are to improve habitat for Pacific lamprey while furthering our understanding of how instream restoration (either in the form of beaver dams, beaver dam analogues, or wood structures) will impact the current and potential spawning and rearing habitat for lamprey. Implementing these targeted restoration projects can reduce the key threats that lamprey face in the Lower Columbia Sub-Region. The colonization of beavers and/or the placement of wood structures and BDAs has the potential to positively impact the current lamprey populations in and around the Wind River and South Fork Toutle River.

Aquatic restoration techniques like instream wood placement, beaver reintroduction, and beaver dam analogues (BDAs) hold great promise as methods to improve Pacific lamprey habitat. In order to better understand and quantify these impacts on lamprey while also working to build quality habitat and create aquatic ecosystems that are complex and resilient to the impacts of climate change.. Our goals are to install beaver dam analogues, reintroduce beavers, and collect wood for future instream placement in tributaries of two high priority stream systems: the South Fork Toutle River and the Wind River. During the grant period we intend to install one BDA series containing 4-6 structures in the South Fork Toutle watershed, and reintroduce 3-4 beaver families in the Wind River watershed. In addition, we will assess lamprey presence and sample for Type I lamprey habitat pre- and post-project. These actions will enhance existing lamprey habitat, expand current habitat to upstream tributaries, and will also gather important on-the-ground information to improve future efforts to restore and protect lamprey habitat in the region.

Information about the current and historical distribution/observations was gathered from the spatial data provided by the Columbia River Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office database data from May 2018.  The mainstem of the Wind River has known populations of Pacific lamprey.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Wind River Subbasin Summary (November 2000) states: “Sockeye salmon, coho salmon, lamprey (one or more species), and brown trout have recently been observed above Shipherd Falls.”  Yakama Nation Pacific Lamprey Project Annual Progress Report (2017): Two index sites were surveyed in the Wind River. Pacific Lamprey were present at both of the sites (100%). Pacific Lamprey were found as far upstream as river km 26.3. This is near the Carson Fish Hatchery.  There are known populations of lamprey in the Toutle River and North Fork Toutle River based on the distribution and observation spatial data mentioned above. The data do not show observations of lamprey species in South Fork Toutle, but we have received anecdotal reports of lamprey observations by the staff of the Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group. It should be noted that there are not any natural or man-made barriers stopping lamprey migration to the headwaters valley.  

The life stages that will benefit from this project are larval lamprey and spawning adults. The addition of wood will allow for increased channel complexity, the buildup of fine sediments and the creation of deep, cool pools which are all necessary habitat for the rearing and spawning of lamprey.