North Fork Salmon River Habitat Improvement Dingey Property

Project Narrative

The North Fork Salmon River Habitat Improvement Dingey Property project directly addressed and improved limiting factors in the production and survival of ESA listed Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and steelhead trout (O.mykiss) in 0.3 mile of the North Fork of the Salmon River (NFSR). Treatments to improve habitat complexity included installation of engineered log jams, small and large habitat structures, large outside bend jams, a channel spanning weir, boulder clusters with pools, side channel BDAs, and instream partial BDAs. BDAs are reported under other engineered structure in the metrics. Pools were excavated at each structure. Riparian vegetation was planted throughout the project on both sides of the river. The habitat features and riparian plants will be monitored for the next several years to determine successful growth. The project was modified from the original conceptual design to include significantly more instream structures and excavated pools. The project will increase habitat complexity, create pools, provide cover, provide staging areas for adult migrations, recruit spawning gravels, add lateral habitat, increase side channels, and create overwinter and summer rearing habitat for ESA listed Sp/Su Chinook Salmon and steelhead. As spawning and rearing conditions improve, the number of juveniles surviving in the North Fork to pre-smolt and smolt stages is expected to increase.