In our second film of the habitat restoration series, we take a closer look at the construction process and techniques to help restore streams.
Many of Idaho's rivers have been altered by a long history of land uses. Activities like mining, timber harvest, agriculture, road building, flood control and others have dramatically changed fish habitat for many of Idaho's salmon, steelhead and trout. It takes a diverse community of stakeholders to put rivers back together and restore the natural processes that create habitat for fish.
In this film, we take a closer look at the fun part of river restoration: construction! After potentially years of planning, this where the big machines come out and start reshaping streams, returning big trees, adding boulder and creating new habitat that will function naturally within a few years.
Of course, without outside funding, most of these projects simply would not be possible. Idaho Fish and Game uses funding from NOAA Fisheries, Bonneville Power Administration, Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund, Bureau of Reclamation, and several other partners to improve river habitat so that we can help rebuild many of our native fish populations.
This is a story about biologists, engineers, landowners and skilled contractors coming together to rebuild streams and preserve fish populations for all Idahoans.
Next week, we launch our final film of this 3-part series. We'll see how fisheries science can help biologists tell whether restoration projects are working and how to improve them.
If you missed our any of the other films, click the links below!
Week 1: Restoring the River: Idaho's Fish Habitat Program Restoration techniques often involve complex engineering and heavy equipment to help bring streams closer to their original condition, and restore ecological functions that support healthy fish populations.
Week 2: Moving Earth: Restoring Idaho’s Fish Habitat. Restoration techniques often involve complex engineering and heavy equipment to help bring streams closer to their original condition, and restore ecological functions that support healthy fish populations.
Week 3: Restoring Rivers, Restoring Fish: Monitoring Fish Habitat Projects. Studying how fish populations respond after restoration helps improve strategies so that projects have the biggest positive effect.
Read the latest news and information about wild fish in Idaho on our Wild Salmon and Steelhead pages.