Symposium Field Trip

The 2025 RRNW Symposium field trip on Friday, February 7th will be to the Neal Creek Phase 3 Habitat Enhancement project site.

The Neal Creek Phase 3 Habitat Enhancement project is located on Hood River County forestland on Neal Creek, one of the few non-glacial tributaries of the lower Hood River, with populations of threatened winter steelhead and coho salmon, as well as cutthroat and resident rainbow trout. Hood River Watershed Group Project Manager Alix Danielsen and Inter-Fluve design engineer Peter Benchetler will lead a tour of this recently completed fish habitat project. The helicopter and ground-based project enhanced two miles of Neal Creek by reconnecting and restoring a former channel alignment and adding approximately 693 pieces of large wood to the channel, resulting in the reconnection of over 20 acres of floodplain. This is the third phase of restoration the Watershed Group has completed on Neal Creek in collaboration with the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs and over 10 private landowners, enhancing a total of 3.25 miles of Neal Creek and its floodplain for juvenile rearing and adult holding and spawning habitat.

Project highlights:

• Collaboration with Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs and multiple private landowners
• Diversity of habitat features – channel relocation and reconstruction, large wood, helicopter placement, side channel and floodplain reconnection
• Phases constructed on private properties in agricultural community and county forestland

 Neal Creek Phase 3 specifically:

• 683 logs (549 rootwad logs, 134 cut logs) added to Neal Creek across over 50 log jams
• 2 miles of habitat enhanced
• Up to 20 acres of floodplain reconnected
• Project Partners: Hood River Watershed Group, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs, Hood River County
• Project Funders: Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs, Bonneville Power Administration, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, Bureau of Reclamation
• Design and Engineering: Inter-Fluve
• Construction: Biohabitats

Additional details of the site tour will be forthcoming.

Field Trip registration is now open to everyone through the symposium registration portal.

To register, please click on the “Field Registration” button below.