Instream Restoration

Instream Work

Instream work is exactly what it sounds like: restoration inside the stream channel. Our crew removes the barriers that keep salmon from reaching their spawning grounds and rebuilds the habitat fish need once they get there.

The work

What happens on an instream project.

Most instream projects start with a fish passage barrier, usually an old culvert that salmon can’t get through. We remove it, or remove and replace it, sometimes with a bridge, and install Large Woody Debris (whole trees and root wads) that create the pools where salmon rest and spawn.

  1. Barrier identificationWe find the culverts and crossings that fish can’t get past.
  2. Project design & permittingEvery project is engineered and permitted before work begins.
  3. ConstructionContractors do the heavy construction, removing the barrier and rebuilding the channel.
  4. Monitoring & verificationWe watch the site afterward. The proof is salmon spawning upstream of where the barrier used to be.
A stream crossing replaced with a fish-friendly bridge on Thompson Creek
An open stream channel with large woody debris and clean gravel

Project example

Kendall Creek, then and now

NSEA has been working on Kendall Creek since the late 1990s. The early work fenced livestock out of the water and planted the banks with native trees and shrubs, many of them planted by local students. Starting in 2001, crews replaced four culverts that blocked fish passage and placed large woody debris (logs with roots still attached) to create pools where juvenile salmon shelter. All told, more than a mile of Kendall Creek has been restored: 4,000 feet of livestock fencing, 6,000 native plants, and 300 pieces of large wood.

See the full Kendall Creek project →

Why fish passage matters

Salmon have to make it upstream.

Pacific salmon must return to the specific streams where they were born to spawn. A single impassable culvert can block access to miles of otherwise suitable habitat. NSEA has removed 173 such barriers, opening 147.8 miles of habitat that had been cut off.

Water moving freely through an open stream crossing

Instream impact

Instream work since 1991.

170+

migratory barriers removed

145+ mi

of upstream habitat opened

2,286

pieces of large woody debris installed

612,040

linear feet of stream improved

Cumulative since 1991, current through end of 2025.

Get involved

Come to a work party.

The heavy construction here is done by contractors, but volunteers keep every site going: planting stream banks after the equipment leaves, clearing invasives, and looking after older projects. Work parties run Saturday mornings year-round.

Since 1991, 49,293 volunteers have come out to 1,439 work parties.

Find upcoming work parties
A group of volunteers gathered at a creekside work party

Support this work

Help us open the next stream.

Instream projects require specialized equipment, engineering, and permits. Your support makes this work possible.

Make a gift
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