The Skokomish Tribe is gathering detailed data on how the upper South Fork Skokomish River is responding following more than a decade of salmon habitat restoration.
“The upper South Fork is basically 14 miles of nice channel and floodplain habitat that’s ideal for juvenile salmon rearing and adult salmon spawning,” said Alex Papiez, the tribe’s restoration biologist. “You have room laterally across the floodplain for eventual wetlands, backwater habitat and riparian vegetation. It’s this biodiversity hot spot that’s important for the life history of salmon.”
The tribe, with help of the U.S. Forest Service, mapped the 14 miles in 2024, from valley wall to valley wall. They collected data about the river channel, floodplain and riparian forest, using traditional field surveys with GPS tools to get highly accurate positioning data and drone surveys to capture LIDAR and high-resolution images of the current habitat—images so detailed that Papiez said biologists could count pebbles on the riverbanks to determine river sediment size classes.
Biologists also conducted on-the-ground pebble counts, surveyed cross sections of the river to track the shape and size of river channels through time, and measured pools for depth, a habitat feature that salmon need for resting and hiding from predators.
The data gathering is two-fold: to monitor areas that have been restored and to get pre-project data for areas that will be restored in the next few years. The goal is to track changes over time, including channel and floodplain response to engineered logjam placement and supplemental wood.
Restoring the upper South Fork has been a focus for the tribe as part of its effort to recover the spring chinook salmon population in the river. The salmon were known to spawn in this reach, along with steelhead and bull trout, but were extirpated in the second half of the 20th century.
Since 2016, juvenile spring chinook have been reintroduced to the river through releases from the North Fork Skokomish Salmon Hatchery operated by Tacoma Power near Lake Kokanee, while juvenile salmon have been released into the upper South Fork near LeBar Creek the past few years.
“For spring chinook up there, we want good spawning gravels, deep pools with cover over them, multiple channels with mature vegetated islands and lots of large wood,” Papiez said. “We’re not trying to return the river to a fixed state but are focused on restoring the processes that maintain these habitat features.”
Restoration of the upper South Fork reach started in 2010. The next phase, starting in summer 2025, will include more engineered logjams plus wood pieces that can be moved by the river to help form additional logjams.
About 80% of the South Fork Skokomish River subbasin was clear cut in the 20th century, which removed old growth forests that regulated sediment supply, reducing runoff to the river. Starting in 2014, the U.S. Forest Service, in partnership with the tribe, Mason Conservation District and other landowners, started decommissioning logging roads and working to restore salmon habitat in the South Fork.
“It’s valuable habitat because there’s a lot of floodplain and minimal human infrastructure,” Papiez said. “The South Fork is a naturally dynamic and really powerful river, and so it can move a lot of wood and sediment.” —Tiffany Royal
Above: Shae Holy, left, a habitat technician for the Skokomish Tribe, measures the width of a channel on the upper South Fork Skokomish River with help from U.S. Forest Service hydro technician Kassandra Grimm and fish biologist Marc McHenry. Story and photos: Tiffany Royal
