Improve salmon habitat 



Salmon habitat includes the streams where 

 spawners lay their.eggs, where eggs hatch and 

 where young fish spend the first year or two 

 of their lives. It includes the rivers, the tribu- 

 taries, the Columbia estuary and the Pacific 

 Ocean. 



The quality of habitat determines how 

 many fish survive. Ideally, good spawning 

 habitat has clean, cool water. Streambanks are 

 well-shaded by vegetation. Spawning gravel is 

 abundant and clean. Rocks and woody debris 

 in the water create pools for resting and feed- 

 ing. 



H A B IT AT 



B e f O 



r e 



n d 



A f t e 



Salmon need cool, clean water in the shallow streams where they reproduce. Where shore- 

 lines have been stripped of grasses, shrubs and trees that shade the water, the stream heats up. 

 Erosion is more likely, and erosion can silt up the gravel in the stream, making it less suitable 

 for the salmon to build nests and lay eggs. 



Planting the shorelines with quick-growing grasses and shrubs, and keeping livestock away 

 from the plants restores the stream to a healthier environment for the salmon. 



1941 



Grand Coulee Dam begins operation, closing off entire 

 upper Columbia River Basin to salmon migration. 



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