What is the most effective method for increasing structure in streams for fish habitat?
Large conifer logs are the longest lasting and best providers of structure in streams, but most streams in the AMA are dominated by hardwoods. Several projects to reintroduce a component of conifers in riparian zones have been initiated, but we don’t know how successful they will be in the long term, whether focusing our efforts on tributary headwalls or stream-sides would be more effective, or whether hardwood-dependent wildlife (for example, neotropical migratory songbirds) will be negatively affected by the introduction of conifers. What is the role of coastal estuaries and large rivers in maintaining salmon populations? Although most federal lands in the AMA are in upper portions of watersheds, fish travel through and live in large rivers and estuaries during part of their life cycle. The importance of different parts of the river network to fish survival is not well understood. Studies examining the abundance and timing of fish use of different parts of a watershed, particularly w
