Restoration Projects

Over the last few years, the Estuary Partnership has secured millions of dollars for habitat restoration projects in the lower Columbia River.

Through funding provided primarily by the Bonneville Power Administration, the NOAA Community Based Habitat Restoration Program, and the EPA National Watershed Initiative, the Estuary Partnership funded 26 projects, and worked with over fifty agencies and project sponsors to restore or protect approximately 3,900 acres of important habitats and enhance over 24 miles of stream channels and riparian areas.

Click for an interactive map which will allow you to explore the numerous projects, including site maps, photos and reports. The Estuary Parnership also produced the Habitat Restoration Case Studies document. Produced in October 2006, the document profiles 10 lower Columbia River restoration projects, with challenges, solutions, results, and lessons learned.

Regional Perspective
The Estuary Partnership’s Habitat Restoration Program brings regional perspective to the table. The Estuary Partnership’s two state study area, regional geography, and Board of Directors representing diverse groups from throughout the area from Bonneville Dam to the Pacific Ocean empowers the program with a regional focus that’s specific to the entire lower Columbia River corridor. The regional focus allows the Estuary Partnership to direct funds to projects with the greatest environmental benefits, and to access larger funding sources than would otherwise be available without a coordinated, regional approach. The regional focus also helps tie together and enhance the efforts of watershed councils, land trusts, and other agencies or organizations doing restoration work in the lower Columbia River.

The Estuary Partnership is also aiming to integrate the strategies, goals, and methodologies – to the extent possible – of the numerous entities performing habitat restoration work. In terms of regional planning and evaluation, the more restoration efforts are integrated, the better the capacity to assess their impact on an ecosystem scale.

Restoration Funding
The Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership has released two Requests for Habitat Restoration Projects. Both RFPs are due by 4:00 pm Monday, March 31, 2008. Details and the full Requests for Proposals can be viewed below.

For more information, to discuss project ideas, or to ask questions about the proposals, contact Estuary Partnership Habitat Restoration Coordinator Evan Haas at 503.226.1565 ext. 238 or haas@lcrep.org

Estuary Partnership Habitat Restoration Project Request For Proposals
The Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership seeks proposals for funding collaborative habitat restoration projects that benefit anadromous species and their habitats within the lower Columbia River and estuary. View the full Request for Proposals.

Community-Based Habitat Restoration Project Request for Proposals
The Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership received funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Community-based Habitat Restoration Program to fund habitat restoration projects that benefit multiple species and their habitats.  Projects must be located in the National Estuary Program boundaries of the Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership or the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership. View the Community-Based Habitat Restoration Project Request for Proposals.