The South Fork Newaukum reach project will increase salmon and steelhead productivity by taking a series of actions along three miles in the lower reaches of the creek. Restoration actions will include installing in-stream large wood structures, supporting banks, creating side channels, creating backwater alcoves, and planting trees on the stream bank. These actions will help protect existing high-quality habitat and add additional habitat complexity to support fish. The South Fork Newaukum River supports anadromous runs of winter steelhead, fall Chinook salmon, spring Chinook salmon, and Coho Salmon. Physical habitat modeling suggests that the primary controls on habitat suitability are the result of the low baseflows and high velocities associated with the simplified channel and floodplain typical of the study reach. The reach as a whole remains in a state of suspended degradation. The ability of the channel to self-heal is uncertain over relevant timescales as the channel is continually responding to fluctuations in driving process variables (i.e., discharge, sediment supply, wood supply, episodic human manipulations) and largely lacks those elements that provide resilience to the constant change (e.g., connected floodplains, large wood). Therefore, improvements in stream function, and habitat quality and quantity, will likely need to come from rehabilitation.