Riparian habitats are the most fundamental building block for protecting aquatic freshwater and marine ecosystems and the species that depend on them. Virtually all watershed assessments and species recovery plans from landscape to reach to watershed scales call for improving riparian habitat quality/quantity and reducing their increasing fragmentation.

The primary objectives are:
1. Improve the quantity and quality of riparian areas
2. Move riparian areas toward a later seral stage to achieve water quality and habitat benefits for Chinook and other salmonids