Description & Purpose:
Watershed analysis completed for Salt Creek in 2005 has identified the correction of human caused barriers as the highest priority for restoration in Salt Creek. Most of the barriers have been caused by culverts at road crossings. To date, significant progress has been made correcting these barriers. Of the 28 culvert barriers to fish passages identified in the watershed analysis, 21 have been or will be corrected by 2014. This proposal would treat the remaining culvert barriers with the goal of correcting all fish passage barriers in the watershed by 2015. Most of the remaining barriers are located on tributary l streams with undersized culverts on a mix of ownerships including privately owned roads, county roads and highway 112.

Benefits to Salmon:
Salt Creek supports a productive coho salmon population as well as populations of steelhead, cutthroat and a remnant chum salmon population. Correction of human caused barriers allows access to historic habitats in Salt Creek. Following their correction with structures that meet state fish passage criteria natural recolonization would be the mechanism for fish to restore access.

Restoration of Ecosystem Function:
Restoring access to historically used habitats has been identified as the highest priority for restoring ecosystem function in Pacific Northwest watershed supporting anadromous salmonids (Roni et al. 2005). This goal has been adopted for Salt Creek at the watershed scale. Correction of all barriers in Salt Creek will allow anadromous fish to access a total of 50 miles of streams.