Bob Inoueye, a private landowner, improved fish access to and fish habitat in a side channel of Rattlesnake Creek, northwest of Naches, WA. Rattlesnake Creek begins in the William O. Douglas Wilderness and flows unchecked to the Naches River. Each spring, high volume flood waters run fast and cold, but in summer the creek slows down and shrinks between rocky banks. By September the lower Rattlesnake Creek water is so warm it can kill salmon. Prior to initiating the current project, the landowner had restored a complex 1.3 km long side channel. It offers excellent off-creek habitat for young fish. It winds through forest and meadows with mature riparian vegetation. The moderate flows are cooled by the shade of tall cottonwood, Douglas fir and ponderosa pine. The side channel offers a mix of pools, falls, riffles and backwaters with woody debris, gravels, boulders and sandy stretches. This refuge system recharges the ground water and can help juvenile fish survive. It hosts salmon, sculpin, crayfish and aquatic insects, and is visited by dippers, ducks, raccoon, deer and elk. Beavers helped by felling large trees and building a pond. But the side channel suffered from intermittent winter flows and had limited fish access because it got its water from a screened irrigation ditch. This restoration project separated the side channel from the irrigation canal by creating a new upstream connection of the side channel to the main channel. This allows unscreened creek water to flow into the side channel. It opens up the entire reach of this prime rearing habitat for the creek’s steelhead, coho salmon, Chinook salmon and bull trout. Also, by separating the side channel from the irrigation ditch, the project reduces flow interruption problems throughout the winter. The Dept of Ecology required the landowner to obtain a non-consumptive use water right to divert water into the side channel. Therefore, a flow gage was installed in the side channel to regulate flow.