Collaborators:
Scientific Data Management Team at NWFSC,
National River Restoration Science Synthesis
Across the Pacific
Northwest, both public and private agents are working to improve riverine habitat for a variety of reasons, including
improving conditions for threatened and endangered salmon. These projects are moving forward with little
or no knowledge of specific linkages between restoration actions and the
responses of target species. Targeted effectiveness monitoring of these actions
is required to redress this lack of mechanistic understanding, but such
monitoring is in turn dependant on detailed restoration information; i.e.
implementation monitoring. We assembled
a database of restoration projects intended to improve stream and river habitat
throughout the Pacific Northwest. The database
was designed specifically to address the needs of regional monitoring programs
that evaluate the effectiveness of restoration actions. The database currently contains spatially
referenced, project-level data on over 26,000 restoration actions initiated at
over 42,000 locations in the last 15 years (98% of projects report start or end
dates in the last 15 years) in the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and
Montana, USA(Figure 1). Data sources
included Federal, State, local, NGO, and tribal contributors. The process of database production identified
difficulties in the design of regional project tracking systems. The technical design issues range from
low-level information such as what defines a project or a location, to
high-level issues that include data validation and legalities of inter-agency
data sharing. The completed database
will inform efficient monitoring design, effectiveness assessments and
restoration project planning.
Bernhardt, E. S., M. A. Palmer, J. D. Allan, G. Alexander, K. Barnas, S.
Brooks, J. Carr, S. Clayton, C. Dahm, J. Follstad-Shah, D. Galat, S.
Gloss, P. Goodwin, D. Hart, B. Hassett, R. Jenkinson, S. L.
Katz, G. M. Kondolf, P. S. Lake, R. Lave, J. L.
Meyer, T. K. O'Donnell, L. Pagano, B. Powell, E. Sudduth. 2005. Synthesizing
U.S. river restoration efforts. Science, 308(5722):636-637.
Jenkinson, R., K. Barnas, J. Braatne, E. S. Bernhardt, M. A. Palmer, J. D. Allan, NRRSS. 2006. Stream restoration databases and case studies: a guide to information resources and their utility in advancing the science and practice of restoration. Restoration Ecology, 14:177-186.
Katz, SL., Barnas, K, Hicks, R. Cowen, J. and R. Jenkinson, 2007.
Freshwater habitat restoration in the Pacific
Northwest: a decade's investment in habitat
improvement. Restoration Ecology, 15:494-505.
Rumps, J., Katz SL., Barnas, K., Morehead, M. and R. Jenkinson, 2007. Stream restoration in the
Pacific Northwest: Analysis of
interviews with project managers. Restoration Ecology, 15:506-515.
Recent Meeting Presentations
Katie Barnas. Tracking Columbia River Basin freshwater habitat restoration over multiple scale and jurisdictions. Society for Ecological Restoration Northwest. Yakima, WA. 9/26/07
Katie Barnas, SL Katz. Spatial
distribution of habitat restoration in the PNW: What do we know? River Restoration Northwest. Stevenson, WA. 2/2/06
McFall, J., Katz, S.L, Morehead, M. Validation efforts
of the Pacific Northwest River Restoration Database. American
Geophysical Union. San Fransisco, CA. 12/5/05.
Stephen L. Katz, Katie Barnas, Robin Jenkinson.
Freshwater habitat restoration actions in the Pacific
Northwest: A 10 year census. Ecological Society of America. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 8/9/05.
Katie Barnas and SL Katz. Habitat restoration in the Pacific
Northwest. Society for Ecological Restoration Northwest. Seattle, WA, 4/8/05.
last modified
11/02/2007
Web site owner: Northwest Fisheries Science Center
