Private Forest Accord partners highlight major habitat improvements during North Fork Walla Walla River restoration tour

Milton-Freewater, Ore. – Representatives from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and the Walla Walla Basin Watershed Council gathered on Sept. 1 for a field visit to one of the region's most significant ongoing restoration efforts: the North Fork Walla Walla River Floodplain Restoration project funded in part by the Private Forest Accord.

The project began in 2023 and is led by the Walla Walla Basin Watershed Council and involves many partners including the local landowners, Trout Unlimited, Bonneville Power Administration, and the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board.

In 2020 the North Fork Walla Walla River was severely impacted by a historic flood, the largest ever recorded. These floods resulted in decreased habitat quality for salmonids and other wildlife species by scouring the basin and creating a straightened channel. Restoration work along a five-mile reach is designed to restore favorable pre-flood conditions, repairing flood impacts and stabilizing the system to build overall watershed resilience.

By re-establishing natural multichannel networks, strategically placing boulders and large woody debris, replanting bankside vegetation, and slowing down high flows, the project better spreads water across the landscape and creates cool pool habitats for fish. These improvements deliver vital co-benefits to the surrounding watershed community and working lands, helping to safeguard private properties and downstream infrastructure against future flood events while supporting critical fish and wildlife habitat.

The Walla Walla Basin Watershed Council received $819,209 in 2024 and $432,156 in 2025 from the Private Forest Accord Grant Fund. Other project funders include Bonneville Power Administration, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, and McNary Fisheries Compensation Committee.

Restoration work aims to improve river habitat complexity and water quality for several native fish species, including steelhead, red band rainbow trout, bull trout, chinook salmon, and mountain whitefish.

During the tour, participants saw completed restoration work, including the reconnection of 15 natural springs and the conversion of a formerly channelized river segment into a complex network of braided channels. Watershed Council staff also discussed documented environmental decline in the project reach, providing attendees with photographs from before restoration began in 2023 to illustrate how severely the North Fork Walla Walla River had scoured. The images highlighted the extensive floodplain disfunction and the need for restoration across much of the five-mile project area, all of which is located on private land.

Photo of Walla Walla Basin Watershed Council staff leading a presentation during the Sept. 1, 2026, field tour of the North Fork restoration project. Photo by ODFW.

ODFW's Private Forest Accord Grant Coordinator, Andy Spyrka, said that the collaborative visit underscored the importance of partnerships in tackling large-scale watershed challenges. "Seeing the work on the ground reinforces how critical these coordinated restoration efforts are, not just for fish, but for the entire watershed community," he said.

"The North Fork Walla Walla was one of the first projects funded by the PFA," added Spyrka. "This project demonstrates tangible, on the ground benefits for fish and wildlife through a watershed scale effort made possible by cooperation from several rural landowners. It reflects the kind of meaningful impact the Private Forest Accord Grant Program achieves now, and in the future, in communities throughout Oregon."

To stabilize the floodplain and improve habitat conditions, the Watershed Council installed whole trees and boulders, reshaped river channels, increased floodplain connectivity, planted native riparian vegetation, and created side channels and off channel habitats. The project includes an innovative strategy to continue livestock grazing in the area while preventing the cattle from overgrazing new plantings. Instead of traditional fencing, natural barriers such as large trees protect young vegetation until it is established enough that cattle grazing is no longer a concern.

Additional restoration efforts are underway upstream of the 2023–2025 project area to continue protecting, enhancing, and restoring critical river and floodplain habitat. Michelle McClellan, Walla Walla Basin Watershed Council Executive Director, said that "healthy tributary habitat is lacking in the Walla Walla Basin. The sustained investment that PFA and other funding partners have made to the North Fork has allowed us to build trust with private landowners and improve conditions for ESA-listed fish and aquatic life, now and hopefully for years to come."

The Walla Walla Basin Watershed Council will continue monitoring and maintenance to guide adaptive management and ensure long-term project success.

Photo of restoration work on the North Fork Walla Walla before floodplain vegetation treatment.

Photo of restoration work on the North Fork Walla after treatment. (Photos by Walla Walla Basin Watershed Council)