Restoration groups tell Cowlitz commissioners nature-based projects can cut sediment costs and aid habitat

At a Tuesday meeting of the Cowlitz County Board of Commissioners, representatives of three regional restoration organizations described multi-year projects in the Toutle and upper Cowlitz watersheds and urged continued interagency coordination through the Spirit Lake–Toutle–Cowlitz River collaborative.

The presentations, from the Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group, the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership and the Mount St. Helens Institute, outlined projects that place large wood and other nature-based measures in upper tributaries to retain sediment, create fish habitat and hire local contractors. They said those activities complement — but do not replace — downstream dredging and larger sediment retention works.

Speakers said the collaborative provides a recurring forum for local sponsors, tribes and state and federal agencies to review projects and permits together. That regular convening, they said, speeds decisions on permits and on use of local materials and contractors while helping agencies and communities weigh tradeoffs between restoration, flood risk and navigation.

Morgan, director of the Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group, told commissioners that the group has focused restoration work in the South Fork Toutle and other upper reaches and that the projects are intended to “deal with the problem at the source.” She said the group’s internal cost estimate for retaining a cubic yard of sediment with in‑river, wood‑based structures is about $2.50 compared with roughly $12 per cubic yard for dredging. “Our projects for [a] cubic yard of sediment cost about $2.50. Dredging cost about $12. So we’re dealing with the problem at the source with these projects, sediment wise,” Morgan said.

Morgan described projects that increase channel roughness on lahar deposits so riparian vegetation can establish, slow flows and hold sediment in place. She said projects will continue “every year for the next five years on this scale, hopefully,” and that local loggers and contractors are already being hired for work described in the materials distributed to the commission.

She also described a practical cost-saving: using native, locally sourced wood where possible. Morgan said the group purchased a timber sale from the Washington Department of Natural Resources this year and is negotiating with other landowners; she said a major private timber company has not made wood available to them. “They have a kind of a blanket no on us. But we were able to buy a timber sale wholesale from DNR this year,” she said.

The presentations acknowledged limits and uncertainties. Commissioners pressed for measurable results: when asked whether salmon numbers are higher now than five years ago, Morgan said she did not have exact fish counts but that South Fork indicators moved “from a high risk to a medium risk in the recovery board’s assessment in the South Fork,” a habitat‑focused measure of viability. She added: “We’re not counting fish. We’re not WDFW. But our goal is to provide the habitat to enable them to eventually show a greater level of viability.”

Elaine Placido, executive director of the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, described community engagement and larger estuary work, noting the program is a bi‑state, EPA‑authorized National Estuary Program. “Over the last 30 years … we restored 35,000 acres of floodplain along the Lower Columbia, and have worked with 100,000 students,” Placido said, and she described past projects that paired community input with federal project authorization through the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA).

Alisa Hoyt, co‑executive director of the Mount St. Helens Institute, described the institute’s education and visitor‑services work and said the collaborative helps the institute coordinate with the U.S. Forest Service and other federal partners. She also noted the Forest Service is expected to publish an environmental impact statement for the Spirit Lake outflow project in early August; the commission and presenters emphasized the significance of that process for downstream flood and sediment risk.

Speakers and commissioners agreed that no single tool solves the region’s sediment issues. Several commissioners said the county and collaborative should press for broader policy and Army Corps attention to legacy sediment in upstream floodplains and to authorization and funding pathways for dredging and larger retention works. Morgan and Placido said the collaborative helps keep local voices and technical questions in front of state and federal agencies and can show where nature‑based actions reduce downstream needs.

The meeting record shows technical and policy questions remain: specific, countable fish returns were not provided, long‑term effectiveness percentages were not claimed, and presenters said nature‑based measures are one element of a larger toolbox.

Commissioners thanked the presenters and said they would continue to bring federal and state partners into the collaborative meetings so local concerns about flood risk, navigation and habitat can be heard together.