Upper Page Creek Fish Passage Project
Page Creek is a tributary of the Clatskanie River in the Lower Columbia–Clatskanie River watershed. Page Creek is a habitat for Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed Lower Columbia River Coho and Steelhead salmon as well as Coastal Cutthroat Trout and Pacific lamprey.
Location: The project is located at the upper crossing of Page Creek and a private logging road in Clatskanie, OR.
Partners: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), Evenson Logging Company, (landowner), and the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF)
Funding: The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB)
Project Summary
In August 2022, the Columbia SWCD was awarded a small grant to help fund the replacement of a perched, undersized, and damaged culvert with a 60-foot modular steel bridge on Page Creek. The previous culvert served as a complete barrier to fish passage, preventing salmon and other aquatic organisms from accessing approximately one mile of high-quality spawning and rearing habitat in the upper Page Creek watershed. The undersized culvert also contributed to the formation of a headcut at the outlet and led to channel incision downstream.
In the summer of 2023, Evenson Logging contracted McCoy Logging & Construction to remove the old culvert and install the new bridge. During construction, felled alders were left in the channel to enhance habitat, increase channel roughness, and promote sediment deposition. Additionally, historic fill from the crossing site was removed, and the slope was regraded to facilitate natural flow between the upstream and downstream sections. Post-construction, the Columbia SWCD seeded disturbed areas with a native erosion control seed mix and installed native plants in fall 2023.
