ABOUT US 

The Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group is a non-regulatory, non-partisan 501(c)(3) salmon recovery organization founded by the state legislature in 1990. Working within specific watersheds throughout Clark, Skamania, Wahkiakum, and Cowlitz Counties, we successfully leverage public funding through landowner partnerships and collaborations with individuals, groups, corporations, tribes, foundations and agencies.  

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OUR PARTNERS include Washington Dept of Fish and Wildlife, Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board, Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office Salmon Recovery Funding Board, Washington Dept of Natural Resources, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Port of Kalama, Columbia Springs, Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, Clark Public Utilities, Cowlitz Indian Tribe, Washington Dept of Ecology, Clark Skamania Fly Fishers, Lower Columbia Fly Fishers, Fish First, Kalama Sportsman's Club, Hudson's Bay High School, Toutle Lake High School, Cascade Forest Conservancy, Northwest Wild Fish Rescue, Columbia Land Trust, Regional Fisheries Coalition, and many private landowners!

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CONTACT 

12404 SE Evergreen Highway
Vancouver, WA  98683
(360) 882-6671

Lcfegdirector (at) outlook.com

© 2023 by Make A Change.
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WHO WE ARE

We are “boots on the ground” restoration practitioners.  At LCFEG, our passion is seeing the potential in damaged, blocked, and undernourished stream reaches and restoring them so wild salmon and steelhead can rest, feed, and spawn there.

 

Our vision is rooted in hydrology, geomorphology, and restoration ecology and we make it happen with partnerships, collaboration, and hard work.  We look at waters big and small across the Lower Columbia region and ask how this particular reach—given its unique history, ecology, and potential—can be repaired to bring back healthy habitat for salmon and steelhead. Whether it’s planting trees to restore functional riparian areas or stacking large wood to create deep pools and redistribute spawning gravel, this is our contribution to the long term recovery of the Northwest’s native fish. 

 

This is how LCFEG, and all of the state’s 14 regional fisheries enhancement groups, are a critical link in “The Washington Way,” a unique approach to salmon recovery that focuses on regional needs and priorities and invests in local, community supported habitat improvement projects.  

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OUR STAFF

Shauna Hanisch-Kirkbride, Ph.D., Managing Director

Brice Crayne, Project Manager

Maurice Frank, Restoration Coordinator

Chelsey Pacanins, Restoration Assistant

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OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Hal Mahnke (President), Brian Davern (Vice President), Ed McMillan (Treasurer), Ray Mathes (Secretary), Joshua Burchett, Jim Byrne, Scott Donaldson, Terry Frost, Bob Layton, Jim Williams, Jeff Wittler, Rick Yahrmarkt, John Veno

Habitat improvement | Nutrient enhancement | Native plants | Outreach

  •  LCFEG's habitat restoration activities include restoring in-stream habitat complexity, removing fish passage barriers, planting native riparian vegetation, and removing invasive species in riparian areas. 

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  • Our nutrient enhancement work seeks to increase availability of marine-derived nutrients in several Lower Columbia River watersheds. With the help of our partners and volunteers, we place several thousand salmon carcasses per year into rivers across the region.

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  • LCFEG maintains three riparian nursery sites that produce about 20,000 native plants each year to help restore riparian areas that are so important to salmonid habitat. 

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