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In the news: Daily Astorian and Fox 12 Portland profile South Tongue Point estuary project

With BPA support, CREST is creating new tidal wetlands on 22-acres of dredge material in the Columbia River near Astoria. Building fish habitat on dredge material is relatively new for BPA and could offer future opportunities to create new salmon and steelhead habitat in the river.
The local news outlets covered BPA’s innovative South Tongue Point Restoration Project, which expands estuary habitat for juvenile fish migrating to the ocean.    
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This is where they build the strength and stamina to make it in the ocean . . . and then ultimately come back to their native tributaries and spawn.

BPA senior spokesperson Doug Johnson

Local media outlets, Fox 12 Portland and The Daily Astorian, filed stories on the South Tongue Point Restoration Project.

The BPA-funded project involved converting 22 acres of organic dredge material into a new estuary habitat for young salmon to rest and grow in the Columbia River as they make their way to the Pacific Ocean. This innovative endeavor to create new fish habitat converts a strip of land that did not exist until the 1950s into tidal wetlands. With the construction phase complete, thousands of native trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants will be planted over the next two years.

“This is where they come to rest. This is where they come to transition from freshwater to saltwater,” said BPA senior spokesperson Doug Johnson in the Daily Astorian. “This is where they build the strength and stamina to make it in the ocean . . . and then ultimately come back to their native tributaries and spawn.”

Learn more about the South Tongue Point Restoration project “New salmon habitat at the Columbia River’s Tongue Point.”

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