Skookumchuck River Watershed

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The Skookumchuck River is a Tributary in the Middle Chehalis Basin.

Conservation Lands & Projects

WDFW manages the 960 acre Skookumchuck Wildlife Area Unit, created to offset impacts to elk habitat in the 500 acre Skookumchuck Dam and reservoir.
Northwest Natural Resources Group wrote an article about refuge restoration - https://www.nnrg.org/riparian-restoration-along-the-skookumchuck-river/
- Dense tree plantings will require future thinning.
Capitol Land Trust has an interest in several parcels.
- Skookumchuck Forest Preserve' 28 acres - https://capitollandtrust.org/conserved-lands/conservation-areas/black-river-chehalis-watershed/skookumchuck-forest-preserve/
- Mueller Conservation Easement
Thurston Conservation District completed a large project on Riverbend Ranch. The project included silvopasture, in addition to ELJs, Revegetation and underplanting.

Winter Steelhead, Fall Chinook, Coho, Pacific Lamprey and Cutthroat Trout are present downstream of the dam.
WDFW required a fish hatchery to compensate for loss for 4-5 miles of Chinook spawnng, 8 miles of Coho spawning, and 20 miles of steelhead trout spawning.
There has been historic catch and haul before 2008, and since 2020.

The largest industrial development in the watershed is the Trans Alta coal-fired powerplant which diverts water from the Skookumchuck Dam.

Office of the Chehalis Basin has authored a dam study to evaluate alternatives for dam management. - https://officeofchehalisbasin.com/skookumchuck-dam-study/
Transalta is scheduled to shut down in 2025
The dam has operated since 1970.