05/29/2026
Restoring the Yakima River — one cottonwood seed at a time.
Black cottonwood is a foundational tree species along western rivers. But a 2022 assessment found that cottonwood forests in the Kittitas reach of the Yakima River are regenerating at an unnaturally slow rate — the result of riparian clearing, altered hydrology for irrigation, and infrastructure that narrows the river's natural channel migration zone.
Less cottonwood means less shade (warmer water for salmon), fewer leaves (less food for aquatic insects), more bank erosion, and less large wood falling into the river — all things salmon need to thrive.
That's why Mid-Columbia Fisheries launched the Cottonwood Seedbed Pilot Project. Rather than expensive hand-planting, we're using agricultural methods to mimic what the river used to do naturally: exposing bare, moist soil during the spring freshet so cottonwood seeds can germinate on their own.
Here's what our restoration team is up to:
✅ Collected native cottonwood catkins from trees within the same elevation zone of the Yakima Basin
✅ Prepared a 7-acre seedbed on a 17-acre site in the Kittitas Valley
✅ Installed irrigation to keep soil moist during the critical first 3 weeks of germination
✅ Sowed the seeds and monitored root and stem growth
The goal? A dense, self-sustaining cottonwood forest — at less than one-third the cost of traditional planting.
Learn more about the project: https://www.midcolumbiafisheries.org/cottonwood-reforest
