HEALTHY SHORELINES

The river needs your voice at the county level!

Shorelines along the White Salmon are facing significant threats from development and extractive industries. Friends of the White Salmon offers advocacy tools, opportunities for action, and educational resources to help you protect shorelines.  Do you want to help?

 

How You Can HelpMake a Donation
Getting Involved

Shorelines Keep the River Alive

Rivers are the world’s lifeblood, and healthy living shorelines serve as their natural stewards.

Shorelines along the White Salmon River nurture and protect the river by:

1. Providing Habitat for Plants & Animals

The riparian area, often referred to as the ribbon of life, is the land adjacent to the river. A corridor between land and water, the ribbon of life allows animals to travel between different biomes. They serve as “breeding, nesting, and foraging sites throughout some portion of most animals’ life cycle, and in some cases, for the entirety of their lives” (American Rivers).

From trees and shrubs, to grasses and flowering plants, riparian areas are transition zones between water and upland areas. Their unique characteristics create habitat for both land and water species.

2. Providing Shade & Moderating Temperature

Shoreline vegetation, such as trees and shrubs, is a source of shade for terrestrial and aquatic life and keeps the water and air temperature cool. Cooler water means less evaporation and more dissolved oxygen in the water for aquatic animals.  This supports healthy aquatic life, like our salmon and steelhead population. It also combats climate change.

3. Buffering Floods

Slows runoff and absorbs excess water. This reduces peak flows and can lessen downstream flooding.

4. Filtering Runoff Pollutants

Shoreline vegetation absorbs surface water. As the roots pull the water into the ground, the amount of nutrients, sediments, and other runoff pollution is reduced.

Threats on the White Salmon River: 

The removal of trees and vegetation in riparian areas and improper land use and construction are damaging our shorelines. The key issues include:

  • Loss of Wildlife Habitat: Trees and vegetation provide essential shelter and food for wildlife. Their removal destroys these habitats, threatening local species.
  • Shoreline Damage from Unregulated Land Use: Construction and land use practices that violate Washington State Department of Ecology regulations are further degrading the river ecosystem and contributing to long-term environmental damage.
  • Increased Water Temperature: Trees and vegetation provide shade, helping to keep the water cool. Without this shade, the water temperature rises, stressing species like salmon and steelhead that depend on cold water refuge.
  • Poorer Water Quality: Riparian vegetation helps filter pollutants before they reach the water. Without this natural filter, pollution enters the river.

What can you do to help?

Hold Klickitat County accountable for enforcing the protection of shorelines. 

Learn more about shorelines:

Fisheries NOAA            ADFG Alaska          Ecology Washington           The Riparian Zone

What Drives Us

Our Mission

Protecting watershed health and biodiversity in Klickitat and Skamania counties and the Mt. Adams region; raising public awareness of threats and opportunities; speaking up for streams, forests, and wildlife; and supporting the Yakama Nation in their protection of cultural and natural resources.