It is too soon in salmon restoration efforts for fish managers in the region to either claim victory in restoration work or for the larger community to give up hope and close down the fishery. The problem of accurately measuring returns is illustrated by Chart 2-9, a graph of estimates of adult returns to the Willapa fishing area compared with returns to hatcheries and rivers of origin. There are important cultural as well as ecological and economic reasons to improve runs of these fish for the future. Restoration efforts in the basin should focus on increasing natural spawning of salmon, and also improve habitat and water quality. Removing migration barriers, protecting and restoring riparian habitat, reducing sediment loads, and replenishing stream productivity with returning salmon help to increase natural spawning and fish survival.
Sediment loading is probably the watershed's greatest problem.
Roads are a major sediment source. Five miles of road per square mile is the average for the Willapa Basin. Logging roads are the most common type of road. Improved road building and maintenance practices can reduce and have reduced sediment transfer to water from surface runoff and landslides. Impassable culverts and debris dams are two common barriers that close off stream sections to access by salmon.