Supporting Process - Based Restoration in 2024
Anabranch Solutions Year in Review
Every year gets bigger and better, and 2024 was no exception!
At its core, Anabranch's simple goal remains: help our partners get as many miles of riverscape restoration on-the-ground as effectively and efficiently as possible.
This year, by strengthening our permanent staff and expanding our project management team, we were able to tackle more projects across more states and lead even more crews! This expansion has allowed us to take our efforts further than ever before and effectively support our core goal.
This year, by strengthening our permanent staff and expanding our project management team, we were able to tackle more projects across more states and lead even more crews! This expansion has allowed us to take our efforts further than ever before and effectively support our core goal.
Like a beaver colony...Only bigger!!
There’s no sugarcoating it—building BDAs and PALS for six months each year is hard work! But we were lucky to have an incredible team of restoration professionals who worked tirelessly across the West, helping to restore crucial structure to degraded riverscapes. As our projects continue to grow each year, the demands on our labor intensify. We can’t thank our dedicated, resilient crews enough for their unwavering commitment!
Last Day of 2024 training for our Washington/Oregon/Hybrid Crews!
Impacts Across the West
Anabranch construction crews worked throughout the Western US to initiate healthy stream processes. In total, our amazing construction crews worked across 9 states building over 2915 BDA or PALS structures spanning 81 miles of streams.
Restoring Natural Foundations: Structures Where They Belong
We continue to be inspired by beaver engineers and the wild, complex landscapes that represent thriving river ecosystems. Our approach combines simple, low-impact designs to promote steady water retention, avoiding heavy machinery. We aim to support natural processes and restore what once was, fostering healthier, more resilient streams.
Here’s a look at some of the BDAs and PALS our amazing crews completed this season. Each year, we gain more insights to refine our designs and improve our restoration strategies.
Education and Outreach
While getting process - based restoration on the ground is our bread and butter, we also try to do our part to educate and extend the practice of LTPBR.
Click the link for more information on LTPBR and to find a schedule of upcoming workshops in your area!
In 2024, USU and Anabranch hosted three impactful restoration workshops—one in Southern Oregon, another in Wyoming, and a third in Winnemucca, Nevada. These workshops allowed us to share our LTPBR knowledge and expand our network of partnerships across the nation. A special thanks to the BLM for organizing two additional workshops in Montana and for being an exceptional partner throughout the process, helping us expand these efforts and take restoration further than ever before.
Just a few photos that capture the trainings and workshops Anabranch was able to participate in and facilitate over the last year.
Supporting the LTPBR Community
Anabranch also expanded its online repository of LTPBR restoration projects through the LTPBR-EXPLORER site, designed to document and connect projects and practitioners across the field. By the end of 2023, the site featured 173 projects, and in 2024, we've added more than 100 new projects—bringing the total to 290—contributed by 97 organizations and counting!
The LTPBR Explorer website serves as a repository of structural treatment projects.
Supporting Science
Anabranch conducts and supports research and monitoring to ensure LTPBR implementation is based on the best available science. We help clients answer the question "is restoration promoting sustainable healthy riverscapes?"
A glimpse into our 2024 monitoring season in the Asotin IMW. This dedicated crew played a hybrid role, conducting e-fishing and habitat surveys while also building LTPBR structures throughout the Asotin Creek Watershed.
Counting the rocks, sticks, and fish so you don't have to....it's our business.
IMW Research Projects
Anabranch conducts the majority of its monitoring within the Asotin IMW project in WA. Anabranch has been studying the interaction between process-based restoration and steelhead habitat in this stream for greater than 15 years.
A juvenile steelhead getting its length and weight measured during monitoring surveys on Asotin Creek.
In addition to the electrofishing and habitat studies completed at the Asotin IMW, Anabranch conducted a wide range of drone imagery acquisitions, habitat studies, and BRAT analyses across project sites in nine states this year. We supported other organizations in their pursuit of knowledge acquisition while also leading teams in mastering how to replicate fast-paced geomorphic unit surveys.
Oregon monitoring crew wraps up habitat surveys on Thirtymile Creek, a key watershed for juvenile steelhead and the John Day River’s main tributary.
IMW - Insanely Intensively Monitored Watersheds
Our monitoring crews completed a monumental amount of data collection during 2024.
The data generated from these efforts continue to inform the effectiveness of LTPBR practices
Cheers to Our Biggest Year Yet – Thank You!
2024 has been a landmark year for Anabranch, from the successful implementation of restoration projects to groundbreaking research in the field. We are deeply grateful for the progress we’ve made and couldn’t have achieved it without the support of our incredible partners in riverscape restoration!
A glimpse of the amazing partnering we worked with in 2024 supporting riverscape restoration and research
