High Valley Reach: What Happened & Where We're Headed
Packwood, WA — Upper Cowlitz (Muddy Fork)
1. The Weather Event & How We Mobilized
In December 2025, the Upper Cowlitz saw an avulsion and severe flooding that put the High Valley community at risk. The river shifted, banks eroded, and the threat to homes and infrastructure was immediate. In a landscape that had long been a patchwork of individual landowners—making coordinated action difficult—residents and property owners had to act fast.
The community mobilized. We coordinated with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) on emergency measures and permits, and with local leadership on access and safety. Landowners along the reach came together to support immediate stabilization work. That effort—armored embankments and rock-and-wood deflectors (jetties) designed under WDFW guidance—has helped stabilize the immediate threat and laid the groundwork for a more durable, habitat-minded approach.
Out of that response, High Valley Community Resilience (HVCR) was formed: a Washington nonprofit to be the unified voice and legal structure for the community. We are organized to move from reactive emergency flood-fighting to long-term habitat restoration and bank stabilization in the Upper Cowlitz. Below we describe who we are, the technical vision for the reach, and the types of grants we are applying for to get there.
2. Who We Are
HVCR was created to solve the fragmentation that has historically made large-scale restoration in this reach logistically impossible. We represent the High Valley Community as a single point of contact, capable of securing site access, managing landowner agreements, and overseeing project implementation across multiple private parcels.
- Structure: Registered Washington Nonprofit (501(c)(3) pending).
- Landowner consensus: We have united the High Valley 8 and 11 communities and hold signatures and/or financial commitments from landowners along this critical reach—a rare window of total cooperation.
- Financial commitment: The community has self-funded significant emergency stabilization to date, demonstrating strong local "skin in the game" and the will to solve this problem.
3. Project Vision: The "Hybrid" Bioengineering Strategy
High Valley Reach Process-Based Restoration
Location: Upper Cowlitz – Muddy Fork Landscape Unit (RM 129.0 – 131.2)
Protecting the High Valley community requires a stabilized bank that also supports habitat. We propose Bioengineered Bank Stabilization: a continuous, managed reach that moves away from simple riprap walls toward complex, roughness-based structures.
The Concept: We envision a continuous, managed reach that moves away from simple riprap walls toward complex, roughness-based structures. Our toolkit for this reach includes:
- Hybrid Deflector Jams: (Based on the WDFW Dec 2025 Emergency Work) These structures utilize a structural rock core for bank protection, "skinned" with large wood and rootwads. This hybrid approach provides the durability of a jetty with the hydraulic roughness and fish refuge of a natural log jam.
- Deflector Engineered Log Jams (ELJs): To dissipate energy and create scour pools.
- Complex Margin Habitat: Restoring roughness to the banks to slow water velocity rather than just constricting it.
The December 2025 emergency work used a "Hybrid Deflector" approach—armored embankments plus rock-and-wood deflectors (jetties)—and has stabilized the immediate threat while beginning to add the roughness needed for fish habitat. We aim to refine, expand, and properly engineer this concept for the entire reach.
Project area & media
4. Grants We're Applying For
We are seeking partnership and funding to move from emergency stabilization to long-term implementation. One key partner is the Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board (LCFRB), which has identified this reach as a priority for restoration. HVCR is prepared to move at the speed of available funding. Below are the types of grants we are pursuing, why we are a strong partner, who we work with, and the reference documents that guide our alignment.
Funding pathways
We are considering two pathways with LCFRB, which may be pursued individually or together:
Pathway A: Reach-Scale Implementation (Construction Funding)
- Scale the successful December 2025 "Hybrid Pilot" across the full High Valley Reach: engineer and construct a contiguous system of Bioengineered Rock Deflectors and/or ELJs.
- Immediate protection against the next flood season plus habitat metrics (miles of complex edge habitat). We have landowner access and financial commitment now—a fleeting window to bypass typical multi-year easement delays.
Pathway B: Feasibility & Design Assessment (Planning Funding)
- Fund a Feasibility and Preliminary Design Grant: hire a river engineer/geomorphologist to model the reach, optimize placement of bioengineering features, and evaluate floodplain reconnection where safe.
- Reduces technical risk and aligns the final project with the Upper Cowlitz-Cispus Habitat Strategy.
We look to LCFRB for guidance on which mechanism—or a combination—best fits the current grant cycle and funding availability.
Why partner with HVCR
Previously, social constraints (landowner resistance) made work in this reach difficult. HVCR changes that. We have the signatures, the funding, and the will. We are the organized, willing partner needed to unlock restoration potential in the High Valley Reach while the community is united and ready to act.
Strategic partnerships & key relationships
HVCR works in active coordination with local leadership and regulators. Key relationships from our formation and emergency response:
- Scott Brummer, Lewis County Commissioner: County infrastructure protection and funding alignment.
- Lonnie Goble, Packwood Fire Chief: Emergency access and public safety during the December 2025 flood events.
- Eliot Johnson (WDFW) / WDFW Habitat Biologists: Guidance on emergency HPA permits and bioengineering standards for the immediate stabilization work.
- Community stakeholders: 50+ property owners in High Valley 8 and 11; High Valley Community Center / HOA (400–600 homes); "Trails End" (44 homes).
References & alignment
Our grant applications are developed in alignment with LCFRB guiding documents and priorities.
- Upper Cowlitz-Cispus Habitat Strategy (Dec 2019)
LCFRB Library – UpperCowlitz-CispusHabitatStrategy_12-2019.pdf
We have structured our proposal around the limiting factors identified for the Upper Cowlitz basin (channel complexity, floodplain connection). - Strategy Appendices: Priority Actions & Maps
UCC_AppendicesA-E_12-2019.pdf
Appendix E, Map 1 identifies the High Valley Reach as a "Strategic Action" polygon. Action UCMF-1 addresses floodplain inundation and levee/armoring modifications; our Hybrid Bioengineering approach is designed to meet this while respecting community constraints. - LCFRB Salmon Resource Map & Precedent Projects
Salmon Resource Map
We have reviewed completed projects in the Cispus and Upper Basin (e.g. Timberline Reach, RM 131.5). Our "Hybrid Deflector Jams" draw on these precedents.