Copters carry logs into river for salmon

TOUTLE — The whomp-whomp-whomp of helicopter blades carried for miles across the South Fork Toutle River valley last week as crews from Oregon-based Columbia Helicopters carried logs from a timber harvest upstream to a salmon habitat-restoration project.

“It’s a pretty high-priority watershed for a lot of species,” said Steve Manlow, executive director of the Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board. “All the species are (Endangered Species Act)-listed here, and it’s one of those watersheds where you have both fall chinook and spring chinook, you have winter steelhead, summer steelhead, Coho and chum. There aren’t a lot of watersheds that have all the listed species.”