Similar to what you are saying, eyeFISH, there should definitely be a written out and agreed upon GOAL when commencing these projects.

On a recent planting on a Hood Canal stream where a culvert was replaced with a small bridge, I was doing a quick mental talley of the number of Chum carcasses in that one stretch of creek above and below the new bridge. While anecdotal, a family friend of mine who owns property a couple river miles above the new bridge mentioned this was the most Chum and Coho he’d seen on his creekside property in years. Apparently he remembers hundreds of spawning fish up through the 90s, but recently it’s only been a couple pairs, with none some years. While this was a strong year across the northwest, this was more than just a 10-30% jump.

I asked one of the Bios working the planting if he knew of any efforts by the organization or WDFW to do redd or outmigration counts. To my surprise, (and he could have just been unaware,) he said no.

Not sure how long we can continue doing these multimillion dollar fixes without clear evidence that they’re making a difference.