The U.S. Forest (USFS) recently launched an online resource highlighting their efforts to restore connectivity to thousands of miles of streams. The digital story map provides an interactive way to review the work the agency has done over the last eight years to upgrade culverts and road-stream crossings for aquatic organism passage. The agency manages at least 40,000 stream crossings within its 193 million acres. Between 2008 and 2015, the USFS and its partners invested over $105 million to improve 1,049 culverts through the agency?s Legacy Roads and Trails Program. By upgrading areas where road crossing?s block fish from moving upstream, the partners have been able to restore connectivity through stream networks. This will allow aquatic organisms to move freely to spawn, feed, and adapt to thermal changes in the watershed.

?These investments are a triple win? a win for the environment by restoring habitat and improving water quality? a win for the Forest Service by making smart fixes now rather than costlier fixes later on? and a win for local communities that depend on transportation links for emergency services, schools, work, and outdoor recreation,? said Forest Service Chief, Tom Tidwell.