An important piece of the management of the TCF is implementing forest restoration work that protects the nearby communities from wildfire impacts. The DNR has developed a long-term forest management schedule to provide habitat for diverse species, which includes conducting forest inventory, identifying the potential distribution of future forest habitats, and developing a harvest/restoration schedule. They have also assessed fire risk in the area, developed an emergency response plan, and are implementing fuels reduction work including 6.25 miles of shaded fuel breaks that tie into nearby private landowner’s efforts, thinning along roadways, and over 750 acres of pre-commercial thinning.

Another equally important piece of the management of the TCF is river restoration work for fish and wildlife habitat. A legacy of dams, railroad berms, roads, grazing and logging has caused the Teanaway River and its forks to become incised, or cut down, in many places. The exposed bedrock we see in the channels today is not a natural condition; it is the result of past land management actions. The incised channel reaches offer poor habitat for salmon and steelhead and contributes to downstream flood damage. The Yakama Nation, Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group, WDFW, DNR and partners have been working to enhance the aquatic habitat of the TCF since 2018. From 2019 - 2021, the partners focused on reconnecting the North Fork Teanaway River to its floodplain along four miles. Restoration efforts added more than 2,000 pieces of wood in engineered and non-engineered structures, and as individual pieces. The work included breaching two berms to reconnect side channels, and planting trees and shrubs in some locations. After a few high flows, the newly placed wood has collected spawning gravels, formed pools, and allowed water to spread out across the floodplain. 

The restoration partners are now planning similar aquatic restoration work on other reaches of the North Fork, and on the West and Middle Fork Teanaway Rivers as well. Rebecca Wassell, Yakima Basin Program Director with Mid-Columbia Fisheries, summed up the effort, "We are incredibly fortunate to be working on public lands where fish and wildlife habitat are among the key management objectives. The Teanaway watershed has been severely degraded by past management, but the current leadership at our state agencies prioritizes restoration, and we are already seeing the positive results of their commitment."