The Steamboat Slough Setback Levee and Ecosystem Restoration project’s purpose was to replace the old Steamboat Slough levee at Columbia RM 35 which was failing. For decades, the old Steamboat Slough levee served to protect U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s “Julia Butler Hanson Wildlife Refuge” which is a safe haven for the largest population of Columbian white-tailed deer (endangered and unique to Southwest Washington and Western Oregon) in the Country. Secondary benefits of the project included the creation of 68 acres wildlife habitat including several acres of essential young salmon habitat, removal of invasive vegetation, and installation of native plants and grasses.