A history of stream restoration in fisheries science: Where have we been, where are we going, what have we learned

A review of forty years of stream restoration efforts in the field of fisheries science shows an evolution of a new science that began very simply in the 1960’s with the installation of habitat structure to increase adult game fish populations to a complex science that deals with complete ecosystem restoration.  There has been a historical divide among those disciplines who have dealt with “stream restoration” which is clearly illustrated by the historic engineered versus biological approaches.  The field of stream restoration has grown into an industry during the past decade and, with that growth, the debate about approaches has intensified.  However, a closer look at that debate clearly shows the gradual convergence of multiple disciplines into what hopefully is developing into a widely accepted science.