Willow poles await planting along the Sacramento River levee near Paintersville, Calif., Feb. 11, 2013, and will provide shaded riparian habitat for threatened fish species. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District project aims to preserve riparian habitat following emergency levee erosion repairs between 2007 and 2009. The Sacramento District worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service to design the project for habitat benefit, and is the first Corps district to receive a variance under the Corps’ levee vegetation policy to plant willows near the levee after engineering analysis showed they won’t threaten the levee.