Community perceptions regarding the benefits of both retaining and reintroducing wood into rivers and streams have fundamentally changed since the early 1990s. In large part this has been brought about by a raft of research into the role that trees and branches falling into our rivers (variously described as snags, large woody debris (LWD), coarse woody debris (CWD), woody debris, wood, log jams or structural woody habitat (SWH)) play in aquatic ecosystem health and channel morphodynamics. We now know that in many respects wood in rivers is akin to the coral reefs in our oceans, as it provides substrate for invertebrates and biofilms, and provides complex habitat that supports a wide range of aquatic species. In addition, it also performs a critical geomorphic role. Research funded by Land & Water Australia (LWA) has been at the forefront of this rethink, and in particular the communication of the new insights to river managers and the broader community. Over the last seven years LWA has published a number of reports and technical guidelines that have highlighted the role in-stream wood plays as aquatic habitat, as a long-term source of carbon, and as an agent inducing channel complexity and stability. Volume 1 of the Riparian Land Management Technical Guidelines (Lovett & Price 1999), and the updated version Principles for Riparian Lands Management (Lovett & Price 2007) reviewed the ecological and geomorphological functions and benefits associated with wood in streams, while Volume 2 provided information on how wood can be best managed to protect aquatic ecosystem health. The River and Riparian Land Management Technical Guideline Update no. 3, ‘Managing wood in streams’ (Cottingham et al. 2003) provided an update of the ecological and geomorphological functions of wood on streams contained in the earlier guidelines, with new scientific insights developed since the publication of the original guidelines.