News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Back in the early 1900s, cattle ranchers in the Sisters country worked hard to turn Trout Creek Swamp into good grazing land for their cattle.
"They dug ditches through the swamp to channel the multiple meandering streams into a few deep, narrow ditches so that the water table would be lowered and there would be more dry areas for cattle to graze," according to a restoration project outline provided by the Sisters Ranger District.
The hard work paid off. The 20-acre area 10 miles west of Sisters (then privately owned) became pretty good cattle range. It is not, however, a very good swamp anymore.
Ditches eroded, dumping sediment into Trout Creek. Non-native Reed Canary Grass has moved in and is choking out native grasses.
The U.S. Forest Service hopes to restore the area to its former condition as a year-round wet meadow, home to the kind of plants and animals that depend on that sort of habitat. Red-band trout are among the species affected, according to the Forest Service.
According to the project outline, foresters have several options in restoring the swamp.
These include:
ï Re-establishing natural, meandering, shallow stream channels through the interior of the swamp. The channels will be dug with a mechanical trencher.
ï Replacing the culvert under Forest Road 1520, which allows water from the swamp to enter Trout Creek with a larger, more "fish-friendly" design.
ï Filling in the existing straight, deep ditches to prevent water from flowing back into these created channels. That would require bringing in soil and rock for fill material from outside the project area.
ï Removing some of the conifer trees that are growing into the swamp. Tree removal could either be done by hand or with a mechanical harvester. Downed trees could either be left on site to add woody debris to the swamp, or could be piled and burned if the downed material would cause a fire hazard.
ï Reducing the amount of reed canary grass by burning or chemical application. According to Anthony, foresters hope that raising the water level in the swamp will reduce the ability of the reed canary grass to survive.
The work would be done in the late summer and early fall, according to the project outline.
The Forest Service is taking comments through Friday, July 6. E-mail project coordinator Kris Martinson at [email protected] or call 541-549-7730.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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