Canyon Creek under restoration

Crossings at Canyon Creek will be consolidated.

A Forest Service project to enhance the health of Canyon Creek, including important bull trout habitat, is nearing completion this week.

According to Assistant District Fisheries Biologist, Scott Cotter, the project began nearly two years ago when biologists determined that an abandoned bridge crossing was restricting stream flow and resulting in excessive sediment deposits.

Finishing touches are being applied this week by a Job Corps crew from the Civilian Conservation Center in Curlew, which is located in the mountains of northeastern Washington.

Forest Service Silviculture Crew Boss Jeremy Fields and his assistant, Brian See, will be working with the group of 15 students to add such features as logs and native plantings.

The crew will also close off a network of unofficial, user-created trails crisscrossing the creek basin.

The project is located about three miles upstream from the mouth of the creek, which empties into the Metolius River.

Cotter explained that the old bridge abutments were constricting the creek and contributing to sediment deposits.

"High amounts of fine sediment can suffocate incubating bull trout eggs and young fry that are still in their nests, known as redds, by filling in spaces between the gravel and cobbles," he said.

The project is particularly important, Cotter emphasized, because Canyon Creek is some of the most important spawning and rearing habitat for bull trout in the Metolius system.

Last summer, the Oregon National Guard removed high bank dirt fill and broken concrete slabs that formed part of the old bridge structure.

Department of Corrections crews were also brought in to help restore the site.

After initial excavation of the old crossing, subsequent steps included bringing in a "subsoiler" machine that penetrates and lifts compacted soils without turning over the ground surface.

The area, was then "naturalized" by the planting of native alders and the addition of "large wood" (downed logs and root wads).

Cotter said that such natural obstructions in the streambed cause the current to scour out small holes in the stream bottom to provide a haven for juvenile trout.

The plantings help provide overhead cover to protect the fish from predators.

In addition to the large in-stream wood, biologists hope that the new habitat will naturally produce other benefits.

"Plantings of native vegetation will provide much needed shade to insure the stream remains cool for bull trout," said Cotter.

Cotter reported last week that a snorkel survey conducted by Oregon State University biologist Jens Lovtang discovered that young Chinook salmon experimentally planted in the stream system have also moved into the site; so, the restoration effort is already starting to pay off.

Actually, the abandoned bridge abutments were causing only some of the problems.

The area is the site of several informal horse camps that funnel onto the Metolius-Windigo Trail, and unrestricted crossings trampled out multiple fords. By restricting access and redefining trails, those crossings will be consolidated at one site, further reducing stream disturbance.

Off-road vehicle use at the site is also being eliminated by the placement of natural barriers and wooden bollards. All vehicles should now use the Road 12 bridge crossing.

Log and boulder barriers have been placed all along the north bank to prevent vehicle crossings.

The south bank has been left relatively open to provide access for horse watering.

This week's Job Corps project will include native plantings at the crossing and barrier placements for up to a mile downstream to finalize the closure of the multiple "undesignated, user-created trails."

The Job Corps participants, Fields said, range in age from 16-24. He praised their work and said that, contrary to popular belief, "these are not people in trouble, but people looking for job training and a second chance."

Among the center's offerings are electrical, construction, masonry, business, and forestry curricula, plus GED and college education.

Cotter is pleased with the final result of the Canyon Creek project.

" I think overall this project will directly benefit bull trout and other forms of aquatic life in Canyon Creek," he said.