Swamp project moving forward

Despite receiving only a trickle of funding, the Forest Service is moving forward with rehabilitation of Trout Creek Swamp west of Sisters. The swamp is an old grazing site that was established back in the 1930s when ditches were dug to drain the swamp for pastureland.

The alterations also removed the stream flow from its historic path.

Last year, the Forest Service launched a restoration effort to return the site to its natural state, said fisheries biologist Mike Riehle.

"It's a sizable meadow project, and we haven't done many of those in this district."

Trout Creek abounds with native redband trout, and the goal of the project is to mimic a natural system that retains water like natural beaver dams.

Riehle said that meadows that hold water in ponds and marshes make for better fish habitat.

The redband trout is classified as a "sensitive species." While the trout are not endangered, their survival is enough of a concern that officials closely monitor the native variety of rainbow.

Riehle said that, in spite of its name, the area is not a true swamp. "It's really a brown moss fen," he explained, "and it's not a bog because it actually has water that moves through it. There's a unique plant community associated with it and that's what we're trying to protect."

Riehle said that the plan is to fill in the artificial drainage ditches to restore the natural wetlands.

The natural meandering stream channel -- though dry -- is still visible in the area, and the Forest Service wants to put the water back where it belongs. When water saturates a meadow, moisture is retained in the system and the stream keeps flowing longer during dry spells and rebounds more quickly when water flow increases again.

Thus far, no channel work has been undertaken because the project has been hampered by a lack of funding.

One problem that has been attacked, however, is the encroachment of lodgepole pine into the drying meadow.

Riehle estimated that approximately 50 burn piles were created from removal of young trees in the targeted wetland area.

"We're going to burn some of the piles this fall," Riehle said, "but most will probably wait until next year."

Another concern is the spread of reed canary grass, an exotic plant sprouting in the area that displaces native wetland plants.

The native plant community includes a number of interesting carnivorous plants and multiple species of sundew and bladderwort.

Rather than burning the reed canary grass, Forest Service botanists decided to try cutting it with weed-whackers in the hope that native grasses would re-colonize the affected areas.

So far, the plan seems to be working, although it will take more time before it is known whether the low-impact method will succeed.

Riehle said that the Forest Service is coordinating with the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council to create the best plan for the area and also to seek funding for the project.

He hopes that excavation to restore the original stream channels can begin next year.

Farther downstream, Trout Creek normally peters out and flows underground before it reaches Sisters. Technically, though, it's a tributary of Indian Ford Creek.

The natural channel for Trout Creek passes north of the Forest Service compound in Sisters and behind the Sisters Industrial Park.

Periodically, a wet year causes the creek to flow right through town. The last time it did so was six years ago when it flooded Camp Polk Road just beyond the airport.

Part of lower Trout Creek's seasonal channel runs between Tollgate and Sisters High School, which uses the land for educational and scientific purposes.

The 160-acre parcel is managed in cooperation with the Deschutes Basin Land Trust and includes important habitat for the Peck's penstemon, a rare plant that is found only in the Sisters area.