Trout Creek Swamp is being restored

What was once a wetland southwest of Sisters will once again teem with fish, wildlife, and native plants thanks to a partnership between the Deschutes National Forest and the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council and some special project partners.

Trout Creek Swamp is a 28-acre area of bog that is up to 10 feet deep. Over the years, it has slowly changed with encroachment of trees and noxious weeds because of past drainage of the land to make it hospitable for cattle.

The Trout Creek Swamp Restoration Project — now in its second year — will restore the area as a unique brown moss-fen plant community, according to project coordinator Mike Riehle, fisheries biologist for the Sisters Ranger District.

“Trout Creek Swamp is a rare example of this type of plant community extremely rare outside of Canada,” Riehle said. “Activities on the land, primarily construction of ditches during the 1930s, have lowered the water table resulting in lodgepole pine and noxious weeds entering the area.

“We don’t know who or why these ditches were constructed,” Riehle said. “We know the area was never homesteaded and we don’t know if the ditches were dug by the Forest Service or someone with a grazing permit.”

The project will rehabilitate the water flow through the swamp to Trout Creek, raise the water table, increase the late-summer water flow in Trout Creek, enhance the habitat for rare plants, redband trout and wildlife and control the encroachment of lodgepole pine and reed canary grass.

Starting in the fall of 2004, a 600-foot diversion ditch upstream of the swamp was filled. About 200 cubic yards of local material were used to plug the ditch to allow water to again enter the swamp area.

This year, 35 man-made “beaver dams” were constructed by special lightweight mechanized equipment that made a minimum impact on the wetland. Local material was carefully removed from areas with water to avoid creating habitat for noxious plants. Small logs were pushed into streamsides with thinning slash and other man-made materials added to the tops of the plugs for stability. These plugs will slow the movement of water through the swamp and raise the water table.

“We have 30 ground water measuring stations to monitor the water table,” Riehle added. “PVC pipes with holes were pushed into the bog so we can measure the underground water. We are already seeing some increase in the water table.”

Work will continue this fall with thinning of lodgepole pine, more piling of slash on the plugs, and monitoring of weed control efforts, Riehle added. Interpretive signs will be installed at Whispering Pine Forest Camp just below the swamp and alongside an overlook on Forest Road 1016.

The project has an $80,000 budget with the Forest Service providing the expertise, environmental review, and implementation. The council has focused on community outreach, project management, and grant funding. The result has been grants from the National Forest Foundation, Deschutes National Forest, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, Oregon Hunters Association and the Ruffed Grouse Society.

Project partners have included Sisters Middle School students, the High Desert Chapter of the Oregon Native Plant Society, Oregon State Corrections crews, and Youth Challenge Corps (YCC) crews. More partners may join the project.

“Deer, elk, and grouse are using this area now and that use should increase as the swamp is restored,” Riehle said.