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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 2021)
Wednesday, August 11, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon RESTORATION: Riparian and wetland species will be planted Continued from page 3 The site is a beehive of activity with heavy equip- ment not usually seen on a restoration site plying up and down the valley. Three 35,000-pound, large off-road dump trucks carry dirt from place to place. The trucks are loaded by three 75,000- pound excavators whose huge jaws remove earthen berms that have been hold- ing the stream in an artifi- cial, straight alignment. A bulldozer pushes dirt into large piles and created the temporary dirt roads used by the equipment. This effort will help promote the natu- ral movement of meander- ing creek channels across the historic floodplain, a process called braiding. A skidder is used to move trees for place- ment in the eventual restored creek bed. At the same time, soil is being removed in some places and built up in oth- ers to even the floodplain and raise the water table, while leaving islands of mature vegetation to help provide mixed topography and maintain the healthy cot- tonwood, willow, and dog- wood that currently grow there. Throughout the entire area there is ample gravel deposited by long-ago gla- ciers, which helps filter the water and provide scrum for spawning fish. In order to use heavy equipment in the vicinity of the water while safeguarding the creek and its surrounds, the equipment must run with biodegradable transmission oil. Salvaged whole trees are being added where the creek will eventually flow, to cre- ate complex, layered habitat for fish and wildlife while slowing down the flow of the water and creating quiet spots for fish to rest. When all three zones of the restoration are complete, there will be 1,000 salvaged trees in place in the creek. Those trees are coming from a USFS thinning project and 300 of them from an ODFW thinning project on Pole Creek Ranch. Those thin- ning projects promote forest- stand health while providing salvage trees for a healthier creek. While this work is being completed, the fish are being held out of the area with a picket weir and fine-mesh block nets. It took 30 days to capture and move all the fish that were in the restoration area of the creek. Mathias Perle, restoration program manager with the UDWC, indicated there are now Chinook salmon upstream of Camp Polk Meadow and steelhead are making it upstream beyond Sisters. Because of the appear- ance of the Chinook, ODFW has shortened the period for permitted work in the stream from July 1 3 October 15 to July 1 3 August 15. With the one-week delay due to the fire, work will be right up against the August 15 deadline. Once all the excavation work is complete and the trees are in place, the flow of the creek will be acti- vated slowly, with only a 20 percent flow to allow the water to seep in and wash the gravel before slowly ramping up the flow. Perle said, <When the creek is fully flowing through the restoration area, the mac- roinvertebrates on which the fish feed will come back bet- ter and stronger. The overall health of the river system will be greatly improved.= The fish will return very quickly when the weir and block nets are removed. While the work is under- way, animals are coming back to the area at night, as evidenced by tracks in the dirt found by the workers in the morning. Some of the in-stream work being done will bring beavers back and then, according to Perle, <they can do the work for us.= Over three years, 60,000 riparian and wetland plants and trees will be planted around the islands and throughout the floodplain to provide for diversity and complexity of the ecosys- tem. The end result will be <a complex, diverse, and dynamic half-mile of creek that will change from year- to-year,= according to Perle. The UDWC began moni- toring the creek before the restoration work started and will continue to do so for years after it is completed to determine how well they are meeting their goals and objectives. A third restoration project is scheduled downstream, to begin in 2023. The planning and permitting for these proj- ects takes two to five years, so work is already on the drawing board for the 2023 project. Necessity is the mother of Invention MEAT S, GAME ALASKAN SEAFOOD CHEESES SANDWICHES BEER, WINE, CIDER 110 S. 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Over the years, the creek was artificially straight- ened and bermed to keep the creek in place and avoid flooding. This practice diminished fish and wild- life habitat in and along the creek. In an effort to cor- rect the situation, Deschutes Land Trust and its partners re-meandered Whychus Creek through Camp Polk Meadow Preserve with stunning results. They have also focused on a mile of the creek at Whychus Canyon Preserve. Rimrock Ranch is the third area undergoing restoration. In 1979, the property that is now Rimrock Ranch was permitted for a 14-lot subdivision. That never came to fruition. In 1988, the land was purchased by Bob and Gayle Baker and they moved to the ranch full-time in 2001. They sus- tainably grazed cattle on the ranch while working hard to protect and enhance habitat for wildlife. They realized they were sitting on a unique piece of Central Oregon and worried that when they were gone, the ranch could very well be developed, and the precious habitat destroyed. That was when they contacted the Deschutes Land Trust to see if, working together, they could conserve the ranch forever. In 2006, a land preser- vation agreement between the Bakers and the Land Trust was the first step in protecting the ranch. The Land Trust then purchased and permanently protected Rimrock Ranch in 2020, making the Bakers9 long- term vision a reality. Gayle still resides on the ranch. ONLINE BOOKING FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE Facials • Nails • Waxing Sugaring • Tinting/Lifting A fast, easy way to secure your appointment! 541-953-7112 392 E. Main Ave., Sisters roamnaturalskincare.com