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CapitalPress.com February 5, 2016 Project has many partners W16-1/#6 CREEK from Page 7 and had a hard time getting back out. His fences were fall- ing into the stream,” Banks said. “So he met with a group of us to discuss a stream resto- ration project.” This project has many part- ners interested in protecting and enhancing habitat for Yellow- stone Cutthroat Trout. “We had participation from Southeast Idaho Flyishers; Sim- plot; Idaho Department of Envi- ronmental Quality; U.S. Forest Service (the property borders the Forest Service on its west end); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice; Darden Co. (owners of the Red Lobster and Olive Garden restaurant chains), who donated money for the project; Trout Un- limited; and the local school dis- trict from Bancroft (North Gem High School),” Banks said. The entire high school — 65 kids in grades 9 through 12 — came out twice to help. Their service, called Cowboys in Ac- tion, helped plant willows and lay out the fence, and helped put up some of the buck-and-pole fence along the riparian area. “Mike and Roxy had decided they needed to put the channels back into a more normal, mean- dering course, after looking at an aerial photo from 1941, in the U.S Forest Service archives,” Banks said. “It showed what the stream looked like originally.” The project was coordinated by the Portneuf Soil and Water Conservation District in cooper- We Are Now Manufacturing ation with the Caribou Soil and Water Conservation District. Banks wrote a grant that provid- ed most of the funding. “Donations from various partners made up the difference, along with inputs from Mike and Roxy. They supplied equipment, posts for the fence, helped us plant trees, and a host of other things,” Banks said. “We found a contractor, Rockin’ T Construction, in Swan Valley, owned by Troy and Tara Hicks. Tara is the exca- vator driver and she’s a magician with that machine. She put both channels back the way they were originally, restoring more than 6,000 feet of stream channel,” Banks said. He took photos before and after — six weeks after it was inished, six months after and a year after. “The amount of growth in that new riparian area is incred- ible. We planted willows, and fenced off each channel on both sides,” he said. This took more than two miles of fence. Mike and Roxy had a corral next to one channel so they re- built the corral away from the stream. “Since we’d fenced the cattle away from the stream we drilled a well to supply stock water, put in 1,500 feet of pipeline and three water troughs. Fencing off both stream segments created fence for three different pastures, so we placed a water trough in each pasture,” Banks said. • Water Master • Evergreen Irrigation • Rental Returns & Used Equipment Truck Beds & Hoists “Superior Service & Design” • All your needs for irrigation parts service • We build custom equipment for your special needs. • Hose replacements & fusion repairs W16-4/#T4D 8 Val l ey Fab Corp. 10910 Portland Rd. NE • Brooks, OR Call: 503-792-3739 • Fax: 503-792-3738 W16-1/#7
