Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 2019)
8 CapitalPress.com Friday, September 6, 2019 Reclamation takes comments on raising Anderson Ranch Dam By BRAD CARLSON Capital Press Steve Stuebner Chris Black near a beaver dam analog on his southwest Idaho property. Rancher greens arid site with beaver dam analogs By BRAD CARLSON Capital Press BRUNEAU, Idaho — Rancher Chris Black is using beaver dam analogs to make his property wetter and greener. The structures, with their willow walls and intermit- tently spaced wooden poles, mimic beaver dams by hold- ing back or slowing water. They’re effective and fairly cheap — important in that they can blow out occasion- ally, just like the real thing. “Since ’17 when they put them in, that whole stretch now has become continu- ously watered,” Black said. “The meadows are starting to sponge that water up, and become greener and more alive.” Black, with help from state and federal agencies as well as volunteers, has been using the analogs on Deep Creek tributary Hurry Up Creek, which dries up in summer heat. The struc- tures help to keep water in the creek longer and raise the water table. About a dozen of the 30-plus analogs planned have been installed. “Most species are pretty dependent on wet meadows and things, as are my cows,” he said. “If you can manage those and create habitat, you are going to have more wild- life and more benefits.” “This is low-tech, low- cost restoration,” said USDA Natural Resources Conser- vation Service Sagebrush Restoration Specialist Derek Mynear. “This is not a new concept, but it is certainly taking off here in the West.” Crews can repair or replace the analogs, designed to last up to five years, he said, or even incorporate beefier post-assisted log structures to control, redirect or otherwise stir up current at higher flows. Black, whose fam- ily has 1800s irrigation and stock-water rights, in the early 2000s used a back- hoe to rebuild several bea- ver dams on a separate site over which Long Tom Creek runs. The water pooled “and allowed meadows to come back in and be sub-irrigated,” he said. “Water stayed in the stream longer and the stream dried up later.” The Long Tom site’s original beavers were dec- imated by unauthorized over-trapping about 50 years ago. A subsequently trans- planted population didn’t stay, but the rebuilt dams ultimately drew new beavers from higher in the drainage, he said. They stayed until the hard winter of 2016-17. “There was no deep water to go to, but they may be mov- ing back in.” In contrast, the site where the analogs are used “has more potential, but less water resources and more difficulties in doing it,” Black said. “That is why it was cho- sen as an experimental site.” An Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission Life on the Range report said Black’s site is a natural fit because it adds value to other conservation projects in the area and has a healthy population of sage grouse. The U.S. Bureau of Rec- lamation through Sept. 9 will take public comments on a $6 million environmen- tal-impact study of raising Anderson Ranch Dam by 6 feet. The proposal would add about 29,000 acre-feet of storage capacity to the reser- voir northeast of Mountain Home, Idaho. It currently holds 474,900 acre-feet of water behind a 456-foot-tall dam. Officials have been study- ing opportunities to store more water in the three- dam Boise River system to accommodate population growth and create enough storage capacity to handle a 500-year flood. The Ander- son Ranch project in the past year emerged as the pre- ferred option over modify- ing the Arrowrock or Lucky Peak dams downstream. The estimated cost of raising Anderson Ranch Dam is $31 million. The Treasure Valley Water Users Association, whose members include irri- gation districts and canal companies that supply water to agricultural users as well as residential and commer- cial developments, supports the proposal to raise the Bureau of Reclamation Anderson Ranch Dam is 456 feet tall and is on the South Fork of the Boise River, 28 miles northeast of Mountain Home, Idaho. dam. “One of our top priori- ties we support is additional storage for irrigation sup- plies here in the Treasure Valley,” Executive Direc- tor Roger Batt said. “With the population influx, there is only going to be increas- ing demand on our irriga- tion-storage supply. So it completely makes sense to have additional storage in this valley to meet future demand.” The Idaho Water Resource Board has applied to to the federal Bureau of Reclamation for a water right related to raising Anderson Ranch Dam. However, “there is no clear indication of who is going to receive priority to that water as of today,” Batt said. The Boise River is subject to minimum winter flows in the Boise metro area to ben- efit fish and wildlife, the riv- erside pathway network and other interests. In spring, flood-control releases occur about 70% of the time. Anderson Ranch Res- ervoir is on the South Fork Boise River. Both are popu- lar fisheries. Trout Unlimited Idaho Water Project Staff Coun- sel Peter Anderson said riv- ers and fish adapt to high spring flows — which move gravel, reorder structure and create spawning areas. TU has not taken a position “except: Let’s look at these issues and see if there is a problem.” Group posts predator warning banner By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press CHEWELAH, Wash. — A northeast Washington group posted a banner in Chewelah, Wash., warning motorists about predators. The 9-by-27-foot ban- ner was posted Aug. 30 out- side the Chewelah Casino, said Dale Magart, secre- tary-treasurer of the North- east Washington Wildlife Group, during an Aug. 28 meeting. The group describes itself as citizens concerned about wildlife conservation and is composed of land- owners, ranchers, hunters and fishermen. The sign includes photos of a cougar and a wolf, and reads, “Dangerous pred- ators. Protect family and pets,” with phone numbers to report incidents. The group spent $630 on the banner. “It should be quite visi- ble,” Magart said. He said the group plans to keep the banner in place through the end of the year. The group has roughly 84 members, Magart said. During the meeting, John Magart, co-chairman of the group and Dale Magart’s cousin, criticized the Wash- ington Department of Fish and Wildlife decision to can- cel 16 meetings about wolf post-recovery plans. Citing concerns about public safety and potential violence, the department will instead offer online webinars. The public comment period will remain open until Nov. 1. The depart- ment is accepting comments via online survey and in writing. John Magart called the cancelations discouraging. “There’s too much of this nonsense going on,” he said. “We kind of worry about that with our sign, but if it happens, it hap- pens. There isn’t a heck of a lot you can do about it. ... I want everybody here to know this group is not Matthew Weaver/Capital Press Secretary-treasurer Dale Magart, co-chairman Al Martz and co-chairman John Magart compare notes during a meeting of the Northeast Washington Wildlife Group Aug. 28 in Chewelah, Wash. NE Washington Wildlife Group The banner was posted near Chewelah, Wash. about nonsense, it’s about common sense.” Gary Douvia, a director of the group, encouraged members to make com- ments, because hunters and fishermen historically don’t participate in webinars. “Instead of having to face the competition and conversation and questions, they go to webinars so no one has to be accountable for anything,” he said of the department. “It’s one of the ways they use to restrict the input.” Bart George, wildlife biologist for the Kalispel Tribe of Indians, outlined plans to collar cougars that linger close to people, but haven’t killed anything yet. George wants to study whether potentially danger- ous cougars can be trained to avoid humans, using various sounds — includ- ing dogs, human voices, engines and tractors. “I want them to recog- nize any human sound as danger and get out of there,” he said. 33-4-1/106
