14
community
september13
2011
UNWC Facilitates Another Restoration Project continued from front page
as support from the Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). Weyer-
haeuser is paying half the cost for the
stream crossing and road improvements,
and are also providing a large portion
of the large trees with root wads for the
stream placement. Quality Excavation
from Seaside, OR is the contractor on
the project, completing a realignment of
the road and also working on the wood
placement. Michele Long a Restoration
Biologist from ODFW is overseeing the
wood placement. Peyton and the UNWC
provide project management oversight,
management and oversight of the plant-
ing, and grant administration.
The project also provided an op-
portunity for the UNWC to work with
Weyerhaeuser’s Steve McNulty, who
has provided the engineering for the
project. McNulty has worked coopera-
tively with the UNWC on several recent
projects over the last few years and has
been instrumental in helping the UNWC
complete several difficult projects, in-
cluding last year’s Elk Creek project that
replaced a fish culvert under the Scap-
poose-Vernonia Highway. McNulty is
transferring to another region and the
Pebble Creek project is his last project
in the Vernonia area in conjunction with
the UNWC.
“Steve brought this project to
us and provided the engineering for it,”
says Peyton. “He works very closely
with the contractor, overseeing every-
thing they are doing. “
McNulty also served on the
Board of Directors for the UNWC, as-
sisting in a recent reorganization for the
group that has been very beneficial to
group operations.
We’re very sad Steve is leaving
and have been extremely grateful for his
presence,” says Peyton. “He has been a
critical piece to several of our projects—
without him we would not be doing this
Pebble Creek project.”
During a recent tour of the Peb-
ble Creek site, McNulty explained the
benefits the project hopes to accomplish.
“We had an undersized culvert that was
blocking fish passage, which was a dif-
ficult situation for us for maintenance
wise, because we couldn’t reach the up-
stream inlet to maintain it—the beavers
loved to plug it,” says McNulty. “And
we end up with a big sediment deposit
upstream and a sediment deficiency
downstream and it creates an impassable
barrier for salmon. So what we did was
realign the road further upstream to get a
good, fish passable structure and a lower
fill height so we can maintain it easier.
Because what happens is, you get all this
water built up behind it and then you
have a catastrophic failure.”
McNulty says he designed the
road realignment so that log trucks and
especially low boys could still traverse
try to keep them working.”
Michele Long of ODFW works
closely with the contractors as they use
heavy equipment to strategically place
large logs, rocks and
other debris into the
stream bed. “What
we have found is
wherever there is
wood in Pebble Creek
and its tributaries,
the numbers of juve-
nile Coho salmon go
through the roof,” ex-
plains Long. “Pebble
Creek really supports
a lot of fish. Where
there isn’t the com-
plex wood cover there
Contractors place large, woody debris into Cold Creek
aren’t as many fish.
to help create salmon habitat.
We’ve been able to
the curves in the road and Weyerhaeuser match up the habitat surveys the UNWC
would still have access.
has done with the fish presence surveys
Regrading the stream below the they’ve done and it shows that there are
passage, including the removal of a five more fish where the good habitat is. So
foot vertical fall, and placing woody we’re creating more of that type of habi-
and rocky debris in the stream bed, al- tat.”
lows sediment to flow naturally through
According to Long, the place-
the system, recreating the natural flow of ment of woody debris in the stream
the stream. In fact, McNulty says before helps the natural process of future wood
work started on the project, the pool be- recruitment and creates natural places
low the falls was filled with salmon try- for complex structures to catch more de-
ing to get upstream.
bris and form deep pools of water. “The
According to McNulty, not stream will find its own equilibrium,”
only does the project allow more adult says Long.
salmon to get upstream, it also pro-
This is not the end of the work
vides more summer refuge for juve- in Pebble creek--but only the beginning,
niles looking to find cooler water. “In according to Long. “We are starting at
the summer temperature is a big deal the top and will work our way down,
and they’re trying to get upstream to addressing limiting factors—things like
the cooler water--this will now allow habitat, passage, and sediment, through-
them up this side channel into this Ri- out the watershed over the next unknown
parian Management Area which is well number of years,” says Long. “One thing
shaded and will give them extra refuge that is really helping us out in this case
from the higher temperatures.”
is that Weyerhaeuser is the primary land-
The Oregon Forest Practice Act owner for most of the watershed.”
requires Weyerhaeuser to maintain
Weyerhaeuser owns approxi-
buffer zones on fish streams.
mately 50,000 acres in Columbia and
McNulty says projects like this Clatsop Counties, called the Vernonia
are not just beneficial for fish; they also Property. McNulty has worked on the
help the local economy. The contractor property for over ten years and will be
on the Pebble Creek project, Quality transferring to the Weyerhaeuser’s Snow
Excavation, is primarily forest and tim- Peak tree farm near Lebanon, OR. He
ber road construction and maintenance will be replaced by Dan Summers, who
contractors. During an economic has thirty years of experience.
downturn, salmon habitat construction
Peyton hopes the working rela-
projects provide work for contractors. tionship that the UNWC has developed
“We’ve lost a lot of contractors—a lot with Weyerhaeuser through McNulty
of them have gone out of business,” will continue after he’s gone. “I think
says McNulty. “When the housing Weyerhaeuser sees the benefit to con-
market turns around, we’re not going tinuing the restoration relationship with
to have the work force to come out and the UNWC,” says Peyton.
do this kind of work. That’s why we
