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About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2016)
18 Summer 2016 Applegater Restoration projects around the Applegate Watershed BY JAKOB SHOCKEY While clean water and fish are subjects people have fought and died over, the slow process of doing work in our valley to safeguard these treasures is less dramatic. I’d like to update you on what the Applegate Partnership and Watershed Council (APWC) has been doing over the past year. It’s good and honest work, and there have been a lot of people working alongside us. Our Thompson Creek Habitat Restoration Project has expanded into a second phase. We are currently working on nine properties, removing blackberries and other invasive vegetation from the riparian area and planting native trees and shrubs with funding from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB), Pacific Power’s Blue Sky Fund, and the Middle Rogue Steelheaders. We’ve worked with local crews from Lomakatski Restoration Project for tree planting and C&C Constructors for blackberry removal. On the first phase of this project, cattle trampled a section of plantings. Oregon Wildlife funded replacement plantings, and volunteers from the community, Southern Oregon Flyfishers, and the Middle Rogue Steelheaders helped put them in the ground this spring. We also worked with the US Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau Advertisers ! For rates and other information, contact: Ron Turpen 541-601-1867 ron.turpen@gmail.com Next deadline: August 1 of Land Management (BLM) to install root wads and logs into two areas that had severe erosion. On Butcherknife Creek, a tributary of Slate Creek, we received a grant from OWEB to design a replacement crossing for a culvert that is rotting apart and blocking fish migration. In collaboration with Cascade Stream Solutions, the BLM, and local residents, we’ve submitted a grant application to fund the installation of a bridge. We also received funding from OWEB to work with landowners on Forest Creek and Little Applegate River to address fish barriers. We are currently developing projects for those sites. On the Applegate River, we received funding through Title II (government funding for work on federal lands) to start riparian restoration at the BLM’s Provolt Seed Orchard. We recently finished removing more than 12 acres of blackberries from that site, and have applied for grant funds to expand this riparian restoration work at Provolt, Cantrall Buckley Park, and some private property in the Upper Applegate area. Near the mouth of Humbug Creek, we worked with the USFS and Good Earth Landscaping to remove a plug of gravel and reed canary grass that had accumulated under the Highway 238 bridge. In addition to reducing the capacity under the bridge, that accumulation caused the creek to go subsurface there, stranding and killing migrating fish. Students from Applegate Elementary School and volunteers from the Middle Rogue Steelheaders helped replant the streambanks with native trees and shrubs. The Middle Rogue Steelheaders, a local nonprofit group that promotes sports fishing, conservation, and angler education, helped plant trees on Iron Creek, where we worked with a landowner to install large wood for off-channel fish habitat and streambank stabilization. Finally, on upper Powell Creek, we worked collaboratively with the BLM and Blue Ridge Timber to yard in and place more than 120 logs in the creek for fish habitat. Over time, these logs will help create better fish habitat by slowing down the water and improving fine spawning gravel deposits, while also scouring pools on the downstream side for juvenile fish to spend their summer. Throughout these projects, our goal is to help restore and enhance a healthy watershed function. We use varied tools toward this goal, including riparian restoration, fish passage projects, in- stream habitat enhancement, and natural resource education. We a r e a s m a l l n o n p r o f i t organization, and all of our work is made possible through grants, private donations, and volunteers. We would especially like to thank the Middle Rogue Steelheaders, particularly Keith Miller, for their continued volunteer efforts and funding support. If you are interested in getting involved, go to our website at www.apwc.info, Facebook page, or Instagram to get more information on events, volunteer efforts, donating, or developing projects together. Or, if you just want to watch a movie together, join us for our annual summer film at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, August 10, at Red Lily Vineyards, 11777 Highway 238, Jacksonville. Jakob Shockey Restoration Program Manager Applegate Partnership and Watershed Council 541-890-9989 riparianprogram@apwc.info
