2C THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015 BROOKE DULING — North Coast Watershed Association Chris Farrar from the Nicolai-Wickiup Watershed Council and North Coast Watershed Association assesses the condition of the parking lot at Big Creek in Knappa. Local firms step up for Big Creek Project helps decrease erosion and enhance fish habitat and water quality The Daily Astorian KNAPPA — Local com- panies quickly responded in April when the North Coast Watershed Association need- ed help with a project to im- prove a public access site along Big Creek. The site off Old Highway 30 was worn out from heavy use and off-road driving and had a large mud puddle. The Nicolai-Wickiup Wa- tershed Council, a subcouncil of the North Coast Water- shed Association, received a $1,960 grant from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wild- life to overhaul the parking lot with new gravel and boulders. Vinson Brothers Construc- tion was hired for the project, but Teevin Bros. donated the boulders and Hampton Affili- ates donated the gravel. “The local companies were really helpful,” said Brooke Duling, the new watershed coordinator for the North Coast Watershed Association. “I was impressed with how generous they were for this project.” Filling the mud puddle and using boulders to protect vegetation from vehicles is expected to help decrease ero- sion and improve fish habitat and water quality along Big Creek. The parking lot at Big Creek in Knappa was transformed, using a $1,960 grant from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and donations from Hampton Affiliates and Teevin Bros. A mud puddle occupies the parking lot next to Big Creek in Knappa before work began to gravel the lot. Vinson Bros. was hired to gravel and place boulders in the Big Creek parking lots. FREE PUBLISHED THE FIRST FRIDAY OF EACH MONTH January 2015 ess in the Chronicling the Joy of Busin n Columbia-Pacific Regio striverbusinessjournal crbizjournal.com • facebook.com/coa Volume 10 • Issue 1 stry spo allenges Inside: Indu copes with ch Shellfish farm an conditions oce nging s optimistic despite cha tlight: Taylor remain Available at a newsstand near you NEWS County makes a splash PacifIc in the pot biz page 10 NEWS Seaside Muffler and Off-Road 21 revs up its reputation page BOAT OF THE MONTH The Sadie out of South Bend, Wash. page 24 crbizjou rn a l.com