News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
A7
Fish habitat restoration underway on East Fork Beech Creek
Blue Mountain Eagle
Work on East Fork Beech
Creek is intended to improve
fish habitat and riparian system
health.
Forest Service biologists
have joined forces with the
Confederated Tribes of the
Warm Springs, Oregon Natu-
ral Desert Association, Grant
Soil and Water Conservation
District, private landowners
and livestock permittees to
restore riparian systems, and
the natural processes and func-
tions which keep them healthy
long into the future, accord-
ing to a press release from the
Malheur National Forest.
Permittees have been work-
ing hard to manage livestock
on the low-gradient areas of
East Fork Beech Creek, as ev-
idenced by the steady recovery
of riparian areas along this
creek. However, inadequate
water in these stream reaches
(a length of a stream or river)
continues to limit Endangered
Species Act listed fish recov-
ery. As Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife retired fish
biologist Jeff Neal described
it, a lot of fish spawn in the
gravels of the upper reaches,
but as the water dries up in the
summer, the little fish born in
this creek congregate in one
large pool, often dying as the
pool shrinks.
To accelerate fish habitat
recovery efforts and eventual-
BEFORE: East Fork Beech Creek showing a single-thread
channel with only large, embedded cobbles visible.
Contributed photos
Contractors install posts that will form the backbone of porous beaver dam analogues,
which will store water and cause deposition of gravels in East Fork Beech Creek.
ly get these fish de-listed, the
Forest Service and partners
are targeting streams that
provide critical habitat on
the Malheur National Forest,
starting with the low-gradient
(wide-valley) and connected
reaches. These areas provide
the greatest return in terms
of direct beneficial impacts,
such as raising water tables,
storing water across the adja-
cent floodplain and promoting
stream meandering, which
slows water velocity along
bends and deposits gravels
adult fish need for spawning.
Complementary
work,
such as tree-thinning in upland
forests within the Magone
planning area, is expected
to have beneficial influences
upon snowmelt volume and
timing, adding this and other
water sources to the system.
When this extra water reaches
the log jams and other struc-
tures being placed along East
Fork Beech Creek this sum-
mer, the water will be slowed,
dispersed across the newly
functioning floodplain — with
berms removed and historical
side channels reconnected —
and stored there for late-sea-
son use. Based on the success
of previous work, such as
the Camp Creek Headwaters
project last summer, biolo-
gists predict juvenile fish will
have access to more water for
much longer into the season,
increasing their survival rates.
The Forest Service ac-
knowledges the work may
look “messy and destructive”
in the short term. It may take
a few years before all portions
of the disturbed ground have
been revegetated, although
other portions of the reach
may see more rapid and vig-
orous vegetation response due
to higher water levels, wider
water distribution and the
deposition of sediment and
gravels that build up nutri-
ent-rich soils.
Full restoration may also
be enhanced by making the
area more attractive to bea-
vers. If beavers join East Fork
Beech Creek restoration ef-
forts, their dams would create
new pools, and help spread
and store water over new ar-
eas of the floodplain, further
stimulating riparian ecosys-
tem health and vigor.
Culvert replacement to close
forest road 2402 periodically
Grants
benefit
Grant
County
elk habitat
Blue Mountain Eagle
Blue Mountain Eagle
Contributed photo
A small portion of Olive Lake will be closed for dam and spillway work from Aug. 7 to
Oct. 1. The half-acre closure represents less than 1 percent of the 149-acre lake.
Small portion of Olive
Lake closed for dam work
Blue Mountain Eagle
Forest officials have
closed a small portion of Ol-
ive Lake on the North Fork
John Day Ranger District to
complete maintenance work
on the dam and spillway.
The closure went into ef-
fect Aug. 7 and will prohibit
boating and swimming with-
in the closure area, accord-
ing to a Forest Service press
release. Work will be inter-
mittent and is anticipated to
last until Oct. 1.
The area closed to public
entry is approximately one-
half acre and will be signed,
fenced and defined by a
string of buoys extending
from the dam into the wa-
ter about 200 feet to notify
swimmers and boaters of the
closure. The closure area is
located on the northeast side
of Olive Lake. The camp-
ground will remain open,
but sites near the dam should
be avoided. The hiking trail
in the vicinity of the dam
and spillway will be closed
during construction, but
boating and swimming are
still allowed outside the re-
stricted area. Currently less
than one percent of the 149-
acre lake surface area will be
affected by the closure.
For more information,
contact the North Fork John
Day Ranger District at 541-
427-3231.
Construction work on a
portion of Forest Service
Road 2402 at South Fork
Big Wall Creek will begin
this week.
The construction proj-
ect, which is located 25
miles northeast of Spray, is
a continuation of ongoing
aquatic restoration work
in the Wall Creek area.
South Fork Big Wall Creek
is a perennial cold-wa-
ter stream that is home to
Mid-Columbia River steel-
head and redband trout.
Henderson Logging will
replace the stream crossing
culvert at this location with
a new 14-foot wide bot-
tomless arch culvert that
will allow for improved
fish and aquatic organism
passage and larger stream
flow events to pass under
the road without causing
infrastructure
damage.
This bottomless arch cul-
vert is anticipated to last
40-50 years. The construc-
tion work will require that
a section FSR 2402 be-
tween FSR 2300 and FSR
2402060 will be period-
ically closed from Aug.
7-31 and will reopen once
work is completed. Closure
signs will be posted on
FSR 2402 at the junction
with FSR 2300 and on the
FSR 2402 at the junction
with FSR 2402060.
Henderson
Logging
will begin hauling heavy
equipment and supplies
in to FSR 2402 this week,
and construction activities
will be ongoing for several
weeks.
For more informa-
tion, contact the Heppner
Ranger District at 541-
676-9187. For more infor-
mation on the Umatilla Na-
tional Forest, visit fs.usda.
gov/umatilla.
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The Rocky Mountain
Elk Foundation awarded
$269,750 in grant funding
to assist with habitat stew-
ardship projects and elk re-
search in the state of Oregon.
The grants benefit 9,106
acres across Baker, Crook,
Douglas, Grant, Klamath,
Lake, Lane, Lincoln, Linn,
Morrow, Tillamook, Union,
Wallowa and Yamhill coun-
ties.
In Grant County, the
grants will provide fund-
ing to place radio collars on
five elk on the Phillip W.
Schneider Wildlife Area so
researchers can better un-
derstand elk migration from
winter to summer range in
order to guide future collar-
ing projects and management
decisions including harvest
timing and allocation; thin
encroaching conifers to im-
prove the health and vigor
of 240 acres of aspen habitat
bordering the southern edge
of Bear Valley south of John
Day on the Malheur Nation-
al Forest to benefit elk and
mule deer calving and fawn-
ing habitat as well as habitat
for an array of other species;
and prescribe burn 3,000
acres, followed by noxious
weed treatment on 100 acres,
of the project area in the
Heppner Game Management
Unit on the Umatilla Nation-
al Forest to improve forage
on late winter and spring elk
range.
Since 1986, RMEF and
its partners completed 856
conservation and hunting
heritage outreach projects
in Oregon with a combined
value of more than $56.9
million. These projects con-
served or enhanced 792,276
acres of habitat and opened
or improved public access to
90,703 acres.
Volunteers in Oregon
raised the funding by hosting
chapter banquets, member-
ship drives and other events.
AFTER: East Fork Beech Creek after a large wood log
jam was installed. The log jam will disperse water over
the floodplain and reduce water velocity.
Keith J. Thomas, MD, FACS
Board-Certified General Surgeon
(541) 575-1311
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