Restoring Residency for Local Fish
A collaborative stream restoration project in the West Fork Cow Creek Watershed
West Fork Cow Creek
The West Fork Cow Creek Restoration Project is a success story of state, federal, Tribal, and private landowners coming together to provide habitat for native fish species in Southwest Oregon. This project is unique in its combination of a project area in need of restoration, cooperative and supportive stakeholders, and funding sources which allowed the work to be put into motion. Spanning over 160 miles of streams, this initiative is providing improved habitat for salmon, steelhead, and lampreys as well as other native aquatic species.
Tribal History
Why Here, Why Now?
In the early 2010’s the Medford, Oregon BLM District identified the West Fork Cow Creek Watershed as having some of the highest intrinsic potentials of any watershed in the district. After some GIS assessments and field data collection, the BLM was able to secure funding for a couple of miles of instream restoration to improve the Coho Critical Habitat.
This funding, combined with logs salvaged from the 2013 Douglas Complex Fire provided a lot of material for restoration. The BLM was able to use the secured funds as leverage to develop partnerships to get more restoration work done in the area.
Up to this point, very little restoration work has been completed in the area, prompting an overdue need to serve this ecosystem. In addition to the watershed's high intrinsic potential, it is an ideal restoration location because it is remote in nature with very little downstream infrastructure. The watershed is shaped by rugged terrain with steep valley bottoms and flat upper reaches which create great fish habitat, provided the fish can access it.
The organizations that have helped plan, design, implement, and champion this project are The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, Partnership for the Umpqua Rivers (PUR), Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL), Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, Medford District Bureau of Land Management, and private timber companies. Each of these stakeholders has its own set of values and unique expertise which has led to comprehensive project designs which meet the goals of all parties involved.
As a result of this location's need, the West Fork Cow Creek Watershed Restoration Collaborative was started in 2015. The first projects implemented in Panther Creek and East Fork Elk Valley Creek were finished in 2016. With the idea that restoration work would be completed throughout the whole watershed, project partners quickly realized the need to establish a prioritization plan for the remaining potential projects.
The Plan
The Work
The goal of the restoration work is to return the creeks to their natural condition. Impacts from historic logging practices, fires, and invasive species have removed much of the structure and complexity that make for good fish habitat.
By adding log structures and boulders we hope to jump-start the natural process that creates fish habitat. The structures will alter the hydrology so that pools will be created, spawning gravels will be aggraded, and increase complexity within the system by adding sinuosity and reconnecting side channels and flood plains.
We have a number of tools in the tool belt to accomplish these goals with various amounts of impacts on the landscape. The simplest and most cost-effective is cutting trees from the riparian and dropping them right in the creek.
Another method available to us is using specialized logging equipment that has been adapted to use a cable and pulley system to pull cut logs into place or pull whole trees over into the creek. A third method that has minimal on-the-ground impacts but is a bit less cost-effective is helicopter placement of cut logs. And lastly, using an excavator to place logs or boulders into position.
Projects completed to date
Bolivar Bridge
The West Fork Cow Creek at Bolivar Creek culvert replacement project has been one of the larger undertakings in the watershed and has truly been a collaborative effort. This project located on Forest Service land included the Rogue River - Siskiyou National Forest, the Cow Creek Umpqua Tribe, PUR, and ODFW as partners.
During the initial surveys of the watershed, this culvert was determined to be a barrier to upstream passage for adult salmonids making the replacement of the culvert a key recovery action for Coho in the Oregon Coast ESU (Evolutionarily Significant Unit). After funding was secured through PCSRF, designs were drawn up. Despite some initial delays in getting this project started, including COVID-19 virus, this project was completed in September of 2021.
Target species for this project include Oregon Coast coho, winter steelhead, Pacific lamprey, resident trout, and other native fish species. Upon completion of this project, access to an additional 3.4 miles of winter steelhead habitat and approximately two miles of coho habitat was opened up, both of which are culturally significant species for the Tribe.
Below are examples of the before and after the completion of this project.
The work accomplished is an example of how partners can work together to benefit salmon. Through the strategic and innovative collaboration process, the partners were able to accomplish a win-win project for land managers and fish. The Tribe was able to provide the funding and project management, PUR provided the technical expertise and engineering for project designs, and the Forest Service was able to provide staff time for engineering review, fish salvage, coordination with other agencies, permitting, and project oversight. Regardless of the individual roles the partners played, the bottom line is that everyone was dedicated to the success of the project.
Future Restoration
Despite a large amount of work completed to date in the watershed, there is still plenty more to do. Some designs have already been drawn up for Gold Mountain Creek and Goat Trail Creek, however, funding sources need to be secured before plans can begin.
In 2017 the USDA and Oregon State University conducted beaver surveys throughout the watershed to gather information on location and habitat that would prove useful for this project. In 2021, The Tribe conducted more presence/absence surveys in the main stem West Fork Cow Creek to further determine fish distribution. The information gathered from these surveys will aid project partners in identifying the next areas to focus on in the next spring meeting. At that time, partners will evaluate what is left on the watershed prioritization.
The West Fork Cow Creek Restoration Collaborative has so far been a success. In an attempt to focus restoration efforts for a whole watershed, from ridge top to ridge top, this group of stakeholders proves that when we come together for a common goal and work together for the benefit of aquatic species in the Pacific Northwest, both fish and land managers can win.
Project Funding
None of these projects could have been completed without funding from state and federal agencies. The West Fork Cow Creek Collaborative and the projects highlighted here have come from partners like the BLM and Forest Service and through grants secured from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board and the Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund.