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Inmate crews “con” logs to restore natural fish habitat

Upper Washougal River restoration moves ahead

Project anchors logs to create fish habitat

The Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group has anchored nearly 160 logs along the Upper Washougal River this year in an effort to restore natural fish habitat. Inmate crews from Larch Corrections Center work above Dougan Creek Campground earlier this week.

GREG WAHL-STEPHENS

The Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group has anchored nearly 160 logs along the Upper Washougal River this year in an effort to restore natural fish habitat. Inmate crews from Larch Corrections Center work above Dougan Creek Campground earlier this week.

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GREG WAHL-STEPHENS

Logs have been fastened to the Upper Washougal River in recent years using a variety of methods, including bolts and chains and a binary glue.

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GREG WAHL-STEPHENS

Glenn Saastad, a project coordinator with the Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group, says the third phase of the group’s Upper Washougal River restoration should wind down by fall.

Just below the popular swimming spot known as Naked Falls, the Upper Washougal River navigates an unusual landscape. About a dozen logs, bark mostly stripped, lie fastened to the river’s bare rocky bed in a seemingly random arrangement.

Glenn Saastad doesn’t see it that way.

Standing in the middle of the low-running river this week, Saastad looked into the future. He described a mix of natural gravel — perfect for salmon spawning grounds — among sediment gathered on each side. He saw slow-moving pools of water formed behind the logs. He saw riparian plants dotting the river’s path.

All of that could take five years or more to materialize. But it’s part of a carefully planned, fish-friendly vision that the Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group has worked from to transform the Upper Washougal since 2004. The third stage of the sweeping project — already starting to see results — is set to finish by this fall.

“We’re not doing anything that Mother Nature wouldn’t have done,” said Saastad, the project coordinator. “We’re just doing a sped-up version.”

Leading the effort is Tony Meyer, executive director of the group for the past 10 years. The $800,000 project has covered about five miles of the river so far, he said, mostly where impacts to roads and residents is minimal. Many other parts of the Upper Washougal could use some help as well, he said.

“The area we’re addressing is actually quite small,” Meyer said.

River ‘scoured out’

Logs are the main tool the project uses to restore complex natural habitat to the Washougal River. They’re also the main reason it was wiped out in the first place.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the logging industry functioned under a very different set of rules than it does today. Back then, loggers used “log drives” to move timber by building dams, then sending a torrent of water and felled trees down the river. The process also carved away many of the natural features fish depend on, Saastad said.

“All life is basically scoured out,” he said.

By putting fixed logs back in the river, the fish enhancement group is creating a system of anchors that collect gravel for spawning beds and add complexity to the flow of the river. In the high-flowing winter and spring months, the logs are submerged in water while that process takes place. Saastad hopes they’re eventually buried by natural ground cover in a new landscape.

Just as important are the changes in flow that result from the added terrain, Saastad said. Forming pools behind logs gives fish a respite from water current as they work their way upstream to spawn, he said.

“They need cover,” Saastad said. “They need those pools and those holes so they can make that trip. It’s a grueling trip.”

The goal of restoration remains the same, but the methods used in the project have evolved over the years. Crews have used everything from chains and bolts to a binary glue to attach logs to the river bed.

Not everything has worked. Smaller logs fastened early on have since begun to rot, Meyer said. The group even tried setting down boulders at first, he said. Turns out, they didn’t last very long.

“The river just pushed the boulders out,” Meyer said. “Just pushed them on down the river.”

Most of the logs used now measure more than 60 feet long, and at least a few feet in diameter. They’re fastened strongly enough to withstand a 300-year flood event, Saastad said. Actually attaching them are inmate crews from the Larch Corrections Center.

Bolting logs to a river bed isn’t a typical strategy for habitat restoration. Meyer said it started with his fish enhancement group before being tweaked in recent years.

“It’s a pretty new, innovative approach,” said Dave Howe, a regional habitat program manager with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The condition of the Upper Washougal leaves no other choice, Howe said. With the river bed scraped completely down to bare rock, bolting and attaching log jams is the only way to get the features to hold, he said.

The unique project navigated several layers of review from various jurisdictions before taking off. It wasn’t always an easy sell, Meyer said.

The group now works closely with those agencies, and has found favor as it works a wide variety of projects stretching from the Bonneville Dam to the Washington Coast.

“The Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group is really one of the key restoration entities here in Southwest Washington,” Howe said.

Seeing results

In just a few short years, the project has produced noticeable changes to the Upper Washougal River, but not always what Meyer and Saastad had envisioned.

Some spots haven’t replenished gravel cover as fast as anticipated. Other spots, like one log jam near Dougan Creek Campground, have piled up much more than expected at a narrower portion of the river. Crews are now working about 20 miles upstream from Washougal.

“You have to kind of picture it in your head,” Saastad said of the planning process. “You don’t always get the result you expect.”

The work is always at the mercy of the weather. Crews operate in a short time window that only lasts from about July until October, Saastad said. By then, the river level comes back up and makes work impossible.

The Fish Enhancement Group has put close to 160 logs into the Upper Washougal this year. Next year likely won’t be as ambitious, Saastad said, but the group hopes to get a couple more years’ work out of its grant from the state Salmon Recovery Funding Board, even as Phase 3 winds down this fall. For a group that relies heavily on state and federal grants, making dollars last is key, Meyer said.

The Upper Washougal work has produced results so far — Saastad and Meyer said they’ve already seen increased salmon activity that wasn’t there several years ago.

The project is also unquestionably aggressive, reshaping the river in a short time period. But Saastad shrugs at the notion that it’s too heavy-handed.

“I don’t think it’s heavy-handed enough,” Saastad said. “The salmon are basically going to die off unless we do something.”

See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the industry leader and only science based, man made and artificial fish habitat, proven to provide all fish with cover they prefer to prosper.

eric.florip@columbian.com.

Effort to save Columbia River salmon becomes an unexpected bird battle

Trouble in seabird paradise

A government effort to save Columbia River salmon becomes an unexpected bird battle, forcing scientists to consider a flock of new questions and options after nature shows its unpredictable side.

Thousands of these double-crested cormorants have settled on East Sand Island in the Columbia River, helping to turn what was supposed to be a peaceful home to a large, relocated colony of Caspian terns into a salmon-gobbling war zone of sorts in the battle to protect threatened fish.

 Thousands of these double-crested cormorants have settled on East Sand Island in the Columbia River, helping to turn what was supposed to be a peaceful home to a large, relocated colony of Caspian terns into a salmon-gobbling war zone Continue reading “Effort to save Columbia River salmon becomes an unexpected bird battle”

Dredging for fish habitat starts in Montgomery County

Montgomery County’s Pandapas Pond to be closed temporarily next month

By Mary Hardbarger | The Roanoke Times

Montgomery County’s Pandapas Pond is scheduled to be temporarily closed to the public for two weeks next month as workers plan dredging to enhance fish habitat and fishing opportunities.

The Forest Service/U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to begin work on the pond in early September. The pond will be closed Sept. 14 to Sept. 28 to the public, depending on weather conditions.

Trails closest to the pond will also be closed due to the work, but other trails on the property will remain open.

The project comes after years of sediment build-up in the pond, a popular destination for fishers and families.
According to Jesse Overcash, wildlife biologist, this will be the first time the pond has been dredged.

“We’ve been wanting to do this for a long time,” he said.

When sediment builds up, water becomes shallower and warmer, hurting the habitats for some species, such as the rainbow trout the pond is stocked with, Overcash said. Warmer water also creates an environment where invasive plants can thrive.

Overcash said the pond is very shallow in some parts, which “reduces the ability, especially for kids, to have meaningful fishing.” The shallowest parts of the pond are less than two feet, Cash estimated.

The dredging process will require the lowering of the pond level 5 to 6 feet prior to excavation. Once the water level is lowered, the exposed shoreline will need to dry before the dredging begins. After the drying process, the pond will close to the public while heavy equipment removes the soil. The sediment will be taken to a spot a few miles away on National Forest land to dry, Overcash said.

The project is being funded by National Forest Wildlife and Fish habitat improvement money, Overcash said.
Future improvements to the pond also include the installation of a new fishing pier and improvements to the pond’s banks.

.See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the industry leader and only science based, man made and artificial fish habitat, proven to provide all fish with cover they prefer to prosper.

Climate Change May Drive Native Fish from Wis. Waters

 Cisco, a forage fish, may disappear as waters warm
Cisco, lake herring, fish_20110822163837_JPG

Photo credit: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

 
MADISON, Wis. – A study conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison says that climate change is threatening a native fish found in the state’s deepest and coldest bodies of water, and researchers warn the population may drop by up to 70 percent within the century and affect fishing in the state. Continue reading “Climate Change May Drive Native Fish from Wis. Waters”

Essential Fish Habitat Funding Received

Alaska spends about $500,000 on approximately 10 projects a year for fish habitat and related work. Improvements of habitats are Continue reading “Essential Fish Habitat Funding Received”

Fish Habitat Benefits From More Than $3 Million In Funding For 2011

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will provide more than $3.4 million to support 84 fish habitat projects in 38 states across the nation under the National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP). An additional $9.8 million Continue reading “Fish Habitat Benefits From More Than $3 Million In Funding For 2011”

11 projects which will receive more than $214,000 in funding for 2012.

Ravalli County projects to receive $214,000

Posted: Aug 15, 2011 4:09 PM by Mark Holyoak (KPAX News)
Updated: Aug 15, 2011 6:40 PM

Hamilton- The Ravalli County Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) approved 11 projects which will receive more than $214,000 in funding for 2012. All of the projects will benefit National Continue reading “11 projects which will receive more than $214,000 in funding for 2012.”

More money for the fish!

Official outlines budget for Lake Mitchell

The city of Mitchell will continue to invest in projects in and around Lake Mitchell in 2012.The city of Mitchell will continue to invest in projects in and around Lake Mitchell in 2012.

Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department Director Dusty Rodiek outlined approximately $80,000 in lake projects Tuesday Continue reading “More money for the fish!”

STATE FACT SHEETS AVAILABLE NOW FOR STATUS OF FISH HABITATS REPORT

Below are links to statefact sheets,

associated with The release of the National Fish Habitat Action

Plan Report;THROUGH AFISH’S EYE:

The Status of Fish Habitats In The United States 2010.

These Fact sheets provide an important picture of the challenges and opportunities
facing fish and those engaged in fish habitat conservation efforts. Continue reading “STATE FACT SHEETS AVAILABLE NOW FOR STATUS OF FISH HABITATS REPORT”

The Tribe has been duped……

Conservation Futures funds should be used for conservation, not urban parks

August 9th, 2011

If this is how money will be doled out, then the Tribe has been duped into Continue reading “The Tribe has been duped……”

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