Lowman, ID – A portion of the popular Landmark – Stanley Road (Forest Road 579) will be temporarily closed from July 25 through approximately August 9 at Tennessee Creek in the Bear Valley area to remove and replace two culverts. This project received a $43,000 grant from the Southwest Idaho RAC and will improve fish habitat and fish passage, and should also help avoid a likely blowout of the road in the future.
The Tennessee Creek culvert is located approximately 30 miles north of Lowman, ID within the Bear Valley Watershed. Tennessee Creek combines with Elk Creek, then flows approximately 0.9 miles before its confluence with Bear Valley Creek. In its current condition, the Tennessee Creek culvert requires annual maintenance to repair holes in the road, resulting from the crushing/failure of the culvert that is currently installed. Eventually, the culvert is expected to fail, likely during high flows in the spring runoff period, and complete failure of the road prism is likely to result. Replacing the culvert would eliminate the risk of the road prism failure at the site and the subsequent delivery of associated road bed materials into Tennessee, Elk, and Bear Valley Creeks.
The road will be closed approximately 0.1 mile west of the Bear Valley Campground to approximately 0.5 mile east of the Elk Creek Guard Station. The Bear Valley Campground and the Elk Creek Guard Station will be accessible during project implementation. The Deadwood Reservoir area can be accessed via the Bear Valley Road (Forest Road 582) and the Bearskin Road (Forest Road 563) or the Scott Mountain Road (Forest Road 555).
The road will be closed to all motorized access to provide for public safety and protection during construction. The two fish blocking culverts are being replaced with a concrete box culvert, which will restore fish passage further up the creek. Restoration of unimpeded fish passage will allow Chinook salmon, bull trout, steelhead, and other fish and aquatic organisms to access habitat in the upper reaches of Tennessee Creek.
Tennessee Creek just upstream of the road crossingThe new, open bottom concrete box culvert will allow fish passage to all age classes of fish species and also repair the hydrologic function of the stream at the crossing. This structure accommodates bankfull channel width and the design incorporates stream simulation with respect to channel alignment, gradient, and substrates. The replacement structure would also accommodate 100 year flood events and related debris flows.
The lower reaches of Tennessee Creek have the potential to serve as rearing habitat for ESA listed Spring/Summer Chinook salmon and steelhead. Bull trout, which are also a listed species, are present in the watershed. Tennessee Creek, along with all other streams in the Bear Valley Watershed are designated Critical Habitat for both Spring/Summer Chinook salmon and steelhead.
Forest Road 579 is under the jurisdiction of Valley County. The culvert replacement and the temporary road closure is a cooperative effort between the US Forest Service, Lowman Ranger District, the Valley County Roads Department and the Southwest Idaho RAC.
For more information contact the Lowman Ranger Station at 259-3361 or Jerry Robinson with the Valley County Roads department at 382-7195.
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