DESCRIPTION
This proposal is for a design-build grant which will be used to design and install wood and
habitat structures within a section of the Lower Ohop Restoration project area. The project area
for this proposal will be from Highway 7 downstream to the terminus of the prior Phase III
restoration project area, near the boundary of Nisqually Land Trust and State Park lands. The
goal of the wood and habitat structure supplementation project is to improve salmon habitat and
stream processes within the restored creek channel through the strategic placement of logs and
habitat structures such as beaver dam analogs, post-assisted log structures, or similar
elements. Lower Ohop Creek has suffered from incision, disconnecting the channel from its
floodplain. It is anticipated that the supplemental structures will improve the quality and quantity
of in-stream salmon habitat by increasing woody cover, improving sediment retention,
increasing channel complexity, improving water storage, promoting conditions favorable to
beavers, and other functions.
Transport and placement of the proposed logs might be achieved by either land based
equipment, such as trucks and excavators, or by the use of helicopters. Logs may be obtained
from a number of different sources; however preferred sources would come from locations
within the Nisqually watershed, for example the Nisqually Community Forest, La Grande or
Alder dams, and other local sources. Under this proposal we will assess the feas
This proposal is for a restoration field-fit grant which will be used to design and install wood and habitat structures within a section of the Lower Ohop Restoration project area. The project area for this proposal will be from Highway 7 downstream to the terminus of the prior Phase III (PRISM# 13-1144) restoration project area, near the boundary of Nisqually Land Trust and State Park lands. The goal of the wood and habitat structure supplementation project is to improve salmon habitat and stream processes within the restored creek channel through the strategic placement of logs and habitat structures such as beaver dam analogs, post-assisted log structures, or similar elements. Lower Ohop Creek has suffered from incision, disconnecting the channel from its floodplain. It is anticipated that the supplemental structures will improve the quality and quantity of in-stream salmon habitat by increasing woody cover, improving sediment retention, increasing channel complexity, improving water storage, promoting conditions favorable to beavers, and other functions. Primary salmonid species benefiting from this project are: Nisqually winter Steelhead juvenile rearing, Nisqually winter chum juvenile rearing, Coho juvenile rearing, Fall Nisqually Chinook juvenile rearing, odd year Pink spawning and juvenile rearing, rainbow trout and cutthroat trout.