DESCRIPTION
The Lower White River Floodplain Rehabilitation project seeks to improve the health and function of approximately 700 acres of riparian and floodplain habitats on lands managed for conservation by the Chelan Douglas Land Trust and the WA Department of Fish and Wildlife. This phase will seek to develop forest and floodplain restoration scenarios and three preliminary designs. The designs and forest management plan will clearly identify limiting factors within this reach and develop specific restoration perscriptions. This effort will also help build community support and conscensus for future land management activities. The White River is a Category 1 watershed (UCSRB) and primary tributary to Lake Wenatchee contributing 25% of the flow to the Wenatchee River. The UCRTT identifies Floodplain and Riparian Restoration on the lower White River a Tier 1 priority habitat action. Salmonid presence in the White includes Spring Chinook and sockeye salmon, steelhead, cutthroat and bull trout. The White has one of the strongest remaining sockeye runs in the lower 48 states (also one of only two viable sockeye runs in the Columbia basin; USFS 1998m). Historic logging and agricultural practices have significantly altered the forest composition and floodplain hydrology in the Lower White. Many species benefit from healthy riparian zones and off-channel areas, and salmonids in particular could see a marked improvement in their habitat by implementation of some of the recommendations generat
The White River is a Category 1 watershed (UCSRB) and primary tributary to Lake Wenatchee contributing 25% of the flow to the Wenatchee River. The UCRTT identifies Floodplain and Riparian Restoration on the lower White River a Tier 1 priority habitat action. Salmonid presence in the White includes Spring Chinook and sockeye salmon, steelhead, cutthroat and bull trout. The White has one of the strongest remaining sockeye runs in the lower 48 states (also one of only two viable sockeye runs in the Columbia basin; USFS 1998m).
Historic logging and agricultural practices have significantly altered the forest composition and floodplain hydrology in the Lower White. Many species benefit from healthy riparian zones and off-channel areas, and salmonids in particular could see a marked improvement in their habitat by implementation of some of the recommendations generated from this effort.
The Lower White River Floodplain Rehabilitation project seeks to improve the health and function of approximately 1,000 acres of riparian and floodplain habitats on lands managed for conservation by the Chelan Douglas Land Trust and the WA Department of Fish and Wildlife. This assessment characterized historic, current, and future desired conditions for the lower White River and developed forest and floodplain restoration scenarios and three preliminary engineered designs. The designs and forest management plan target limiting factors within this reach and develop specific restoration prescriptions. This assessment will provide landowners the ability to manage their lands for the purposes they were originally intended - conservation.
