DESCRIPTION
This proposal requests funds to ensure that full habitat benefits are realized from past investments in high-priority salmon recovery projects by supporting stewardship at 7 past restoration sites. SRFB was the major funder of most of these past projects. Weed control, planting, and fencing in 2018 – 2020 will help ensure establishment of native riparian and floodplain plant communities, watershed function, and aquatic habitat on 67.5 acres along 4 stream miles on Reecer, Cowiche, Wilson, and Oak Creeks and the Cle Elum and Yakima Rivers. Stewardship areas were planted or seeded in 2016 and 2017. Maintenance on 11 miles of cattle exclusion fencing will protect riparian habitat by reducing sediment delivery, nutrient inputs, vegetation damage and soil compaction along 8.5 miles of the WF and NF Teanaway Rivers and tributaries, including Jack Creek. This proposal benefits all fish species and life stages in the Yakima Basin, including ESA listed Bulltrout and Mid-Columbia Steelhead.
Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group provided stewardship at seven restoration sites to achieve full habitat benefits from past investments in high-priority salmon recovery restoration projects. Previous grants funded native plant installation in riparian and floodplain habitat, and often weed control and watering over the following 1-2 years to support plant establishment. With arid conditions and intense weed competition, some sites in the Yakima Basin need two to five additional years of stewardship to become established. Stewardship work included weed control, re-planting unsuccessful plantings, and fencing to protect from herbivory. Overall this work helped establish native riparian and floodplain habitat with native plant communities that support watershed function and aquatic habitat on a total of 133.27 acres (73.27 riparian acres) along 8.26 miles of creek and 11.11 miles of creek bank. Individual stewardship sites were:
Jack Creek: Maintained 3.5 miles of cattle exclusion fencing along 2 miles (4 miles of creek bank) of Jack Creek to protect 56.1 acres of riparian habitat by reducing sediment delivery, nutrient inputs, vegetation damage and soil compaction. Livestock exclusion from riparian areas is part of a larger management plan to protect fish habitat along streams and rivers in the Teanaway Community Forest. Additional future work is necessary at this location to ensure continued protection of sensitive riparian areas surround Jack Creek. Funding for this work is secured through SRFB (20-1391) and other sources for 2021-2023.
Cle Elum R Side Channel: Replaced failed plantings in three separate sites to help restore 1.40 riparian acres along .80 miles of the Cle Elum River and adjacent side channels. Work at this project location is complete.
SF Oak Cr: Managed weeds along 3.05 road miles and 4.82 acres along a checkerboard of landownership. This treatment helped to protect riparian habitat along 3.05 miles of SF Oak Creek. Following treatment, this site has a much higher prevalence of native germinating bunchgrasses, and the objectives were achieved.
Billy's Pond: Managed weeds and replaced failed plantings likely caused by lack of irrigation and vole herbivory and maintained fence to protect 2.85 riparian acres from beaver and ungulate browse along .35 mile of the Yakima River. Prevented vole herbivory by removing landscaping fabric, installing herbivory cages, and planted deeply to ensure contact with the ground water table. Seeded 40 acres of floodplain with native bunchgrass and added shrub steppe species to the floodplain where there was inadequate native bunchgrass establishment. Additional work at this project location is necessary in the future to prevent non-native plant colonization and to successfully establish native riparian, upland, and shrub steppe species throughout the floodplain. Mid-Columbia Fisheries has successfully secured a stewardship contract with the City of Yakima to continue supporting revegetation efforts during the next five years.
Reecer Creek Floodplain Restoration: Managed weeds with focus on eliminating non-native herbaceous dicots and Salix fragilis (crack willow) and seeding and planting native bunchgrass on 4 acres of floodplain and 1.03 acres of riparian area along .85 miles of creek (1.7 miles of streambank). This site will continue to need active management to prevent the spread of non-native herbaceous weedy species, and MCF staff are actively working with the City of Ellensburg and volunteers to manage the weedy species at this project location.
Wilson Creek: Managed weeds, replaced failed plantings and watered within a 3.1-acre riparian area, and weed treatment of 10-acre floodplain, protecting .44 miles of stream. The riparian plantings are established and most of the floodplain area is weed-free. The bunchgrasses have come to dominate the site and provide substantial competition for other weedy species. Kittitas Environmental Education Network and MCF volunteers will support future stewardship efforts focused on continuing to establish native plants within the 100-ft buffer of Wilson Creek, eliminating remnant population of teasel and Russian thistle, and beginning to replace the reed canary grass within the riparian buffer with native trees and shrubs.
Lower Cowiche Creek: Treated weeds with herbicide and mechanical removal, and replaced failed plantings within a 1-acre riparian area along .77 miles of creek. This site will require minimal financial support during the 2022 growing season to eliminate non-native weed competition and to irrigate the newly installed plants. 2020 SRFB funds will be used to support this effort. Following 2022, this project location should be self-sustaining.
The work completed under this agreement benefitted all fish species and life stages in the Yakima Basin, including ESA-listed Bull Trout and Mid-Columbia steelhead.