Project Grant F26AP00030

PREVIOUS WESTERN NATIVE TROUT INITIATIVE (WNTI) FUNDING (2017, 2019, AND 2020) WAS AWARDED TO THE LOWER DEEP CREEK FLOODPLAIN RESTORATION PROJECT AND THE GREATER WILLIAMS PRAIRIE RESTORATION AREA (GWPRA). BOTH PROJECTS ARE KEY COMPONENTS IN THE ONGOING RESTORATION OF THE UPPER NORTH FORK CROOKED RIVER WATERSHED (UNFCR). TO ACCOMPANY WATERSHED SCALE RESTORATION, SEVERAL OTHER PROJECTS ARE ONGOING AND PLANNED. AN ONGOING PROJECT IS THE GRAY PRAIRIE/ GRAY CREEK RESTORATION, WHICH IS A PART OF THE ALL HANDS, ALL BRANDS PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM. GRAY CREEK SUBWATERSHED IS IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT TO THE GWPRA AND IS ONE OF THE LARGEST PERENNIAL HEADWATERS TRIBUTARIES TO THE UPPER NORTH FORK CROOKED RIVER. THIS SUBWATERSHED LIES WITHIN A USFS REGION 6 TERRESTRIAL RESTORATION AND CONSERVATION STRATEGY (TRACS) PRIORITY AREA. IT IS ALSO IN AN OREGON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE BEAVER EMPHASIS AREA. OTHER ONGOING/PLANNED PROJECTS TO BENEFIT REDBAND TROUT INCLUDE RESTORATION ON HAPPY CAMP CREEK, JACKSON CREEK, AND DERR MEADOWS. THE PROJECT AREA HAS AN EXTENSIVE DISTRIBUTION OF REDBAND TROUT, A REGIONAL FORESTER?S SENSITIVE SPECIES AND WNTI PRIORITY SPECIES, AND IS LOCATED UPSTREAM OF A GENETICALLY SIGNIFICANT STRONG-HOLD POPULATION. COLUMBIA SPOTTED FROGS AND SILVER BORDERED FRITILLARY, BOTH SENSITIVE SPECIES, ARE PRESENT IN THE AREA. BEAVER POPULATIONS ARE EXPECTED TO BE RECRUITED INTO THE PROJECT FROM NEARBY.

HISTORICALLY, GRAY PRAIRIE HAD BEAVER INFLUENCE AND A DENSE WILLOW AND SEDGE RIPARIAN COMMUNITY. GROUNDWATER SATURATED FLOODPLAINS PROVIDED HYPORHEIC EXCHANGE AND WATER RETENTION, PROVIDING PERENNIAL COLD-WATER. THESE HEADWATERS MEADOWS PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN RESISTING STREAM TEMPERATURE AND BASEFLOW CHANGES DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE. CURRENTLY THE MEADOW IS HEAVILY INCISED, WITH UPLAND GRASSES AND SAGEBRUSH DOMINATED TERRACES. INSET FLOODPLAINS ARE NARROW AND MEADOW SATURATION IS MINIMAL. SEDGES ARE LIMITED TO STREAMBANKS AND WILLOW ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN. WATER RETENTION IN THE MEADOW IS FAR BELOW POTENTIAL. LOW-TECH, PROCESS-BASED RESTORATION (LTPBR) TECHNIQUES WILL BE THE PRIMARY METHOD OF RESTORATION. THESE TECHNIQUES USE ON-SITE SOURCED MATERIALS, ARE COST EFFECTIVE, AND PROMOTE NATURAL HYDROLOGIC AND BIOLOGIC FUNCTIONS TO RESTORE WATER TABLES, FLOODPLAIN CONNECTION, AND RIPARIAN PLANT COMMUNITIES. THEY ALSO ENCOURAGE THE EXPANSION OF EXISTING BEAVER COLONIES, EFFECTIVELY RECRUITING NATURES RESTORATION PRACTITIONERS. LTPBR HAS BEEN SHOWN TO IMPROVE WATER QUALITY, INCREASE RETENTION, AND BUFFER WATER TEMPERATURES, ALL OF WHICH ARE CHALLENGES FOR REDBAND TROUT. A KEY COMPONENT OF LTPBR IS ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT. LTPBR RELIES ON NATURAL CHANNEL EVOLUTION PROCESSES TO RESTORE PROPER FUNCTION, THUS THERE IS A NEED TO RESPOND TO ANNUAL FLOW EVENTS AND CHANGES TO THE PROJECT.

REQUESTED FUNDS WILL BE USED TO CONTRACT THE HIGH DESERT CONSERVATION CORPS (AN AMERICORPS CONSERVATION CREW COMPRISED OF LOCAL YOUTH AGES 17-24) TO CONDUCT ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT FROM FALL OF 2025 THROUGH 2026. OUTCOMES FROM THEIR EFFORTS WILL INCLUDE 3.4 STREAM MILES RESTORED OR ENHANCED, 2 STREAM MILES RECONNECTED OR REOPENED, 41 ACRES OF WETLANDS RESTORED OR ENHANCED. SERVICE WILL BE COMPLTED BY ROUGHLY 40 PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS AND 80 VOLUNTEERS THROUGH THE ALL HANDS, ALL BRANDS FOR PUBLIC LANDS EVENTS. FUNDS WILL FILL A CRUCIAL WORKFORCE CAPACITY SHORTFALL AND ENSURE LONG-TERM PROJECT SUCCESS.