Lower Sycan River Restoration - Yainix Ranch
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Results of passive restoration efforts on Sycan River (photo by OWEB)
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The Sycan River, a tributary to the Sprague River and Upper Klamath Lake, is significantly degraded due to a number of historical management practices, including cattle grazing and 1950’s era channel engineering and government-sponsored vegetation removal. The area is critical habitat for the recovery of several threatened and endangered species, including Lost River and shortnose suckerfish, the redband rainbow trout, and the sandhill crane. The goal of the Yainix Ranch Project was to implement restoration on the ranch based on careful design of a rotational and seasonal grazing plan, aided by riparian fencing, and sustainable stocking rates aided by a conservation easement. An additional goal was to test and implement changes in cattle management that could be used across the Sprague Valley to restore riparian and wetland areas, while maintaining the agricultural economy. The Klamath Tribes, Sustainable Northwest, National Riparian Service Team, the Working Landscapes Alliance, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, NRCS, and OWEB are partners in the easement and restoration work.
The conservation easement on the ranch was purchased in 2004 and is held by the Klamath Tribes. It is an “affirmative obligations” easement that monitors the restoration and protection of aquatic, riparian, wetland, and upland habitats on the ranch. The easement partners wanted an easement that would serve as a model for building livestock-compatible programs on other ranches in the Klamath Basin and provide economic support to sustainable ranching. The easement derives its value from a cap on the number of cattle that may graze the properties, and includes measurable standards for ecological function and performance (monitored by Proper Functioning Condition assessments and Alma Winward’s riparian vegetation monitoring protocols).
Under the easement, riparian areas are managed to promote the re-colonization of native plants that stabilize the streambank, allow for the capture of sediments to rebuild and raise the river, narrow and deepen the channel, aid in maintaining low temperatures, and over time, help the river reconnect to its floodplain. The upland areas are managed to regenerate native vegetation, prevent erosion, and improve wildlife habitat for game birds, songbirds, and state-sensitive greater sandhill cranes. At the same time, the ranch will continue to function as a cattle livestock operation. The property owners have changed management to promote restoration of the property, including reducing stocking rates to a sustainable level (from 700-800 animals to 150-200 animals).
In less than four years of dormant season and flash grazing, and protection through electrical and wire riparian fencing, the riparian areas have responded with great speed, generating rhizomatous plants such as sedge and rush that stabilize banks, trap and filter out sediments, create meanders, and dissipate hydraulic energy and erosive forces. Willow has established itself across most of the reach, unaided by planting. Passive restoration, which requires significant knowledge and expertise in cattle management, appears to generate real results in short periods of time. Elements of the Yainix restoration design have been shared with landowners across the SpragueRiver Valleythrough the work of the Working Landscapes Alliance with the Klamath Basin Ecosystem Foundation and Klamath Watershed Council. Additional information is available at: http://www.cooperativeconservationamerica.org/story.shtm
Restoration of Lake Fringe Wetland Habitat for Endangered Fish at Goose Bay Farms – South Pasture
Restored wetland habitat at the South Pasture property (photos by The Nature Conservancy)
This project was part of an effort to restore approximately 6,000 acres of wetlands where the Williamson River exits into Upper Klamath Lake. The purpose of the restoration was to restore habitat for Lost River and shortnose suckers and rehabilitate the nutrient sink at the mouth of the river before it enters the lake.
This project was done at the Goose Bay South Pasture on the Williamson River Delta Preserve property owned by The Nature Conservancy. Prior to 1950, South Pasture was an emergent marsh wetlands connected to Upper Klamath Lake in Klamath County near the mouth of the Williamson River. Levees were created surrounding these wetlands so the site could be drained and used as pasture. The project removed portions of the levees and reconnected the hydrology between South Pasture and Upper Klamath Lake in 2004. Partners in the project included OWEB and the Ecosystem Restoration Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Reconnection of the South Pasture property has resulted in approximately 165 acres of additional rearing habitat for larval and juvenile suckers that out-migrate from the mouth of the Williamson River. At the same time the project is providing several hundred acre-feet of additional available water storage to Upper Klamath Lake. Monitoring results indicate that wetland vegetation is re-establishing across the site, and larval and juvenile suckers are utilizing the area as expected. It is anticipated that vegetation densities will increase in coming years and young suckers will continue to use the project area for rearing habitat.
Tecumseh Springs Channel Restoration
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| Channel condition prior to project. |
Restored channel after project completion. |
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Photos by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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| Map of the project area. |
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Located approximately 15 miles south of Crater Lake National Park near Fort Klamath, Oregon, Tecumseh Springs is a spring-fed tributary to Crooked Creek and the Wood River. Once considered high-quality habitat for redband trout and Endangered Lost River and shortnose suckers, it had since lost its riparian vegetation while the stream channel had become overly wide and silted-in, reducing the habitat quality.
Initiated in 2004, the project was designed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees at the Klamath Falls Ecosystem Restoration Office and was implemented using local contractors. Extensive soil lifts were constructed to narrow the channel and create a more natural pool and riffle instream habitat. Gravel was also imported to provide suitable spawning habitat and to maintain scour in pools. Backwater wetlands were also created and enhanced to provide rearing habitat for larval and juvenile fishes. As transplanted native sod is established and grows, it is expected that undercut banks will develop, stabilizing the new channel and providing further habitat.
Since construction was completed in October 2006, nine redds have already been observed where previously there were none. This project would not have been possible without the financial and logistical support of the adjacent landowners, as well as other partners including the Bureau of Land Management, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Klamath County Guides Association, and the Oregon Department of Transportation. Monitoring will continue for several years to measure the biological, hydrologic, and vegetative success of the project.
Upper Deming Creek Rehabilitation Projects 1997 - 2007
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| Before restoration work. |
Condition of obliterated road in 2006. |
Photos provided by the U.S. Forest Service.
Deming Creek, a headwater tributary in the Sprague River watershed of the Klamath Basin, is home to native bull trout and redband trout. The Klamath River Bull Trout Working Group (federal, state, and private entities) has been rehabilitating watershed processes and functions in the Deming Creek subwatershed for the last ten years. The two priority tasks in the upper portion of the subwatershed are 1) to reduce fine sediment contributions from streamside roads, and 2) to restore connectivity into the prime headwater spawning areas.
In 2003, six miles of road was obliterated and three road crossings were rehabilitated in the Deming Creek subwatershed to minimize chronic introductions of road related fine sediment. The project was funded with Ecosystem Restoration Office funds and implemented by the U.S. Forest Service
In 2006, funding was secured to replace an existing impassable culvert at the trailhead parking lot. A bridge will be constructed to facilitate year round upstream passage of all aquatic organisms into the headwaters of Deming Creek. Design work was completed in 2006 and should be ready for construction in 2007. Once the bridge is constructed, the high priority restoration actions in Upper Deming Creek will be completed.
In 1989, 1997, and 2005, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife conducted native fish surveys to determine population size and distribution. Population estimates for bull trout are steady with very similar numbers across the years. The distribution of redband and bull trout has increased since 1989 with additional downstream areas occupied in Deming Creek.
The 2005-2007 Biennial Report provides more information about accomplishments in each watershed basin.
Return to watershed basin map
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