During summer and fall 2009 and 2010, PGE, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and the Ochoco National Forest will invest about $35,000 to protect the fragile habitat around the Lower Whychus Creek Crossing. The creek, which runs near Sisters and joins the Deschutes River about 10 miles south of Lake Billy Chinook, is popular destination for campers and day trippers.

Lower Whychus Crossing, three river miles upstream from the Deschutes River, was once an encampment and popular hunting corridor for the Warm Springs Tribes. It is a beautiful, but sensitive place. Off-road vehicles have damaged shrubs and grasses along the stream, eroded stream banks and degraded creek habitat for spawning fish. When vehicles drive over the soft soil, they grind it to a fine powder that is unhealthy for salmon and steelhead fry.

In 2008 the Ochoco National Forest and the Crooked River National Grassland, in partnership with PGE and the Tribes, started a project to protect and restore the area. They defined areas off-limits to vehicle use. Camping areas were designated as walk-in only. Forest crews placed boulders as barriers to prevent vehicles from driving next to the creek. Unfortunately, many of these boulders have been moved or driven over and the problem remains.

At Whychus Creek, near Forest Road 6360, vehicles driving next to the stream have widened the road	In 2008, the Forest Service placed these boulders next to Whychus Creek to prevent vehicles from parking by the creek. Many of these boulders have since been removed. They will be replaced with larger boulders in summer and fall of 2009.

During summer and fall 2009 and 2010, crews will be placing even larger boulders around the site to keep vehicles off the sensitive creek side areas. They will also use boulders to block off illegal, user-created roadways. More signs will be posted to clearly indicate which areas are off limits to vehicles. Volunteer crews will plant willows, shrubs and native grasses along the creek side to shore up the unstable stream banks.

Whychus Creek is a unique and beautiful area that has been used pretty hard. It will take committed investment and support to restore the area, improve the habitat for fish and wildlife and re-establish the natural beauty of the canyon. “It took human intervention to disrupt the area and it will take human intervention to rehabilitate it,” says Kent Koeller, of the Ochoco National Forest. This investment will pay off with a scenic recreation resource and a thriving fish population that can be enjoyed for generations to come.

This project is one of many supporting projects to help restore fish passage on the Deschutes River. These efforts to rehabilitate fish habitat in the creeks and streams feeding into the Deschutes, Metolius and Crooked Rivers, are critical to the successful return of salmon and steelhead above the Pelton-Round Butte dams.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 11th, 2009 at 12:05 pm and is filed under Deschutes River & tributaries, Fish, Habitat restoration, Portland General Electric. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.