TILLAMOOK – Nearly a decade ago with coastal coho spawning populations at critically low levels, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife identified Cruiser Creek in the Tillamook Forest as prime coho spawning habitat and in need of habitat restoration as part of an overall plan to improve salmon populations along the Oregon coast.

This week, members of an unusual partnership of private, non-profit and local, state and federal organizations will be at the North Fork Trask River tributary to guide placement of in-stream habitat structures and the removal of fish migration barriers.

By the end of August , the $300,00 Cruiser Creek project will have replaced three culverts to allow fish access to an additional 1.5 miles of habitat, restored 1.5 miles of instream habitat using log and boulder structures, decommissioned 3.2 miles of forest road, and enhanced 20 acres of riparian area. The goal is to boost the amount of habitat for coho, steelhead, chinook and cutthroat trout; enhance salmonid spawning and rearing areas; reduce sedimentation; and increase riparian diversity and future large wood recruitment.

“The Cruiser Creek project is an innovative effort,” said Bob Gustavson, a forester with the Oregon Department of Forestry in Tillamook. “Partnering allows us to efficiently improve a significant area of critical salmon habitat. The economy of scale we will achieve with this project would not be possible without the partnerships we have created in the local community.”

The partnerships began with multiple organizations listing Cruiser Creek as a priority for restoration: the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, ODF and ODFW included it in the 2003 ODF/ BLM Trask River Watershed Analysis, Tillamook Estuaries Partnership wrote it into the Trask Watershed Assessment and the Tillamook Bay Watershed Council identified the creek in the Trask Watershed Action Plan. In addition, the project area is identified as a Tier 1 Key Watershed in BLM’s District Resource Management Plan, as Salmon Anchor Habitat in ODF’s Northwest Forest Plan, and is considered a high priority restoration site in ODFW’s North Coast Stream Project Guide. All of these efforts play a part in the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds, the state’s plan for salmon recovery and watershed health.

ODFW biologists will monitor the project site after work is completed to measure the changes in habitat and begin looking for associated fish use. Juvenile fish currently in the area will likely be drawn to the new sites for the protection and insects provided by the added logs. Log structures provide cover for juveniles to hide from predators. They also trap gravel suitable for spawning nests and catch smaller debris that increases the food base for juvenile salmon.

"This project is an exam ple of multi ple partners working together to achieve com prehensive watershed restoration. This project addresses in-stream habitat restoration, fish passage, ri parian area enhancement, and u pland issues such as roads," said Dave Plawman, ODFW fish habitat biologist working with ODF.

The Tillamook Estuaries Partnership coordinates the efforts among all of the partners including on-the-ground activities undertaken by BLM and ODF. “One of our key functions is to put projects on the ground by bringing together partners and leveraging those partnerships into implementation funds,” said Mark Trenholm, TEP Executive Director.

The Tillamook Bay Watershed Council assisted in obtaining grant funds and will be responsible for education and outreach activities associated with the project. Direct funding and in-kind contributions came from ODF, BLM, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, and the Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership/NOAA Restoration Center.

 

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Informational contacts:

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife: Dave Plawman (503) 842-2741

Tillamook Bay Watershed Council: Denise Lofman, (503) 322-0002

Tillamook Estuaries Partnership: Rachel Hoffman, (503) 322-2222