Scott Swanson
A mile-long section of Canyon Creek has gotten work this summer that is expected to create enhanced fish habitat and help keep the stream within its historic channel.
On Friday, Oct. 5, an H-46 Sea Knight chopper operated by Columbia Helicopters of Portland picked up some 70 logs – full-length uprooted trees – and relocated them to strategic spots in Canyon and Owl creeks, about seven miles from Highway 20.
Lance Gatchell, aquatics program manager for the U.S. Forest Service’s Sweet Home Ranger District, said the project is expected to achieve three separate goals: stabilize the stream channel below the confluence of Owl and Canyon creeks, create scour pools that will provide cover for young fish and create spawning habitat.
Eric Hartstein, coordinator of the South Santiam Watershed Council, who co-directed the project with Gatchell, said the goal is to create a more stable stream, “so the creek doesn’t flop back and forth, and not a lot of pools are being developed that are too shallow.
H-46 Sea Knight helicopter lifts a log with a root wad from a pile in Canyon Creek for transport to another part of the streambed.
“We’re missing out on rearing habitat for juvenile fish,” he said. We need pools with cover. With these wood structures we’re hoping to get both of that. A stable stream would allow more riparian vegetation to grow, which will create more cover.”
To accomplish that and create the “catcher’s mitts” and “crash racks,” which essentially are 15- to 20-foot logs buried vertically along the shores of the creek, with other large logs placed horizontally in a slanted position to channel water away from the banks, Gatchell and Hartstein enlisted the help of Cascade Timber Consulting, which manages a good deal of the surrounding forestland.
The project was funded with a $160,000 grant from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board and $21,000 in Title 2 money, from federal timber payments to counties.
Also, Hartstein said, the U.S. Forest Service donated 120 mature trees that were dug up with their root wads intact and transported to the creeks.
Both said CTC was a critical player in getting the job done.
“Really, CTC was so critical to getting this work done,” Gatchell said. “This was done on their land and they pointed us to a local contractor, Haley Construction, that did a phenomenal job.”
He and Hartstein said Haley’s and Matt Bostrom’s expertise in creating the “catcher’s mitts” with excavating equipment was invaluable.
“Like how to get those logs out of the ground with rootwads on them, keep them long and get them where they needed to go – I was impressed,” Gatchell said.
Hartstein said CTC put a “phenomenal” amount of effort into the project, “from going out with us looking at sites to giving us ideas how to implement projects. They’ve been great.”
Gatchell said the stretch of channel in which the “catcher’s mitts” and helicopter-transported logs were placed is the worst in the creek. He said remnant stumps along the stream bed suggest that it once ran through a forest, that likely kept Canyon Creek much more stable than it is today.
“It’s a relic of past logging practices, but it’s also the result of geography in that area,” he said.
Surrounding the confluence of the creeks is a large deposit of gravel that is a product of the geographic layout of the area.
“It’s a really deep, big wedge of gravel that goes way up above the Owl Creek and Canyon Creek bridge,” he said. “It’s a historic sediment that’s accumulated over the years. It’s a pretty amazing place, actually.”
How long it takes for the stream to create the desired gravel deposits that will create more deep pools behind the “catcher’s mitts” will depend on the weather, Gatchell said.
“It could happen in one winter if we have serious flows like last winter. Things in rivers change the most during flooding events. They don’t change that much year to year. Scour pools will work during a normal year. But crash racks, where we’ve got it set up so the channel tries to flip over to the other side of the bar and the “catcher’s mitt” collects wood and rack up gravel behind it.”
Gatchell said the work that has been done since mid-August has already paid off.
Before logs were installed to create scour pools, “we didn’t see any fish up there at all,” he said.
“As soon as we did the excavation work, we saw fish jumping all over. Now you can find schools of six to 10 fish in those pools. I was amazed how it changed, in terms of number of fish.
He said that salmon fry can also be found in some pools.
Hartstein said there will likely be more wood added to Canyon Creek next summer, with the possibility of doing some of the same things in Soda Fork.
“Just about all the creeks around here could use additional wood,” he said. “We just have to prioritize where the best areas are to work on.”