Logging for fish
Crews topple trees to preserve river life along the Upper Calapooia
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Benny Westcott
Stream restoration team members, from left, Cris Salazar, Mark Villers and Collin McCandless inspect work done after trees were toppled into the Upper Calapooia River. Below, a truck carries a large winch used to pull trees into the stream.
Many river goers see fallen trees as a nuisance. But for juvenile winter steelhead, toppled timber can be a welcome addition to the aquatic ecosystem.
USDA Forest Service District fish biologist and hydrologist Lance Gatchell knows this. That's why this month he helped spearhead a project to down 10 Douglas fir trees into a half-mile stretch of the Upper Calapooia River.
He's lent his expertise to three similar undertakings over the last decade and a half, in Moose, Canyon and Soda Fork creeks. The purpose of this project, like the others, is to restore the stream ecosystem.
"We, as humans...
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