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Mission Statement and Overview
The Environmental Leadership Program’s 2016 Stream Stewardship Team worked in collaboration with the McKenzie Watershed Council and the U.S. Forest Service to assess riparian conditions at two restoration sites in the McKenzie
Watershed.
The first site our team visited was the Berggren Watershed Conservation Area (BWCA), the McKenzie Watershed Council implemented a restoration project. The project goal was to restore healthy riparian functions by reestablishing native plant species and controlling invasive species. Our team monitored vegetation composition and structure immediately after restoration.
The second site our team visited was the lower reach of Deer Creek, which is a headwater tributary of the McKenzie River. Deer Creek has seen reduced floodplain connectivity and function following timber removal and natural flooding events. The U.S. Forest Service will reintroduce large woody debris into the stream channel floodplain, with the goal of reconnecting Deer Creek to its floodplain and isolated side channels. This will increase size and function of critical aquatic habitat.
The work at each site has the aim of restoring and conserving fluvial systems that have seen significant disturbance from their historical condition. Both of these projects will support healthy and resistant aquatic systems in the McKenzie Watershed, demonstrating a smart and sustainable relationship between human beings, aquatic ecosystems, and fluvial processes.
