Project Completion Report .or.us



Project Completion Report

Mid Coast Watershed Evaluation and Restoration Project

OWEB Grant # 207-227

Lincoln Soil and Water Conservation District

Prepared By Christopher Wood and Mark Stone

PROJECT COMPLETION REPORT

MID COAST WATERSHED EVALUATION AND RESTORATION PROJECT

OWEB GRANT# 207-227

The Mid Coast Watershed Evaluation and Restoration Project (MCWERP) is a continuation of the work started by the Lincoln Hire the Fisher Program. Work has continued in cooperation with the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW), the Lincoln Soil and Water Conservation District (LSWCD), the Mid Coast Watersheds Council (MCWC), the United States Forest Service (USFS), other agencies and private landowners in gathering Aquatic Habitat Inventories, Spring and Fall Chinook Salmon spawning survey data, Coho Salmon spawning survey data and Steelhead spawning survey data. Data is collected under ODFW and Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) protocols and is included is the ODFW data base. This information is available to all agencies and individuals involved in watershed enhancement activities, and is part of the public record.

Public Outreach

Public outreach continues to be an important part of this project. Crew partnered with agencies, Watershed Basin Planning Groups and local schools, doing watershed presentations and demonstrating watershed function with the stream table provided by the Lincoln SWCD. One such opportunity was at the Hatfield Marine Science Center’s Sea Fest Festival that was held in June of 2008.

MCWERP crew frequently uses their field knowledge to provide information and locations of stream sites to LSWCD and Mid Coast Watersheds Council staff. We also make our library of collected data available to all agencies, researchers and any other interested parties. The data is compiled in binders and organized so as to be readily accessible to anyone who might need it.

Occasionally, calls come into the LSWCD office from property owners about situations of concern on their property or other issues in the watershed. MCWERP crew fields some of these calls and tries to answer questions or connect people with the individuals or agency that can best assist them with their needs. The MCWERP crew takes advantage of every opportunity to talk with property owners and others in the watershed about salmon habitat, restoration and other watershed issues. From requests for permission for access for survey work, to visits with folks met during surveys, our work provides an excellent chance to answer questions and promote the importance of watershed restoration. We invite people to participate in the Watershed Council process, and give them information on who to contact for further information on restoration projects for their own property.

Aquatic Habitat Inventory

Sites for Aquatic Habitat Inventory (AQI) were chosen in a cooperative effort with ODFW and the Mid Coast Watersheds Council. Selected sites were in places that had proposed or completed restoration activities.

This provides baseline data for long-term monitoring of projects and effectiveness monitoring of projects by documenting pre and post project habitat conditions. In addition to collecting AQI data, we also digitize and collate the data in preparation for analysis by ODFW staff at the Aquatic Inventory Project headquarters in Corvallis. Analyzed data is available in the Lincoln SWCD office and from ODFW where it is included in their database of the statewide Aquatic Inventory Project. Also all AQI data is entered into the GIS data base. Digitized copies of the raw data are filed with ODFW and are at the Lincoln SWCD office.

This year’s effort was confined solely to two parcels of land that were part of a mitigation process connected to the wreck of the New Carrisa off Coos Bay. The parcels of land were purchased and given to The Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians (The Tribe) to manage for Marbled Murelet habitat with the condition that ODFW has oversight over the management.

The parcels have two Salmon bearing streams within their boarders. One is Cedar Creek and the other is Reed Creek. Cedar Creek has Chinook, Coho, Steelhead, and Cutthroat trout. Reed Creek has Coho and Cutthroat trout and maybe possibly some steelhead. The Tribe, the United States Forest Service (USFS), ODFW and the Mid Coast Watersheds Council have partnered together to plan and implement a Large Wood Placement project in Cedar Creek. We were asked by the ODFW District Biologist of the Mid Coast district to conduct the pre project inventories of Cedar and Reed Creeks. This brought the Lincoln SWCD and OWEB into the partnership. The inventories have been completed and the digitization of the data will be completed this winter.

Aquatic Habitat Inventory Sites 12.46 mi.

Siletz Basin

Cedar Creek 9.80 mi.

Trib 21 Cedar Creek .76 mi.

Reed Creek 1.90 mi.

Adult Spawning Surveys

Four different species of Salmonids were monitored by conducting adult spawning surveys. The surveys monitor status and trends in Salmonid populations.

Spring Chinook surveys start off the survey season in mid September and go until about mid October. These are conducted on the Alsea and Siletz Rivers by floating approximately 20 miles of the Alsea and 14.5 miles of the Siletz.

Coho Spawn Surveys are next starting at the end of October and lasting until the end of January. These surveys are ODFW Random and Supplemental surveys generated by the Oregon Adult Salmonid Inventory and Sampling Project (OASIS) in Corvallis. They are walking surveys and usually are about one mile long.

Chum Salmon are surveyed on Bear Cr. in the Siletz Basin. This survey starts in late October and continues until about the first of December.

The fourth specie surveyed is Steelhead. These surveys are also generated by the OASIS project at ODFW in Corvallis. In the past MCWERP crew has assisted ODFW in pioneering work in establishing a group of base line sites for steelhead spawn surveys. These surveys are repeated every year. Crew has also located, marked, and surveyed other various sites in the Mid-Coast area for an ongoing steelhead monitoring program. They have also assisted ODFW with some new field techniques for Spawning Surveys. Lamprey Eel surveys are conducted simultaneously with Steelhead surveys.

Before conducting any surveys, an extensive search is performed to contact and obtain permission from any landowners whose land we might cross during the completion of a survey. We do this by looking up property tax lots on ARC View in the GIS system or by going to the Lincoln County Court House and looking up the Tax lots in the county’s system. The landowner is personally contacted by phone by one of the surveyors. At that time we obtain verbal permission for access from the landowner and log the time and date permission was granted. If there are many landowners on one side of the survey and one owner on the other, (possibly a timber company), we will try to get all the smaller landowners possible and the one larger landowner, then we have the entire survey covered on one side or the other. If one landowner owns both sides of the stream then we must get their permission to go thru, or else we have to go around that segment so as not to trespass.

At that time we also inform the landowner that any information that is gathered while conducting a survey on their land is part of the public record. We also ask if the landowner would like copies of the data or the results of any analysis of surveys that have been conducted.

We are very careful to respect the rights of landowners and have full disclosure of any information collected. To date we have not had any problems with any landowners contacted and sometimes they number in the hundreds.

All surveys use ODFW OASIS protocols and all data is sent to ODFW in Corvallis and a copy is kept at the LSWCD office. All Salmon surveys are done every seven to ten days and the Steelhead surveys are done every ten to fourteen days.

The results of this year’s Chinook surveys were somewhat disappointing to say the least. Chinook runs in all basins were down by at least 50%. Some basins like the Siletz were only about 30% of normal. The low abundance of Chinook was not only state wide but was coast wide as well. Chinook populations were down from Vancouver Island to San Francisco Bay. Coho and Steelhead abundance in the Mid Coast region was mediocre. Both runs were moderate in numbers.

ODFW once again had serious cutbacks in their Steelhead Survey budget. As a result of this there were only four people surveying Steelhead in the Mid Coast area, two people from ODFW in Corvallis and the MCWERP crew. As a result of this the Mid Coast District Biologist requested that we do the standard Steelhead surveys and a few random surveys, and let the Corvallis crew do the rest of the random surveys.

The Chum run on Bear Creek was also disappointing. Only six chum and five redds were counted. On the bright side though some of the streams we surveyed had record Eel runs.

Included as a supplement to this completion report are two attachments (A & B) containing graphs that show peak counts for Coho and actual counts for Steelhead in the streams that have been consistently surveyed every year from 1999 to the present. Both graph sets show population trends in the Mid Coast area.

Spring Chinook Survey 2007

Total 34.5 mi

Alsea River 20.0 mi

Siletz River 14.5 mi

Coho Adult Spawn Surveys 2007-2008

Total 17.98 mi

Siletz River

Drift Creek upper 1.00 mi

Drift Creek Lower 0.96 mi

Bear Creek 0.50 mi

Yaquina River

Beaver Creek 1.00 mi

Twenty Three Cr 1.04 mi

Bear Cr (Big Elk) 1.00 mi

Yachats River

South Fork Upper 0.33 mi

South Fork Lower 1.00 mi

School Fork 0.70 mi

Ocean Outfall

*North Beaver 8mi to 9mi 1.22 mi

North Beaver 9mi to 10mi 0.96 mi

South Beaver Creek 1.00 mi

Big Creek 0.83 mi

Vingie Creek 0.77 mi.

Devil’s Lake

Rock Creek lower 1.02 mi

Rock Creek upper 0.95 mi

Alsea Basin

Drift Cr 1.5 mi.

Salmon River Basin

Trout Cr lower 1.2 mi.

Trout Cr upper 1.0 mi.

* Standard Survey that was to be discontinued. We did this one at the request of ODFW’S Mid Coast District Biologist.

Steelhead Surveys-2008

Total 25.13 mi

Alsea River Basin

*Drift Creek 1.5mi

*Fall Creek Upper 0.82 mi

*Fall Creek Middle 0.49 mi

*Fall Creek Lower 1.30 mi

Arnold Cr 0.80 mi

Salmon River

*Trout Creek 1.00 mi

*Hatchery 0.25 mi

Siletz River

*Drift Creek upper 1.00 mi

*Drift Creek Lower 0.96 mi

*Cedar Cr 1.50 mi.

*Euchre Creek 1.00 mi.

North Roy Creek 0.51 mi

Yachats River

*Mainstem Float 8.00 mi.

*South Fork Lower 1.00 mi

*North Fork 1.00 mi

Ocean Outfall

*North Beaver 8mi to 9mi 1.22 mi

*North Beaver 9mi to 10mi 0.96 mi

Elk Horn 0.44 mi

Devil’s Lake

Rock Cr Upper 0.95 mi

Yaquina

Wright Cr Trib B 0.43 mi

* Standard Surveys done at the request of ODFW’S Mid Coast District Biologist.

Volunteer Effort

Unfortunately we did not have any volunteers to help in the completion of this project. Due to the nature of the survey work and the training required to carry out the surveys volunteer effort could not be used.

Participants Assisting in Completion of the Project

Many landowners both industrial and private contributed to our effort to complete this project. Some of the industrial timber companies that allowed us to survey on their lands include Plum Creek, Green Diamond, Forest Capital Partners, Weyerhauser, Starker Forests, Elk Horn Forestry and others. Permission to access Industrial Timber lands is critical to the execution of many of our spawning surveys and Aquatic Habitat Inventories. Without a good working relationship with industrial timber companies it would be nearly impossible to complete this project.

Also the number of private landowners that allow us access to their lands is quite large. Almost every survey that we do has one or more private landowners. Without their cooperation our project would be impossible to complete. Many of the Coho and Steelhead surveys have parts of them on private property and part on industrial timber property or State or Federal lands. Without the cooperation of all effected parties our data could not be accurate or complete.

Several agencies assisted us in the completion of this project. ODFW was a huge contributor to this project. They supplied training updates, AQI analysis, project coordination with spawn surveys, some survey supplies and expert advice for our many consultations. Some of the other participating agencies and organizations are as follows:

United States Forest Service, National Resources Conservation Service, Oregon Department of Forestry, Department of Environmental Quality, Hatfield Marine Science Center, Oregon State University and Mid Coast Watersheds Council.

Information for Evaluating Strengths and Weaknesses

It is critical in this type of project to have good relationships with landowners. Do not trespass. Always get permission before entering private property. When asking for permission to access private property always offer to share collected data and inform landowners that data collected on their property becomes part of the public record. Also communicate with project partners. Make sure you aren’t telling the landowner one thing while some other agency person is telling the landowner something else. Be sensitive to the landowner’s needs and questions. You are the direct link between some landowners and other agencies. Building a trusting relationship is extremely important.

Make sure that data collection protocols are consistent with widely accepted methods. Communicate regularly with the designers of the protocol and stay updated with any changes and upgrades. Methods and protocols can change from year to year. Make sure that efforts aren’t being duplicated. Attending annual training sessions is also very important.

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