TUC Brings New Life to Four Mile Creek with the Help of Volunteers-Riparian restoration work has started for the TUC team! The team got busy on the Four Mile Creek project in early May, harvesting and processing willows to be used in bioengineering to improve riparian health on site. Off-highway vehicle (OHV) use through Four Mile Creek has altered the riparian habitat and increased erosion and sedimentation in the stream. These human-caused disturbances can cause trouble for at-risk Bull Trout and Westslope Cutthroat Trout. Increased sediments in streams change the river bottom and can make it unsuitable for aquatic invertebrates and algae, both important food for fish. Four Mile Creek was identified as a good candidate for bioengineering to improve these issues after a site assessment was conducted by volunteers from
Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (BHA). The assessment was part of a collaboration between BHA and the Foothills Stream Crossing Partnership in which volunteers carried out inspections of unowned stream crossings on public lands.
A week before the volunteer workday, a contractor was hired to implement a “rough and loose” treatment along the old trail. A large excavator was used to dig holes and create piles of soil; the technical term for this is “heterogeneous soil topography”. This works to reduce compaction, allow new plants to grow, and to slow down the flow of water down the slope, all of which helps keep the creek clean.
On May 25, 2019, 25 volunteers along with the TUC team, BHA and Ghost Watershed Alliance Society kicked off the restoration work with planting willow stakes along the banks of the creek and in the ruts created by OHVs. Above these willow stakes, pickaxes were used to loosen gravel and soil that was a direct stream of sediment into the creek. This will also allow new plant growth.
It was evident that the work being done had a great impact on the infiltration of water in the soil as the runoff was clear after returning from lunch. The hard-working group planted over 2000 willows in just a couple hours. These willows and the rough and loose treatment will discourage illegal OHV use and expedite the recovery of the riparian zone that will provide excellent habitat in the creek for Westslope Cutthroat and Bull Trout.
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