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14330-2008-867 - WNTI Crow Creek Restoration and Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout Habitat Improvement, SE Idaho
- Idaho
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- In-stream and riparian habitat
- Yellowstone Cutthroat
- Palisades
- Salt River
Proposed Accomplishment Summary
Restore over 1 mile of stream and habitat by activating a historic channel stream where the stream has been ditched and disconnected. Restore unstable streambank up and downstream of the historic channel on USFS and private lands. The historic channel will re-establish a 20-30% longer meandering channel and provide for higher quality habitat in a Yellowstone Cutthroat stronghold system that is a tributary to the Salt River.
The importance to the Resource
Crow Creek is an important YCT stronghold stream providing critical cold-water spawning habitat and the project would increase both quality and quantity of this habitat. The stream system also contains riparian/wetland habitat and high water quality which are valued resources on the Caribou-Targhee National Forest and the surrounding area.
The problem
The project area has been ditched and moved in the floodplain, and channel straightening has caused loss of 800 ft of channel length. The channel is incised, disconnected from the floodplain and streambanks are unstable. These conditions threaten loss of land, riparian and wetland vegetation, fisheries and wildlife habitats, and water quality.
The method
Natural channel design methods utilizing nearby stream reference reaches will be used to obtain stable channel dimensions. Excavate the historic channel, slope banks, and transplant whole willow and sedge mats. NRCS and FS will hold a bio-engineering training in 2009 implementing various bank stabilization techniques within the project reach.
- Restore hydrologic function and stability to over 1 mile of Crow Creek. Increase the quality and quantity of YCT habitat and improve water quality by reducing stream temperature and decreasing sediment loading. Increase channel stability and re-connect the channel to its floodplain to improve nearly 35 acres of riparian and wetland conditions.
- Caribou Targhee National Forest - Matching $23,000 - In Kind $5,000
- Greater Yellowstone Coordinating Committee - Matching $5,000 - In Kind $0
- Idaho Department of Environmental Quality - Matching $5,000 - In Kind $0
- National Fish and Wildlife Foundation - Matching $50,000 - In Kind $0
- Natural Resources Conservation Service - Matching $0 - In Kind $12,000
- Private Landowners - Matching $0 - In Kind $2,000
- Trout Unlimited - Matching $0 - In Kind $5,000
- Total number of in-stream/shoreline miles restored - 1.5
- National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| 14330-2008-867 R1#6 Crow Creek Restoration and YCT Habitat Improvement_SE Idaho.pdf | 20.96 KB |
