Western Native Trout Initiative

I. Project Summary - The proposed project aims to improve habitat conditions and stabilize eroded banks on Croooked Creek, which is a primary tributary to the upper Klamath Lake. The project will protect an additional 2 miles of stream with riparian fencing, off-stream stock watering, stablizing 3oo fet of severely eroded banks, add spawning gravel to appropriate areas, and add woody debris habitat features.

The Upper Klamath Lake watershed is known for fisheries and water use issues. The lake and its tributaries are faced with high nutrient, temperature, and water quantity concerns. Agricultural practices are often identified as the root cause of many of these issues. Crooked Creek flows through the Wood River Valley in the Upper Klamath Basin and is an important fishery and primary tributary to Upper Klamath Lake. For the past century the Wood River Valley floor has been used for highly productive cattle grazing on flood irrigated pastures. To facilitate grazing, both waterways and wetlands have been extensively modified. Numerous fish species, including redband rainbow trout, Chinook salmon, shortnose and Lost River suckers, and bull trout once productive in this area have dramatically declined due to the draining of waterways, structures blocking fish passage, and poor water quality and habitat conditions.