Introduction to Stream Restoration - Hydro-Environmental Analysis: Freshwater Environments - page 244

• Placing livestock away from riparian zones when they are moved to new grazing areas

(new turnout locations).

• Installing drift fencing, which is open-ended fencing that is used to retard or alter the natu-

ral movement of livestock, in conjunction with natural barriers to regulate natural trailing
or loaing by livestock in some riparian areas.

• Frequent range riding and herding can effectively control livestock distribution in many

situations.

One dificulty with the protection of riparian zones is the costs and the potential loss of revenue
to landowners. However, there are a variety of federal, state, and private programs that may aid
landowners in protecting riparian zones. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has desig-
nated riparian zones as eligible for inclusion in the U.S. Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), in
which farmers can be paid for not farming certain environmentally sensitive areas. The USDA also
added the Conservation Restoration and Enhancement Program (CREP), which provides funding to
enhance and protect riparian areas, including fencing off riparian areas from livestock and replant-
ing native trees and grasses. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), reauthorized
in the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Farm Bill) and administered by the NRCS,
also provides a voluntary conservation program for farmers and ranchers that promotes agricul-
tural production and environmental quality as compatible national goals. The EQIP offers inancial,
educational, and technical help to install practices on croplands or livestock areas to improve and
maintain the health of natural resources, such as riparian zones. The Partners for Wildlife program
administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) also provides support for establishing
buffer strips, which may be used to aid in riparian management. Conservation easements offer one
of the best permanent land protection strategies for riparian landowners. Easements can be donated
by the landowner, providing tax beneits, or easements may be purchased by a qualifying organiza-
tion. The easements may be for an entire property or they may be restricted to a riparian zone.
Regulatory protection, such as through prohibitions against grazing on the riparian zones of
some wilderness areas, regulations and standards for grazing on the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) lands, and other actions may also be used for the protection of riparian zones. A variety of
federal laws impact grazing activities in riparian zones, such as the federal CWA, restrictions on
draining and illing wetlands, the NEPA, and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Feller (1998) dis-
cussed the recent development of laws impacting grazing in western riparian areas.

8.4.16 L arGe w oody d ebrIS : Lwd a dded
Large woody debris (LWD) provides a variety of stream functions, including providing shelter and
low-velocity refuge for ish, pool creation, sediment storage (such as retaining spawning gravel),
storage of nutrients and organic matter, bank stabilization, and other functions that have been dis-
cussed in previous chapters. LWD removal was common historically, but today the restoration of
LWD is recognized as a critical component in the creation and maintenance of suitable aquatic
habitats in some systems, particularly in the Paciic Northwest. LWD generally has the greatest
inluence and range of functions on moderate-slope (0.01-0.03) alluvial channels classiied morpho-
logically as pool-rifle or plane-bed (Montgomery et al. 1995, 2003; Montgomery and Bufington
1993; Beechie and Sibley 1997).
The design considerations for LWD include obstruction width, log spacing and key piece fre-
quency, log loading and position. The LWD may be based on native LWD, preferably slowly decay-
ing, or engineered materials. The design concepts for LWD structures are provided by Edminster
et al. (1949), Mott (1994), Abbe et al. (1997), Derrick (1997), Shields (2001), and others.
A variety of methods have been used to add LWD to rivers and streams. One method involves
cutting and felling trees from the streambank and then stabilizing the LWD by, for example, cabling
the logs to stumps. Logs may also be placed in channels using heavy equipment and then secured in