Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Sal Creek
Sal Creek is a small coastal watershed on Prince of Wales Island that supported heavy
timber harvest in the late 1960s. Effects of this past management include landslides,
widespread red alder (
Alnus rubra
) regeneration along streams, erosion and sedimen-
tation from roads in the floodplain, culverts that block fish passage and stream flow,
and poor winter range for deer. The watershed supports more than eight miles of
perennial streams that historically provided productive habitat for salmon and trout. A
landscape-level analysis completed by the U.S. Forest Service identified sixteen thou-
sand acres of second-growth forest and more than thirty miles of road that were de-
grading fish habitat. The watershed analysis, in combination with several erosion
events, led partners, such as The Nature Conservancy and Trout Unlimited, to sup-
port a restoration project that serves as a good example for coordinating government
and nonprofit partners. The restoration project reconnected twenty-seven streams
blocked by one and a half miles of abandoned logging roads, removed deteriorated
culverts, restored fish passage, thinned one hundred acres of red alder, and added
large, woody debris to rehabilitate stream processes. The project resulted in improved
habitat complexity for fish, the results of which will be monitored and applied to fu-
ture projects (fig. 9.2). Important factors in the success of this project included the
FIGURE 9.2.
Searching for juvenile coho salmon (
Oncorhynchus kisutch
)aspartofarestora-
tion monitoring procedure in the Tongass National Forest. (Photo courtesy of Bob
Christensen)
