The area of the Sugar Levee project.
The project site at War Creek Reach.
Five Methow Valley projects have been awarded a total of $1,248,018 from the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board, the board announced recently.
The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation were awarded $122,500 toward a project to place 175 logs and root wads by helicopter in a two-mile section of Little Bridge Creek. The Yakama Nation will contribute $237,675 to the project.
“Adding logs to a creek creates places for fish to rest, feed, and hide from predators,” according to the Salmon Recovery Board. “It also slows the water, which reduces erosion and allows small rocks to settle to the bottom, creating riffles and ponds, which give salmon more varied habitat.”
Steelhead and bull trout, both of which are listed as threatened under the federal Endangered species act, use the creek.
The Yakama Nation was also awarded $366,770 toward a project to place woody debris and logs into the Twisp River in the Mystery and War Creek reaches. The Yakama Nation will contribute $984,970 to the project.
The Mystery Reach runs from the Mystery Campground to the Twisp River Canyon and War Creek Reach runs from the bridge on U.S. Forest Service Road 4430 downstream to Forest Service Road 44015. The river is populated with spring-run Chinook salmon, which is listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act.
The Yakama Nation was awarded a third grant, for $199,500 to place wood structures in three-quarters of a mile on the lower Twisp River. The Nation will contribute $164,470 to the project.
In addition to having the same effect as the previous two projects, “(t)hese large wood structures also will increase floodplain inundation of an area with relict oxbows and meanders, which will give young salmon access to high-quality, year-round rearing habitat,” according to the Salmon Recovery Board.
The Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation received a grant for $401,148 to develop designs for projects involving the Sugar Levee on the Methow River. The foundation will contribute $76,319 to the project through a federal grant.
According to the Salmon Recovery Board, the levee was built in 1973 and has contributed to erosion on the river’s banks.
The project involves modifying the levee to “increase floodplain connection and enhance side channels to provide rearing habitat for young salmon and holding habitat for adults,” according to the board. It also includes adding logs to the river, removing fill and planting trees and bushes along the river to create shade and food sources for salmon species.
Spring-run chinook salmon use the Methow River and are listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act.
The final project to receive funding is an Okanogan County project to conserve habitat along the Methow River near Mazama, and was allotted $158,100.
The county will contribute $27,900 in cash donations to the project, which will buy a half-acre of land along the river to conserve it for fish habitat. The land is for sale by the state and would be sold through public auction if not bought by the county, “likely resulting in development and negative impacts to the mature riverbank vegetation,” according to the Salmon Recovery Board.
