West Fork Evans Creek Tributaries Enhancement Project

The West Fork Evans Creek Tributary Enhancement Project aimed to improve habitat for salmon and other native fish in tributaries of the West Fork Evans Creek. These waterways, specifically Rock, Battle, Salt, and Cold Creeks, serve as important spawning and rearing habitats for Coho salmon, as well as Summer and Winter Steelhead and Cutthroat Trout. Historic land management practices in the watershed have led to simplified instream habitat, reducing the available shelter and food sources needed by fish to thrive.

This project addressed these challenges by adding large wood (LWD) structures to the creeks. Strategically placing logs in stream channels helps create pools and hiding spots that are essential for young fish to survive through different seasons. This restoration technique also improves the quality of gravel beds needed for spawning, provides refuge areas during high flows, and supports more complex stream habitats. By enhancing both summer and winter rearing habitat, the project supports the lifecycle needs of salmon and other fish, helping increase their survival rates and long-term population health. The project was led by the Applegate Partnership and Watershed Council, with collaboration from key partners including the Bureau of Land Management (Medford District), Lone Rock Resources, and Silver Butte Timber Company. All log harvesting and in-stream placements were completed by Benchwood, LLC, a local contractor specializing in riparian restoration. Together, these efforts contribute to a healthier, more resilient ecosystem in the West Fork Evans Creek watershed, supporting the recovery of critical fish populations in the region.

The proposed project will benefit native fish species of Rock, Battle, and Salt Creeks. Additionally, the project will foster an overall ecological lift, providing both instream and riparian system benefits for a variety of additional species. NOAAs SONCC Recovery Plan identifies West Fork of Evans Creek a core area and is specifically listed as the highest priority for restoration under the plan. It states “The greatest factor limiting recovery of coho salmon in the Upper Rogue River is the lack of suitable rearing habitat for juveniles. The processes that create and maintain such habitat must be restored by restoring flow, increasing habitat complexity within the channel, restoring off-channel rearing areas, and reducing threats to instream habitat (p32-24).” Thus, this project helps to addresses a primary limiting factor in the recovery of the Upper Rogue Coho Salmon population. This project’s timely implementation is important as “lack of suitable rearing habitat for juveniles” in the headwaters of Evans Creek is identified as an “immediate need for habitat restoration and threat reduction.” (SONCC-URR.8.1.1). The primary benefit to salmon and steelhead resulting from project implementation is an increase in the quality and quantity of juvenile rearing habitat for summer and winter rearing fish. Adding LWD to stream channels encourages floodplain re-connection and off-channel habitat --especially for coho salmon. LWD also encourages pool development and provides hiding cover for rearing summer parr; and is also important for accrual and storage of spawning substrates. Finally, adding LWD and the resulting accrual of stream substrates helps raise water surface elevations during high flow events. This project capitalizes on momentum generated by past projects in Evans Creek and the upper Rogue River. In 2013, two large dams on mainstem Evans Creek were removed to provide unimpeded volitional fish passage to upstream habitats. In 2009, Savage Rapids Dam was removed from the mainstem Rogue River downstream of Evans Creek to provide unimpeded volitional fish passage to upstream habitats, including the project area. Multiple large wood treatments, riparian treatments, and recreation management actions have also been implemented in West Fork Evans over the past decade.