Murderers Creek Cultural Surveys

The Murderers Creek Watershed covers approximately 84,962 acres and is a tributary to the South Fork John Day River in Grant County, Oregon. Murderers Creek is a part of the John Day River system, one of the last major free-flowing rivers in the Columbia River system and is one of the last to contain wild steelhead. Murderers Creek is the largest of the 5 tributaries used by steelhead and therefore is very valuable to sustaining or increasing steelhead production. It is also one of the most important tributaries for spawning and is used by about 59% of steelhead that enter the SF John Day River (MCWA, 1997).
We are proposing 471 acres of cultural surveys on planned restoration projects within the Murderers Creek watershed located on the Phillip W. Schneider Wildlife Area. With new regulation changes, the South Fork John Day Watershed Council is requesting funds to meet the necessary permitting for future planned restoration projects. The proposed projects for surveys include the already OWEB funded instream designs of Murderers Creek Phase 2 (Murderers Creek, Todd Creek, & Duncan Creek) and a new road access to this project. Also included in this proposal is Cabin Creek, a tributary to Murderers Creek. Proposed work in this area includes riparian fencing, juniper treatment, shrub planting, range drilling, and invasive weed treatment. Project partners include Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife - Phillip W. Schneider Wildlife Area.

The Murderers Creek Watershed covers approximately 84,962 acres and is a tributary to the South Fork John Day River in Grant County, Oregon. Murderers Creek is a part of the John Day River system, one of the last major free-flowing rivers in the Columbia River system and is one of the last to contain wild steelhead. Murderers Creek is the largest of the 5 tributaries used by steelhead and therefore is very valuable to sustaining or increasing steelhead production. It is also one of the most important tributaries for spawning and is used by about 59% of steelhead that enter the SF John Day River (MCWA, 1997). We are proposing 471 acres of cultural surveys on planned restoration projects within the Murderers Creek watershed located on the Phillip W. Schneider Wildlife Area. With new regulation changes, the South Fork John Day Watershed Council is requesting funds to meet the necessary permitting for future planned restoration projects. The proposed projects for surveys include the already OWEB funded instream designs of Murderers Creek Phase 2 (Murderers Creek, Todd Creek, & Duncan Creek) and a new road access to this project. The Murderers Creek Phase 2 project encompasses 3 miles of stream habitat augmentation for Steelhead and juvenile Chinook that addresses key limiting production issues such as juvenile cover, beaver habitat availability, headcuts/passage, floodplain connection, and incision. Also included in this proposal is Cabin Creek, a tributary to Murderers Creek. Proposed work in this area includes riparian fencing, juniper treatment, shrub planting, range drilling, and invasive weed treatment.