Little Rattlesnake Road Restoration

The new access road has been constructed and completed on the easterly slopes far above Little Rattlesnake Creek. The new road provides legal access for the WDNR and USFS. The new access road has been engineered and built to regulatory standards and is well away Little Rattlesnake Creek (at least 1500 feet away from it). The USFS has committed to decommissioning the old 1501 Road running up Little Rattlesnake Creek now that a new upper slope access road has been constructed. Removal of the stream-bottom road will greatly benefit fish habitat, water quality, stream and floodplain function, and riparian restoration in Little Rattlesnake Creek.

Approximately 2 miles of new access road were constructed on upper slopes above Little Rattlesnake Creek. The road was engineered, constructed, compacted and cross drained to meet regulatory standards for a long-term stable forest road. The new road is positioned on slopes at least 1500 feet distance away from Little Rattlesnake Creek (see attached photos and map below). Completion of the new access road allows decommissioning and abandonment of the 1501 Road running up the bottom of Little Rattlesnake Creek (figure 3). The USFS has committed to decommissioning approximately 4 miles of the 1501 Road in 2015 with other funds.

Approximately 400 trees removed in the right-of-way of the new access road have been stock piled and will be placed along Little Rattlesnake Creek when the USFS abandons the 1501 Road.

This project will construct a new legal access road away from Little Rattlesnake Creek which will indirectly benefit target species (Mid-Columbia steelhead, coho, bull trout and other resident fish) by allowing abandonment of the existing floodplain road. The road abandonment will be accomplished through other funding sources. Road abandonment will greatly improve rearing and spawning conditions by restoring floodplain functions and riparian conditions (e.g. increases in floodplain groundwater storage, channel sinuosity and side channel development, shading, bank stability, future wood recruitment, and litter fall), as well as reducing sediment delivery due to road erosion.