Oregon Coast Coho Restoration Collaborative Projects in Tribes' Ancestral Territory - North Fork Siuslaw River

The North Fork Siuslaw Helicopter Large Woody Debris (LWD) Project placed over 361 pieces of LWD throughout nearly 10 miles of streams in the Upper North Fork Siuslaw Watershed in 2018 in aggregate. 50 pieces of LWD and 1.3 miles of stream can be directly attributed to Tribally managed PCSRF funds. The project also planted and maintained 3.5 acres of riparian areas with over 1,500 trees and shrubs adjacent to LWD sites and constructed 300 feet of riparian fencing to protect riparian seedlings.

The North Fork of the Siuslaw River Large Wood Placement Project Species Benefited: Oregon Coast ESU Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch): ESA-listed as a Threatened Species (76 FR 35755). The project occurs in designated Critical Habitat (73 FR 7816) and Essential Fish Habitat designated under the Magnuson-Stevens Act (PFMC 1999). Oregon Coast ESU Steelhead (Onchorhynchus mykiss): NOAA Species of Concern (69 FR 19975). Managed under the Magnuson-Stevens Act; Essential Fish Habitat not identified. Oregon Coast ESU Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha): Managed under the Magnuson-Stevens Act with designated Essential Fish Habitat (Ford et al. 2010). Pacific Lamprey (Entosphenus tridentata): U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Species of Concern (69 FR 77158). This project is responsive to the Conservation Measures identified by the Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative (Luzier et al. 2011). The Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw are signatories on the Conservation Agreement for Pacific Lamprey.



Installation of large wood helps helps activate in-stream complexity and restore the streams connection with its floodplain and associated off-channel habitats. Increasing the number and volume of large wood structures in a stream increases pool area and depth, slows water velocity, traps and sorts gravel and find sediments, and facilitates floodplain inundation. Large wood also provides habitat and nutrients for aquatic invertebrates, increasing the food supply for fish. (The Siuslaw Coho Partnership, et al. 2019, Strategic Action Plan for Coho Salmon Recovery: The Siuslaw River, www.siuslaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Siuslaw-SAP-Coho-Salmon-Recovery.pdf) Due to the fact that large wood installations provide such a wide range of ecosystem services, they benefit multiple species with different life strategy and habitat needs like chinook, coho, and steelhead.



Measurable Outcomes and Benefits

The completion of this project will produce a number of measurable outcomes and benefits including:

-Providing habitat restoration to approximately 10 miles of stream.

-Placing a minimum of 50 “Large Wood” pieces in Condon, Uncle, Russell, Billie, Drew, and/or Wilhelm creeks (the total number of pieces of “large wood” placed in phase II, of which this -project is a sub-element is approximately 400).

-Improved floodplain connectivity