Yakama Nation Southern Territories Beaver/Process-Based Restoration

This project leveraged the completed YN-sponsored Beaver Restoration Assessment Tool (BRAT) modeling outputs and a cooperative beaver working group composed of key stakeholders to prioritize and plan process-based stream restoration, document existing and historic beaver distribution, develop an adaptive beaver management plan, establish a temporary beaver-holding facility, and design/implement low-tech, process-based restoration projects (high-density large woody debris [HDLWD]), post-assisted wood structures (PAWS) and/or Beaver Dam Analogs (BDA)).



This project built on beaver and headwater meadow restoration prioritization work initiated under the Yakama Nation Climate Adaptation planning effort funded via the BIA. Yakama Nation Fisheries staff utilized funding to convert multi-watershed-scale BRAT modeling outputs into sub-watershed and reach-level priorities, designed pilot projects and construct/implement structural elements (PAWS, BDAs) that mimic beaver-influenced stream processes to set the stage (habitat and forage) for longer-term beaver reintroduction, utilized in-place beaver management to foster ecosystem benefits and trap and relocate beaver to reduce conflict and provide more suitable beaver locations.



Additionally, YN staff continued to participate in and provide support to a fledgling consortium of government entities and non-profits (Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group, Mt. Adams Resource Stewards, United States Forest Service, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Washington Department of Natural Resources) that are collaborating in order to facilitate knowledge-sharing and information-gathering on: historic and present beaver distributions, harvest rates past and present, suitable relocation sites, development of a temporary beaver-holding facility, crafting of a beaver adaptive management plan, and outreach and education regarding the role of beavers in ecosystem engineering.



The beaver working group provided a forum to coordinate activities, share knowledge and host workshops on project design and implementation.



Specific work that occurred include:



1. Construction and placement of 47 structures in 2023

2. Construction and placement of 6 structures in 2024

3. Riparian planting

4. Construction of beaver holding facility at Klickitat Field Office (purchase of materials and supplies)

5. Beaver In-place Management Training (supplemental materials and supplies)

6. Wetland Plant Identification and Delineation Training for Watershed Planner.

7. Wetland treatment which included the following work: On Blockhouse Creek, a mapped freshwater forested/shrub wetland exists. Channel spanning structures were placed immediately adjacent downstream to the wetland. The intent of these structures was to maintain channel grade and prevent any degradation or lowering of the channel bed that would result in incision through the wetland and degradation of the feature. The treated wetland acreage (.2 acres) listed in the metrics is a coarse estimate of the potential influence of those structures.

This project will ensure that the previously funded BRAT modeling efforts are advanced to a state that informs and facilitates on-the-ground projects that restore natural ecosystem processes and functions through leveraging the cooperative efforts and resources of multiple entities. This approach operates on multiple spatial scales (4 watersheds vs. reach-level project identification) and temporal scales (short-term beaver mimicry projects vs. long-term beaver reintroduction). Because modeling efforts will improve project design and implementation, they will lead to better outcomes for salmon and steelhead habitat. Planned and implemented projects will benefit listed salmonid species in the Mid-Columbia region by increasing the heterogeneity of in-stream habitat and by creating hydrologic inefficiency which leads to additional water storage on the landscape, attenuates peak flows, and subsidizes base flows, extending the surface flow period. Flow duration and water temperature are limiting factors for the production of salmonids throughout the subject river basins east of the Cascade Mt. Range crest, where precipitation levels decrease significantly along a gradient from west to east.