Grays River Reach 3 and 4 Mass Wasting Project

The Cowlitz Indian Tribe, in partnership with Rayonier Timberlands, completed 0.65 miles of road abandonment, including light to moderate fill pull back, installed thirteen new culverts, placed 21 waterbars, removed 21 culverts, and hauled off 6,000 cubic yards of logging road sidecast material located on Rayonier forest lands. The completed project worksites, composed of two separate road networks in the Grays River watershed, were identified by Rayoniers geologist as likely mass wasting sites that could deliver large volumes of sediment into the Grays River. The completion of this project reduced the road density and restored pre-impact slopes. The removal of the sidecast material reduced weight on unstable slopes and reduced the future risk of a catastrophic failure. The replacement of undersized culverts facilitates effective water movement and reduced risk of road fill failure. The completion of this road treatment project has resulted in the reduced risk of localized and catastrophic slope failures from entering the Grays River watershed. The project was located in Pacific County and benefits all Lower Columbia ESU Coho, Chum, Winter Steelhead, and Fall Chinook salmon.

The goal of the Grays River Reaches 3 and 4 A-C Mass Wasting project reduced the delivery of sediment to the Grays River, improving spawning and rearing conditions for chum, coho, winter steelhead, and fall Chinook in downstream reaches.