Carcus Creek Habitat Enhancement

Carcus Creek is a salmon bearing stream, which is a tributary of the Clatskanie River and provides critical spawning and rearing habitat for salmonid species. These species have persisted within the watershed despite the historical practice of removing large woody debris from the channel prior to the 1960s. While a healthy riparian buffer still exists along Carcus Creek, these historical practices have had the effect of stripping much of the spawning gravel from the river, homogenizing in-stream habitat, reducing the amount of cover available to fisheries, and reducing floodplain connectivity. The absence of large wood has limited salmonid populations to sub-optimum habitat thereby inhibiting their ability to successfully reproduce and negatively impacting juvenile survival through the winter. The proposed project will add large wood to about 2 miles of stream, placing structures in the stream using existing trees and pin logs to keep the structures in place. The structure placements were picked by ODFW Fish Biologists, and will be installed by a licensed and bonded contractor. Additionally, riparian planting will occur. This project is through a joint management and partnership between the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Lower Columbia River Watershed Council, and the Columbia SWCD.

This project will install large to address the loss of this critical habitat component and restore the stream’s geomorphic function. The ecological benefits of placing large wood in Carcus Creek includes the formation of deeper pools, increased recruitment of spawning gravel, healthier macroinvertebrate populations, increased in-stream complexity, and over wintering habitat for juvenile salmonids. Moreover, the installed woody debris will recruit additional wood over time as it naturally falls into the stream and will increase the rate of the stream’s recovery from its historical impacts. This will not only lead to a healthier functioning watershed, but will create more habitat for the reproduction of endangered salmonids.