Lower Stotenburg Coho Habitat Enhancement Project

The FRGP funded Lower Stotenburg Coho Habitat Enhancement Project will increase conifer riparian vegetation by replanting the Sitka spruce, Douglas-fir, and coast redwood species that once dominated the project location on the Smith River Plain. The restoration will include controlling invasives, installing riparian shrubs and willows, and installing exclusionary fencing to enhance long-term success. The larger project (funded by Prop 1) will remove four fish passage barriers, install five beaver dam analogs, and large wood structures, and enhance the connectivity between Stotenburg Creek and the mainstem Smith River.

The project will improve winter rearing habitat by restoring conifer populations that will improve large wood recruitment, a high priority recovery action for Smith River coho (NOAA 2014). The project will improve bank stability, shade, food inputs, and fish passage; increase native plant biodiversity, bank stability, channel complexity, and winter rearing habitat. Cattle exclusion fencing will protect the riparian habitat, improve water quality and ensure long-term protection of the habitat.