Upper Tryon Creek Restoration Project, Phase 2

Project objectives: Eliminate levees and restore sinuosity and meanders along 0.27 miles of stream channel. Install 27 log structures to provide cover, shade, channel complexity, and geomorphic control. Install 4 off-channel habitat alcoves to provide low-flow refugia. Improve fish passage by replacing an undersized ford crossing. Restore riparian vegetation to improve streambank stability and wood recruitment. Install 2950 feet of fencing to protect the stream and riparian habitats from livestock. Remove invasive plant using manual and mechanical treatments.

For the Smith River coho population, the juvenile life stage is the most limited due to rearing habitat limitations. The project will work with an agricultural landowner to improve the floodplain connectivity, channel complexity, fish passage, riparian function, and water quality of a low-gradient tributary near the Smith River estuary, thereby providing coho with the high-quality rearing habitat they lack. The project will also benefit Chinook salmon, steelhead, and coastal cutthroat trout.