Upper South Fork Little River Instream Habitat Improvement Project

This project is designed to increase the density of Large Woody Material (LWM) in the form of 136 ?key logs? within the 1.84mi anadromous fish bearing reach of Upper South Fork Little River. PWA assessed habitat conditions in the Upper South Fork Little River as part of the ongoing FRGP funded Little River Basin-wide Instream and Riparian Habitat Improvement Design Project. As a part of this planning/design project, instream habitat conditions were assessed, LWM was inventoried, and riparian conditions were evaluated in the Upper South Fork Little River watershed. Heavy equipment and direct falling techniques will be used to add 136 pieces of LWM to the proposed reach bringing the overall density of key pieces in Upper South Fork Little River to approximately 95 key logs/mile. Additionally, this project will result in a more even distribution of large wood and associated habitat improvement benefits throughout the anadromous reaches of Upper South Fork Little River.

Large wood is known to create habitat complexity and enhance valuable habitat for coho and Chinook salmon, and steelhead of all life stages. The proposed habitat improvement project aims to use a combination of heavy equipment assisted habitat structures in addition to accelerated recruitment to install up to 43 large wood structures with approximately 136 pieces of wood along 1.84 miles of stream.