Desolation Creek Reach 3 Implementation

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), in collaboration with Desolation Creek LLC and the Umatilla National Forest (UNF), restored part of Desolation Creek in the North Fork John Day basin. The site suffered from past timber harvest, cattle grazing, and road construction that concentrated stream flows into a single channel and significantly impaired floodplain connectivity, altering critical stream processes and reducing the potential for diverse riparian plant communities. Analyses conducted during the design phase suggested it would take hundreds of years for natural processes to aggrade the channel. To expedite the systems recovery, a more intensive project design with Stage Zero (pre-disturbance condition) components was chosen based on its potential to effectively restore floodplain connectivity and hydrological processes. Treatments included filling the channel, constructing five riffles, grading the floodplain, and developing large wood structures in the channel and on the floodplain. Additionally, a section of access road was relocated to an adjacent hillslope and a section of new road was constructed. Activation of the new road is pending the removal of a portion of the USFS 1003 Road scheduled to occur in the summer of 2025. Torrent sedge and willow planting occurred in the wetland area. Fencing was installed to improve grazing management and protect restoration work- this was not a proposed activity but was necessary due to greater floodplain inundation post-implementation of restoration activities. Funding per habitat type changed significantly from proposed to actual reporting partially due to inconsistencies in definitions of habitat types.

The Project intends is to address ecological concerns originating from degraded physical and biologic process supporting steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), spring Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha), Pacific lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus), mussels, dace (Rhinichthys sp.) and sculpin (Cottus sp.) which are considered First Foods of the CTUIR. These First Foods represent and are integral to the CTUIR’s culture. Salmon and water are two major touchstones in the CTUIRs First Foods initiative. The resulting project will benefit salmon with the intent to;

• Improve floodplain connectivity, frequency of inundation, and off-channel habitat to a condition closer to historical and natural form.
• Reestablish riparian function with site-appropriate native vegetation and off-channel habitat.
• Increase and reestablish channel complexity, with channel morphology quantity and quality of habitat diversity, especially wood, pools, and a diversity of bed material sizes.
• Increase and reestablish stream velocity diversity at both low and high flows.
• Increase and reestablish area suitable for adult spawning.
• Increase and reestablish area suitable for juvenile rearing.
• Increase and reestablish geomorphically appropriate sediment sorting and routing.
• Increase and reestablish in-stream thermal diversity throughout the year.