Rapid Bio-assessment/LFA Light of the Pudding River Streams 2023

A Rapid Bio-Assessment Inventory (RBA) for salmonids was conducted within the Pudding River Basin during the summer of 2023 and 2024. Throughout these two years, 76.8 stream miles were snorkeled. This effort was a partial replicate of inventories conducted in 2014 and encompassed all mainstem and tributary habitats exhibiting significant anadromous spawning and summer rearing potential in the Abiqua subbasin, Butte subbasin, Drift subbasin, Silver subbasin, and Rock subbasin. The Pudding River Watershed Council had a rapid bio-assessment inventory in 2014 which collected data for one year and this project built on that dataset and provided updates on salmonid populations and new details about habitat, temperature, anchor sites and guidance for future restoration and management. The main goal of the RBA/LFA Light of the Pudding River Streams 2023 was to provide new data on salmonid distribution and habitat potential, facilitate interagency collaboration, identify areas where more information is needed, and provide demonstrations to landowners to practice conservation and restoration when managing their properties. The project inventoried ESA-listed species: Upper Willamette Steelhead Trout and Chinook Salmon as well as non-ESA listed species: Cutthroat Trout and Coho Salmon.

The RBA/LFA will benefit UWR steelhead and salmon populations by increasing the accuracy of the data collected, adding baseline information for Rock Creek and its tributaries.
The information will be shared with and review by a Technical Advisory Committee comprised of an interagency team and local stakeholders.
The information will be used to increase the knowledge base for strategic restoration planning at the Molalla-Pudding Subbasin scale. The final report will be used to increase landowner engagement leading to landscape-scale stream and riparian habitat restoration initiatives.