Bear/CPRC&D/ MW9 - Road Decommissioning/LWD placement Note, this project came in under the FY2001 proposal. It was funded with FY1999 JITW funds, due to the fact that a FY1999 project could not get completed under the program. The project includes decommissioning/vacating approximately 1.5 miles of stream adjacent and mass wasting prone road. The road is delivering fine sediments to adjacent fish bearing water and severly impeding floodplain hydrology. Additionally, there are two stream crossings with deep fills that are mass wasting hazards as well as one crossing that is a total barrier to fish migration which will be removed. Fish present in this subwatershed include coho salmon, and cutthroat and steelhead trout. The goal is to restore natural hydrography, eliminate road sediment production and delivery and reduce the threat of significant mass wasting events. The road will not be needed in the future as approximately 0.5 miles of ridge top road connections between existing roads will be built to provide an alternate route. Approximately 1 mile of road decommissioning will be directly funded by the USFWS, with the adjacent 0.5 miles of road decommissioning paid for as match by the landowner. Complete removal of this section of road with heavy equipment is proposed. This will entail pulling back sidecast road material and placing it in the road prism, removing 3 large culverts and fills in fish bearing waters, and replanting the road grades with native vegetation. Additionally, approximately 0.5 miles of stream channel above and below the fish blocking culvert will receive LWD deliveries to help create channel habitat diversity and assist with sediment storage and transport. Project monitoring will include implementation and effectiveness monitoring as a part of the overall Bear Watershed Monitoring plan. Proposed monitoring entails a site visit after construction to inspect work and assess whether failure prone materials have been pulled back, native slope contours reestablished, culverts removed and native channels reestablished, LWD delivery accomplished successfully and if overall project plans have been successfully completed. Proposed effectiveness monitoring includes establishing fixed point photo documentation and revisiting the site to complete a visual inspection and repeat photos for a period of 10 years. Slope stability is believed to be achieved with this type of road work after approxmately 5 years, based upon research completed by road decommissioning programs carried out by the USFS Hood Canal Ranger District of the Olympic National Forest and the NPS Redwood National Park. With 10 years of simple and low cost monitoring, adequate data should be collected to document project effectiveness through a significant period of weather history. Accomplishment calculations are the following: Site 1 Road Work Road length = 1.5 miles = 7920 feet Road width = ~30 feet 7920 x 30 = 237600/43560= 5.45 acres Site 2 LWD Placement channel length 0.5 miles = 2640 feet channel width ~ 30 feet 2640 x 30 = 79200/43560 = 1.8 acres United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Partners for Fish and Wildlife Grant Number 134100015
