This project will decommission or upgrade approximately 25 miles of Forest Service roads in the Sauk River basin. The target area includes the Dan Creek Watershed Administrative Unit (WAU) and the portion of the Sauk Prairie WAU that drains into the Sauk River. Roads have increased sediment delivery above natural levels in these WAUs, primarily by increasing mass wasting rates. For this reason, the Skagit Watershed Council has specifically identified reduction in sediment supply as a high priority for these areas. Field inventories were used to identify project sites. Road segments were rated as high risk if they have the potential to cause a mass wasting event that could deliver sediment directly to key habitat. High risk segments will be treated by removing or upgrading stream crossings, adding and upgrading drainage structures, and stabilizing or removing road fills on high hazard roads. This project is anticipated to benefit most of the streams with salmon habitat in the target area. In the Dan Creek WAU, this includes Dan Creek, streams 1087,1088,1089, portions of the Sauk River mainstem, and several off-channel habitat areas (Hyachuck ponds area, Dan Slough, and others). In the Sauk Prairie WAU, this includes Gravel, Dutch, Green, and Everett Creeks and portions of the Sauk slough. All species that utilize these streams are expected to benefit, including pink, chum, coho, chinook, cutthroat, steelhead, and native char.
