Project 2007-268-00:Idaho Watershed Habitat Restoration-Custer District, Contract 86099:2007-268-00 EXP IDAHO WATERSHED HABITAT RESTORATION

Project 2007-268-00:

https://www.cbfish.org/Project.mvc/Display/2007-268-00



The project scope is to implement high priority action items to maintain, enhance and restore fish habitat and fish passage in the priority stream segments of the Upper Salmon Basin area within the administrative boundaries of the Custer Soil and Water Conservation District.



Implementation of measures funded under this plan will achieve the objective of the Northwest Power Planning Councils Strategy for Salmon Recovery, the National Marine Fisheries Service Salmon Recovery Plan in terms of stabilizing and improving habitat for anadromous fish and the Four Governors Salmon Recovery Recommendations for Salmon Recovery. Migratory and habitat connectivity across the watersheds valley bottom areas is of high importance to ecologically-based restoration efforts because the tributary sub-watersheds tend to be dominated by federal lands and often provide habitat strongholds for native species of fish and wildlife.



Key habitat limitations in the watershed s bottomland areas include migration problems/ blockages and streambed sedimentation. Addressing these limitations may offer an opportunity to enhance the watershed s anadromous salmonids and will clearly benefit other native species of salmonids, other fish, and wildlife. The primary opportunity for addressing these problems in the Pahsimeroi, East Fork and Upper Salmon watersheds is through the CSWCD and their collaborative efforts on non-federal land.



Contract 86099:

https://www.cbfish.org/Contract.mvc/Summary/86099



The Upper Mainstem Salmon River from the Pahsimeroi River confluence to the headwaters contains Spring/Summer Chinook and Steelhead Salmon returning to the Salmon River basin and Upper Mainstem Salmon. This reach has been identified in NOAA Fisheries Proposed ESA Recovery Plan as having the following limiting factors for listed fish: excess sediment, passage barriers, low summer flows, high water temperatures, lack of instream complexity, degraded floodplain function, and entrainment. Habitat/recovery needs for these species includes removing passage barriers, increasing flows, increasing habitat complexity, reducing sedimentation, and preventing entrainment in irrigation ditches.



Projects included in this SOW include completing the reconnect in the Upper Stanley Basin on Cabin Creek, and a riparian exclusion fence in Stanley on Stanley Creek.



Upper Salmon Basin (Work Elements J & K)



Upper Salmon projects include a passage barrier removal on Cabin Creek (WE J) and a fence on Stanley Creek (WE K). According to the NOAA Fisheries Spring/Summer Chinook and Steelhead Recovery Plan (2017) the Upper Salmon River Main-stem above Redfish Lake Creek provides a large amount of spring/summer Chinook salmon habitat. The current natural origin abundance remains the highest among populations within the Upper Salmon River MPG and its productivity is among the highest for populations in the MPG. Many conservation projects, similar to the project listed in this SOW, have been completed to address the impacts of human land uses.



Cabin Creek is located in the Upper Salmon River reach above Redfish Lake. Despite its modest size, Cabin Creek is thought to be a key tributary for native fish populations within the Alturas Lake Creek drainage. The complex habitat within its lower reaches near the lake likely served historically as important nursery habitat for salmon and steelhead and foraging habit