Confederated Tribes Habitat Update

DAYTON—Representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, shared fish and wildlife habitat updates in a public meeting at the Delany Room in Dayton on Feb. 28.

The representatives shared specifically about the stream and upland habitat restoration work the Tribes are conducting near Dayton and addressed questions from the public. Presentations were delivered on management activities in the Rainwater Wildlife Area property as well as multi-year restoration work planned along a three-mile stretch of the North Touchet River.

Habitat Restoration Ecologist Lindsay Chiono gave a presentation on forest restoration and health in the Rainwater District, which was established in 1998 under an agreement between the Bonneville Power Administration and the Tribes. Rainwater is about 70 miles north of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

A top priority in the area is counteracting the infestation of Yellow Starthistle that has infested 85 percent of the watershed, she said.

Chiono said the Tribes has used herbicides, spot pulling and bio controls such as gall flies, hairy weevils, beetles and goat grazing. The Tribe was hopeful that late season goat grazing would be effective as goats also break up the grass thatch which may reduce fire hazard.

Unfortunately, eight years of data gathering has proven that the grazing has not reduced Yellow Starthistle and use of goats will be discontinued.

“I had great hopes for the grazing program. In the first three years, Starthistle was going down each year and I was getting more and more excited. But in the last five years it trends the other way. We think it’s really correlated to water more than anything else,” said Rainwater Area Project Leader Gerry Middel.

Middel followed with a presentation on river restoration and projects planned for the North Touchet River.

Middel said that a river system, in its pristine state, includes flood plain forest, multiple side channels, downed wood throughout the floodplain, and a high water table.

During settlement, the floodplain forest was removed, which changed the dynamic of the flood plain. The Army Corps of Engineers later built levees to prevent flooding and put the river in its place.

“The river is smooth and straight and we’ve essentially made them into canals. It works for moving material but it doesn’t work very well for habitat,” Middel said.

Middle said the tribe uses “River Vision” in its approach to healing the river. River Vision means looking at the river, fish, trees, and riparian area altogether and the connectivity between them.

Tribe goals include restoring channel connectivity by removing or setting back levees where possible, to allow the river more room. Adding large wood to the river increases habitat cover, accumulates sediment, and cause scour to make a fishing hole.

The net result of having sediment held back into the river is that the channel bed rises, we lose steep eroded banks, and the water table slowly raises as the water has a chance to go back out into side channels. Allowing some of these natural processes to occur helps not only the water table but the fish,” Middel said.

Middel said the tribe currently has three projects planned to take place over a three-mile stretch of the North Touchet Road to Baileysburg. The projects are broken into three phases over the course of three years.

Phase One involves agreements with landowners Nancy Breithaupt and Larry and Eric Fairchild and runs from the Wolf Fork to river mile 3.3 on the North Touchet. The work, which Middel told The Times is a “complete go” is scheduled to take place this year. The project includes embedding and anchoring logs, large wood debris and log jams in the river. There will be significant dike and berm removal with a low-profile berm added to protect the house.

In Phase Two, the Tribes are working with Bill Warren, Jennie Dickenson and Jay Ball on a 2,500 foot-long stretch along river mile 1.3 to 1.8. The project will include a conservation easement between the Blue Mountain Land Trust and the landowners to set aside a piece of property to be used for conservation. The project also includes a levee setback, log jams, alcove construction, and a setback berm. Middel said they Tribe is still ironing out some minor issues with the project, which is planned for 2020.

Middel told The Times that Phase Three is a “work in progress” but that he expects it to be a go in 2021. The Tribe is working with landowners Nolan Empey of Empey Holdings and Bill Warren on the project. One concern is an existing bridge, which may need to be replaced. Middel said designs may be ready as soon as June.

Funding for all three projects is in place and comes from Floodplains by Design, the Salmon Recovery Funding Board and the Bonneville Power Association, Middel said.