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RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM CHANNEL AT A HIGH ELEVATION ABANDONED MINE IN IDAHO 2009 River Restoration Northwest Stream Restoration Design Symposium February 5, 2009 by Leonard Ballek Herrera Environmental Consultants Inc.

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Page 1: RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM … · RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM CHANNEL AT A HIGH ELEVATION ABANDONED ... Herrera Environmental Consultants Inc

RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A

CONSTRUCTED STREAM CHANNEL

AT A HIGH ELEVATION ABANDONED

MINE IN IDAHO

2009 River Restoration Northwest

Stream Restoration Design Symposium

February 5, 2009

by Leonard Ballek

Herrera Environmental Consultants Inc.

Page 2: RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM … · RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM CHANNEL AT A HIGH ELEVATION ABANDONED ... Herrera Environmental Consultants Inc

Project Background

• Located near Yellow Pine, Idaho

• Mined from early 1900’s to late 1990’s

• About 3,000 acres

• Tailings dam failure resulted in tailings

deposition along Meadow Creek

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Habitat Value

• Tributary to South Fork of Salmon River

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Stibnite Mine

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• New channel constructed in part of flood plain not

impacted by tailings

• Revegetation work conducted in September 2005

• Meadow Creek routed into new channel

• Stranded fish rescued and relocated to new

channel

• Old channel backfilled and revegetated

Project Scope

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Challenges to Revegetating Site

• Remote location

• Poor Rocky Soils

• Short Growing Season and Droughty

Summers

• Fluctuating water table

• Big Game Browse Damage

• Short Work Window

Page 7: RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM … · RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM CHANNEL AT A HIGH ELEVATION ABANDONED ... Herrera Environmental Consultants Inc

Old Channel Through Tailings

Page 8: RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM … · RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM CHANNEL AT A HIGH ELEVATION ABANDONED ... Herrera Environmental Consultants Inc

New Meadow Creek Channel

Construction

Page 9: RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM … · RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM CHANNEL AT A HIGH ELEVATION ABANDONED ... Herrera Environmental Consultants Inc

Revegetation September 2005

• Grow and install 10,000 willow container plants

• Install 2,000 willow cuttings

• Salvage and plant 220 large willow clumps

• Spread woody debris on backfilled old stream channel and

floodplain to provide “safe sites” for seed germination.

• Spread compost and hydroseed

Page 10: RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM … · RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM CHANNEL AT A HIGH ELEVATION ABANDONED ... Herrera Environmental Consultants Inc

Willow Supply

• Willow container plants

– from local cuttings collected in spring 2005 grown in containers 3

inches by 14 inches deep

• Willow cuttings

– at least 4 ft long and ½ inch in diameter collected on site in

September 2005

• Willow clumps

- salvaged on site

- immediately planted on critical banks

Page 11: RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM … · RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM CHANNEL AT A HIGH ELEVATION ABANDONED ... Herrera Environmental Consultants Inc

Willow Container Plants

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Salvaged Willow Clumps

Page 13: RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM … · RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM CHANNEL AT A HIGH ELEVATION ABANDONED ... Herrera Environmental Consultants Inc

Container Willow Planting

Page 14: RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM … · RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM CHANNEL AT A HIGH ELEVATION ABANDONED ... Herrera Environmental Consultants Inc

Loading Planter Magazine

Page 15: RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM … · RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM CHANNEL AT A HIGH ELEVATION ABANDONED ... Herrera Environmental Consultants Inc
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Willow Cutting Installation

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Planting Willow Clumps

Page 20: RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM … · RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM CHANNEL AT A HIGH ELEVATION ABANDONED ... Herrera Environmental Consultants Inc

Rescuing Stranded Fish From

Abandoned Channel

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Rescued Fish

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Filling Abandoned Channel

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New Channel Background

Old Channel Filled and Seeded

Foreground

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Revegetation Crew

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Spring 2006

Inundation for over a month

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Summer 2006

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Summer 2007

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Summer 2008

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Rocky Mountain Browse Control

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Results

• All plants are very slow growing because of the short season

• Container Plants 90% survival rate after three years

• Cuttings-

– survival not well monitored

– survival fair but much slower growth than container plants.

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Results Continued

• Salvaged willow clumps

– 70% survival

– dormant salvage and trimming would have improved survival

• Wolves in the area preventing browse damage

• Fish and macro invertebrate populations have recovered

• Recreational fishing is now occurring on the restored reach of Meadow Creek

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Lessons Learned

• Cost and effectiveness of salvaged willows at high elevation

• Value of deep containers and larger cuttings for survival

• Value of mechanized planting for cost savings, fast implementation and small work force.

• Importance of utilizing site adapted stock

Page 38: RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM … · RESTORING WOODY PLANTS ON A CONSTRUCTED STREAM CHANNEL AT A HIGH ELEVATION ABANDONED ... Herrera Environmental Consultants Inc

Questions?