A variety of people in the Methow Valley have implemented restoration projects including individuals, families, ranchers, farmers, non-profit groups, and county, state and federal agencies. Restoration projects are varied and have included water conservation efforts, fish and wildlife habitat enhancement, range improvements, sustainable forest management, fire reintroduction, and road and culvert improvements. Following are 2 examples of restoration projects that have been implemented in the Methow Valley within the last 6 years. An extensive list of projects and their locations can be found on this site by clicking on the links below.

The Chewuch River Restoration Project

From 1995-2001, the Pacific Watershed Institute (PWI), a local non-profit group, has been implementing and monitoring restoration activities on portions of the lower 25 miles of the Chewuch River in conjunction with the Methow Valley Ranger District (MVRD) and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). The Chewuch River is home to endangered spring chinook salmon and steelhead and threatened bull trout. Limiting factors for these fish in the Chewuch River were identified as: lack of instream large woody debris (log jams), loss of side channel habitat, and high levels of fine sediment deposition. Restoration activities have sought to mitigate for these factors by increasing quality habitat for these fish species.

A Brief History (Pre-Restoration)
In response to the 1948 and 1972 floods of the Chewuch River, many log jams were removed from the river and several areas of the lower 25 miles of the river were stabilized with riprap and dikes. Logging in riparian areas decreased the amount of wood available for recruitment into the stream. These actions contributed to a decrease in quality habitat for resident and migratory fish in many ways.

Large woody debris (LWD) or log jams serve many functions in the river ecosystem. The scouring action of the river around LWD carves out pools that provide resting and hiding cover for fish. These pools serve as depositional areas for gravel, which is important for spawning. Large woody debris also slows the flow of the stream, which results in less bank erosion and less sediment in the river. This is important because sediment can smother fish eggs before they hatch, bury important spawning gravel, fill in important pool and side channel habitat, and lead to increased stream temperatures. Sediment loads in the Chewuch have been exacerbated by road construction activities, streamside recreation, natural erosion and stream channelization. The channelization of portions of the river has also resulted in fewer active side channels, which are important as fish rearing habitat.

Restoration Efforts
To mitigate for these factors, habitat restoration projects were implemented by PWI, MVRD and WDFW within the river and in adjacent riparian areas. These projects included addition of 17 instream LWD structures, the reestablishment of 2 side channels, revegetation of 2.5 miles of riverbank, relocation of selected streamside roads and camping areas, fencing of ¾ mile of sensitive riparian area and planting 20-30 acres of native plants in disturbed areas. Post-project monitoring is helping to assess the impacts of these restoration activities.

Project activities took place on USFS, WDFW, DNR and private land and funding was provided by the Washington State Jobs for the Environment (JFE) program, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Grant Challenge Cost Share Program, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Jobs in the Woods (JITW) restoration program. This project and other Pacific Watershed Institute projects have provided much needed jobs and training to 9 local displaced timber workers and 8 other local people.

In addition to this work, the Forest Service has been closing and obliterating roads, fencing riparian areas, and reorganizing streamside campgrounds in the Chewuch watershed.

Sustainable Forest Management in the Rendezvous area
of upper Cub Creek

The Pacific Watershed Institute (PWI), The Methow Conservancy (MC), and Partnership for a Sustainable Methow (PSM), all local non-profit groups, have been working on private land with 9 private landowners in the Rendezvous area to improve forest health. This project began in 1999 and will continue through 2003.

A Brief History (Pre-Restoration)
Much of the upper Cub Creek watershed was once predominantly open, park-like stands of large Ponderosa pines and bunchgrasses on the south facing slopes and mixed pine, douglas fir forest on the north facing slopes. All of this was interspersed with riparian areas of aspen, cedar, alder and shrubs. Fire played an integral part in this ecosystem and served to: reduce fuel levels, keep insect levels in check, maximize plant and wildlife diversity by creating a mosaic of habitat types, and open up the understory to allow the regeneration of shrubs, grasses, and shade intolerant ponderosa pines and aspens.

Fire suppression and past logging in the Rendezvous have resulted in an overstocked, unhealthy forest comprised mostly of small-diameter douglas firs. In the Methow Valley, douglas firs are usually predominant on north facing slopes and their density is kept in check by fire. Since the advent of fire suppression in the early 1900's, douglas firs have encroached on ponderosa pine and aspen stands and the forest understory is lacking in shrubs and grasses. The resulting decrease in plant diversity typically results in a decrease in bird and wildlife diversity. The densely stocked forest reduces the amount of precipitation and snow reaching the ground and reduces the water storage for nearby tributaries and the rivers downstream, which has an effect on human and fish populations. Increased fuel loads also increase the risk of catastrophic fire, which poses a threat to local homes and wildlife. Similar forest conditions exist in much of the Methow Valley's mid-elevation forests.

Restoration Efforts
PWI, MC and PSM have been implementing restoration activities to improve forest health in the Rendezvous area. Projects have included selectively thinning 200 acres of dense, small diameter douglas fir, underburning selected areas with prescribed fire, and creating a mosaic of habitat types to benefit wildlife. Partnership for a Sustainable Methow is researching economically viable methods to use the large amounts of small diameter wood resulting from this project and future sustainable forestry activities. In addition to the forestry activities, the Pacific Watershed Institute has upgraded roads and culverts in the Rendezvous area to reduce sediment into nearby streams, which are the headwaters for Cub Creek, a major tributary and sediment contributor into the Chewuch River.

Funding for these projects was provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Jobs in the Woods (JITW) restoration program, the Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation (IAC), and contributions from Rendezvous landowners.