LONG PRAIRIE CREEK REVEGETATION
About this project
This summer, with funding support from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, a 2.4 mile reach of Long Prairie Creek, a Siletz River tributary near Newport, will be enhanced with the addition of multiple large woody debris structures.
Comprising stumps, logs, rootwads, and branches, large wood debris (LWD) makes its way into our streams through windfall, bank erosion, and landslides. LWD is important to fish and other aquatic creatures providing refuge to adult and juvenile fish, creating pools and complexity within the stream, and serving as a food source and habitat for aquatic insects which are, in turn, eaten by fish.
Many of Oregon’s river and streams are lacking in LWD because past timber harvest practices allowed the removal of trees all the way down to stream banks. Current Forest Practices Rules require a 60 or 80 foot buffer on both sides of a stream depending on its size.
As part of our LWD enhancement project, we are providing a source of future wood recruitment to Long Prairie Creek. We’ve applied to OWEB for funds that will be used to revegetate our LWD treatment reach. If funded, we’ll be treating 7.5 acres of invasive reed canary grass with a targeted herbicide application, to reduce competition, and planting a diverse mix of native conifer and hardwood tree species within the riparian corridor.
Please join us in supporting the future recruitment of large woody debris to Long Prairie Creek with your tax-deductible gift to the Long Prairie Creek Fund online by clicking here or with a check made payable to Oregon Wildlife Foundation with a memo line note of “Long Prairie Creek Fund.”