PROJECTS
North Fork John Day Pushup Dam Removal
This landowner-driven project brings together a Monument area rancher, US Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), and the NFJDWC for removal of a cross-channel gravel pushup dam on the lower North Fork John Day River. This improvement is part of a larger, collaborative effort to improve fish passage and habitat connectivity for spring Chinook salmon and summer steelhead within the lower North Fork John Day and adjoining tributaries. It will also provide the rancher with a more efficient and more reliable irrigation system for his hay field.
Funding comes from Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) and CTUIR.
Kelsay Creek Fencing
This riparian fencing project is near the confluence of the Kelsay and Little Kelsay Creeks, tributaries of Desolation Creek. It is a collaborative effort involving the NFJDWC, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Umatilla National Forest, and Indian Creek Allotment permittees. The proposed fence will create a 110-acre upland riparian enclosure and replace a temporary electric fence that has proven to be ineffective. The Kelsay Creek drainage has been identified as a fish management area and the surrounding terrestrial habitat is utilized by elk, deer, and other wildlife.
This project is part of an ongoing effort by the NFJDWC, to work in partnership with allotment permittees and Umatilla and Malhuer National Forests to make allotment improvements that may help avoid future litigation, such as some permittees have recently experienced.
Meadowbrook Allotment Fencing
This permittee-driven project will limit livestock access on the West Fork of Meadowbrook Creek. The existing fence is located along Hwy 395 and the allotment permittees would like to move the fence back from the highway and behind Meadowbrook Creek to protect it from livestock grazing. This project will additionally complement proposed work to be done by Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), which will retrofit several culverts along Meadowbrook Creek to improve fish passage. The new 6.5 miles of fence and two new water developments will also allow permittees to better utilize the allotment.
This is another project in an ongoing effort by the NFJDWC, to work in partnership with allotment permittees and Umatilla and Malhuer National Forests to make allotment improvements that may help avoid future litigation, such as some permittees have recently experienced.
Funding comes from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) and the Umatilla National Forest.
Upper Middle Fork Allotment Improvements
Located near the headwaters of the Middle Fork of the John Day (MFJD), this 55,000-acre allotment has had limited to no-use for the last 15 years. Adult spring Chinook salmon use the 5.47 miles of the MFJD that runs through this allotment; steelhead use 51.35 miles and bull trout use 3.83 miles. Project components include installing 11.5 miles of 4-strand barbed-wire exclusion fence; 3 cattleguards and 1 water development.
The project will improve bank stability, channel complexity, streamside shade and upland and riparian vegetation. It will also allow livestock to better utilize the allotment.
This is another project in an ongoing effort by the NFJDWC, to work in partnership with allotment permittees and Umatilla and Malhuer National Forests to make allotment improvements that may help avoid future litigation, such as some permittees have recently experienced.
Funding comes from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB), the Umatilla National Forest and allotment permittees.
Click here for a PowerPoint presentation of this project.
Cottonwood Fish Passage and Irrigation Improvements
This project is located on Cottonwood Creek, a significant tributary of the North Fork John Day River in Grant County near the town of Monument. Cottonwood Creek is recognized as important habitat for steelhead spawning and rearing. The components of this project include consolidating two points of diversion into one and installing a fish-friendly sheet piling diversion, utilizing a functioning, existing ODFW fish screen, and converting 11,050 feet of open ditch to pipe.
The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) is providing major funding, with match funds from NRCS and the landowners.
Fox Creek Assessment
Landowners came to the NFJDWC for advice on the best methods to restore function to nearly 20 miles of Fox Creek. Historical channel modifications have resulted in stream down-cutting, diminished groundwater table and fish passage barriers. It was decided that a geomorphologic assessment would be needed to determine how to best proceed with restoration efforts and to help identify which projects that might best address landowner concerns.
The assessment area starts at the headwaters of Fox Creek in the Malheur National Forest and goes to its confluence with Cottonwood Creek. Fox Creek ranks high as a priority stream for restoration.
Major funding comes from the Belle Vista Foundation. The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB), the NFJDWC, landowners and Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) are also contributing to this assessment.