Dam removal and stream restoration will open miles of new habitat

The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board has agreed to fund a portion of a project that includes removing an old mill pond in Independence. Removal of the pond’s dam will open access for juvenile steelhead and Chinook salmon to several miles of the South Fork Ash Creek for the first time in 50 years.
 
The $20,625 grant will fund part of a two-year project coordinated by the Luckiamute Watershed Council in cooperation with numerous local and state agencies and the City of Independence, who owns the property along the stream. When the dam at the former Mt. Fir mill began breaking apart in the winter of 2004-05, the Luckiamute Watershed Council saw an opportunity to open up miles of winter refuge habitat that was blocked by the dam. This project will remove the dam and place 50 boulder structures in the new stream to create small pools that can be used for shelter by salmon and steelhead. The newly exposed riparian habitat will be planted with native trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants.
 
The City of Independence, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Natural Resources Conservation Service – Plant Materials Center, and Cascade Pacific Resource Conservation and Development also helped develop the project. Other funding for this $56,000 project comes from the Oregon Wildlife Heritage Foundation, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board Small Grant program, and the Ash Creek Water Control District. Other partners include Central High School, Western Oregon University, and the Polk Soil and Water Conservation District. Work on the project will begin this summer.