Working Together to Restore Riparian Areas

In July 2008, a world-class group of speakers met over a 3-day period with an audience of diversified interests to help build a technical understanding and ecological awareness of riparian areas. The speakers and discussions focused on the values and importance of riparian vegetation, channel form and function, willow identification and habitat, riparian restoration, and monitoring strategies.

One site visited during the workshop was a 3,100-acre ranch, the Upper Big Hole LLC. The ranch had a variety of riparian restoration work done that included 600 transplanted willow combinations of hardwood stem cuttings, rooted cuttings, and clumps. Sedges and rushes were transplanted through on-site harvested sod mats, geotextile-reinforced livestock stream crossings, and new head gate and diversion structures. Wayne Elmore, a retired Riparian Ecologist from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) stated, “It’s essential to have strong roots in place along streams to hold cut banks in place, and having a variety of roots helps this process. Question, can you guess how many Nebraska sedge roots can be found in a 12-inch square column of soil, or let’s say how many miles of roots?” His answer to this was an astounding 23 miles! Wayne said to have success in restoration “You have to have an interdisciplinary team and think about it from a broad perspective.”

The workshop stressed the importance of plant selection when addressing a particular problem. Chris Hoag, a Wetland Ecologist for Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) at the Idaho Plant materials Center (PMC), covered willow-planting details. He explained the treatment zones and what goes into each one during reconstruction. Chris stated, “Monitoring and maintenance are very important to the process” as he highlighted the details of the planting zones and their functions. Hoag said, “The more willows you put in a hole, the better your chances for survival are. . . . Getting the willows in and established can help bring out the later successions of riparian area species like cottonwood, where adapted.”

Dr. Alma Winward, a retired Regional Forest Ecologist with the Forest Service, spoke about willow adaptations and ecology with genuine sincerity. When he was asked to explain his job as an ecologist he said, “I am a doctor of the mountains, valleys, plains, streams, and the land. I go into diagnose what is wrong, and I make a prescription to fix it.” He explained the riparian plant community complex and what questions need raised before deciding on willows for restoration. Dr. Winward stated, “For a healthy willow stand there should be baby willows or new growth . . . if you have more coming than dying don’t worry.” Tom Pick, Water Quality Specialist with Montana NRCS said, “It is important to understand the ecology of how things are connected—when what we do here possibly affects what is happening downstream and upstream.” When evaluating a site, Dr. Winward looks at what is natural or native and what is introduced. When restoring a site, he recommends selecting native plants, and he stated, “All the values you like will sort themselves out—if they are native.”

Another site visited during the workshop was the Cal Erb Ranch on Rock Creek. A restoration project that moved the creek back into its historical channel and reconnected it to the mainstem Big Hole River, reestablishing historical Arctic grayling spawning habitat. Other restoration efforts completed on-site included pit tagging and AquaRod stations, 4 miles of fencing to control grazing, willow clumps and rooted cuttings planted along the new channel to provide stabilization, and grass and sedge mat plantings placed along newly reconstructed streambanks. During a discussion on riparian area values, Wayne stated, “Creeks and riparian areas more effectively link people than any other natural feature.” This statement reiterates the importance of streams and riparian areas, and the values they provide to us—clean water, recreation, aesthetics, irrigation, fish habitat, and other important ecological features. In the upper Big Hole, willows contribute to these values by providing cooling shade, stable streambanks, and fish habitat.

Kyle Tackett, a District Conservationist for NRCS at the Dillon field office commented, “Riparian efforts in the upper Big Hole River Basin merit acclaim for successful collaboration and partnerships. The Big Hole Partnership received an award in the spring of 2008 from the American Fisheries Society Western Division for excellence in watershed restoration for Arctic Grayling on private lands.” Contributors to the workshops include NRCS; BLM; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks; Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation; Big Hole Watershed Committee; Big Hole River Foundation; and the Montana Riparian Training Cadre. The workshop was held to support the Fluvial Arctic Grayling Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA), and their 15-year goal of having all riparian areas on enrolled land rated sustainable. The CCAA currently has 32 landowners and approximately 160,000 acres enrolled into the agreement.

Transplanted willows and sod mats on the Big Hole river.

Tour viewing healthy riparian vegetation along the restored Rock Creek channel.

Transplanted willow clump.

Dr. Alma Winward explaining the riparian plant community.

Tom Pick and Kyle Tackett leading a discussion on riparian vegetation.