Forest Management

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Watershed Restoration

The watershed restoration program rehabilitates and restores disturbed areas in the forest. Stream channels, roads, and upland areas are treated to reduce or eliminate soil erosion. These sites are often re-vegetated with specially designed seed mixes to restore plants and improve ecosystem condition. The following photos show some examples of restoration projects:

The photo on the left shows Hansen's Channel before restoration. This stream had unstable banks that eroded during high flows, and the water was scouring away the channel bottom. The photo on the right shows Hansen's Channel after restoration. The channel was restored to a more functioning condition by creating meanders to slow the water, re-shaping the sloughing banks, and re-vegetating the new banks.

The photo to the right shows a Forest Service employee sitting at the bottom of some stairs. This slope was eroding from people walking down it to reach the pond's edge. The site was stabilized by installing timber stairs and re-vegetating the bare soils with willows and grasses.

The photo on the far left shows an old road that was eroding and no longer necessary to access the forest. The compacted surface was tilled with a tractor and sub-soil attachment that lifted and broke-up thick soil clods. The area was then seeded, fertilized, and mulched. The biggest challenge to keeping this site growing is eliminating all vehicle and foot traffic. The next photo shows the same road after restoration work was done.

The bottom photo to the right shows a ski run that was created in the late 1960's and had not been successfully re-vegetated. The middle photo shows water-bars being installed to divert flow. Compacted soils were tilled using a snow cat. The area was then seeded, fertilized, and mulched. Straw was anchored in place by rolling a light-weight snow cat over the surface. A key factor to the successful re-vegetation is the application of water provided by sprinklers attached to the snowmaking system. The top photo shows vegetation coming up from under the straw.