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It's a constant challenge: how to balance the recreational uses of a river with the need to protect wildlife habitat and retain its environmental integrity.
Gary Weiner of the National Park Service's Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance program recalls working on a restoration project where speedboat wakes were eroding the nearby riverbanks. Similarly, people repeatedly walking along a certain waterfront area can damage native grasses or erode sand and soil.

Other key river restoration issues include ensuring that culverts or other impediments like beaver dams do not block access for resident or migratory fish, and protecting a canopy of trees to shade the river and keep temperatures down (direct sunlight and warm temperatures can be lethal to cold water species like trout or salmon).





 
Clark Fork and Blackfoot RiversRestoration projects can run from small to very large. On the massive end is a project Weiner is working on in Montana. The Milltown Dam project, situated at the confluence of the Clark Fork and Blackfoot Rivers near Missoula, is a $110 million Superfund cleanup which includes restoring the rivers to naturally functioning watercourses with high-quality riparian areas, wetlands and floodplains, complemented by redevelopment of the area as a new 450-acre state park with trails, bridges and river access sites.

Almost $5 million has been raised so far to construct high priority elements of the park plan. A 1-mile trail was completed last fall to provide a safe transportation corridor linking Bonner School with the community of Piltzville. A wheelchair-accessible trail leading to a bluff overlook with interpretative signage is being built this summer and construction of a new pedestrian bridge over the Blackfoot River will be completed this fall. For more information, contact Gary Weiner.





Pike LakeSmaller restoration projects often include streambank stabilization and culvert replacement projects, the kind of work NPS staffer Jim MacCartney is helping partners do on a branch of the Westfield River in Becket, Massachusetts. MacCartney is also working in Stamford, Connecticut to protect the fragile banks of the Mianus River through signage and creating "hardened access" (such as stones, logs, or other natural-looking materials) at river access points, so as to limit soil erosion. 
 

Notes MacCartney, "When a lot of folks think about how to help their river, they focus on improving water quality. That's great, but there's so much more that's going on with streams than just water quality. You have to be aware of things like water flow, habitat fragmentation, impassable culverts, and changes in water temperature, because as we build more homes and pave more land, we're also increasing erosion and runoff rates, and that can damage a river even if the water remains relatively clean."


Nisqually













With its headwaters in Mount Rainier National Park and its delta in Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, the Nisqually River watershed is a national model for collaborative watershed stewardship. The NPS Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program recently worked with the Nisqually River Council on a watershed plan for salmon habitat restoration. In 2006-07, fourteen engineered log-jams and two salmon refuge side channels were installed into the streambed and banks of the Mashel River, a priority tributary for salmon recovery (see image).
 
Design and placement of the log-jams was a joint effort between the Nisqually Indian Tribe and the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group. "Those log-jams and side channels really provided immediate benefit to spawning and rearing fish," said Florian Leischner, a restoration biologist for the Nisqually Tribe. Site surveys completed during July/August of 2007 demonstrated a three-fold increase of juvenile salmon in one of the restored areas from the previous year. For more information, contact Bryan Bowden.


Want to learn more about river habitat restoration?

Check out the National Park Service's collection of helpful publications. Be sure to check out our collaboration with Trout Unlimited, Restoring Streams to Reduce Flood Loss, as well as the NPS' Riverwork Book, which provides step-by-step pointers for local river conservation efforts. The U.S. EPA and the Natural Resources Conservation Service also offer helpful information.



Could your project benefit from 1-2 years' staff time from a National Park Service specialist? If you're working on restoring a river, building a community trail, or making an urban park flourish, we'd love to talk with you about ways we could work together. Please call or email your regional representative today. The next program application deadline is August 1, 2008, but short-term consultations may be available during the year.

 

Challenge Cost Share Program | Federal Lands to Parks | Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers | Hydropower Relicensing Program Land and Water Conservation Fund | National Trails System | Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program | Urban Park and Recreation Recovery

The Update informs Department of the Interior staff, organizational partners, and friends about the program successes and activities of the National Park Service Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Programs. For more details, please contact the staff person involved with each project.

This e-newsletter may be copied or redirected.  Our staff would be pleased to assist your editor in adapting any of these stories for your publication; for more information, please call (202) 354-6918 or e-mail [email protected] . Images courtesy National Park Service.