Fishtales - Spring 2006

The Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association

NSEA works to improve fish habitat on Bertrand Creek
by Darrell Gray

Bertrand Creek is a tributary of the Nooksack River that flows approximately north to south from its headwaters in British Columbia, Canada. The creek supports Chinook, coho, and chum salmon, as well as steelhead, resident and sea-run cutthroat trout. In 2005, NSEA partnered with the Bertrand Creek Watershed Improvement District (WID), Whatcom County, Washington Department of Ecology (WDOE), the Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC), and three local landowners to implement three salmon habitat enhancement projects.

NSEA stream technician Dave Barker installs large woody debris on the banks of Bertrand Creek.

The first project took place on property just upstream of the Birch Bay Lynden Road owned by the Francisco Family. The Franciscos, Lynden natives, have over 3000 feet of stream channel on their property. For many years, their extended family has used an old cedar grove and adjacent pasture for annual family reunions and get-togethers. Jean and her two children, Duane and Molly, worked with NSEA to develop a restoration plan that would preserve the existing land use while improving instream and riparian conditions. NSEA placed seven large woody debris (LWD) structures along badly eroded streambanks, revegetated 2000 feet of riparian buffer and replaced a culvert which blocked fish passage on a Bertrand Creek tributary.

The second project is approximately two miles upstream off the Berthusen Road and belongs to Dale Vander Giessen. NSEA placed one LWD structure and resloped approximately 100 feet of failing streambank. The third project was immediately upstream. On the Clark property, NSEA placed one LWD structure, re-sloped the stream bank, and revegetated a 150 foot riparian buffer.

Project labor and oversight was provided by NSEA’s stream restoration technicians and Whatcom County and WDOE funded Washington Conservation Corps crewmembers. The replacement culvert, LWD and contracted services were funded by the Bertrand WID and the Pacific Salmon Commission. WDOE also funded all riparian planting including site preparation, maintenance and monitoring. These projects combine long-term strategies to restore habitat-forming processes with short-term strategies to improve immediate habitat suitability for salmonids. The projects will improve fish passage, sediment transport and sorting, reduce bank erosion, filter contaminants from adjacent agricultural lands, and increase shade, cover, and channel roughness.

The families were wonderful to work with and NSEA looks forward to help making these projects a success.