| Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Board

October 16-18, 2019

The UCSRB and Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest convened a three-day workshop in October 2019 to learn about and discuss techniques for restoring annual floodplain connectivity. The workshop was taught by the US Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region Restoration Assistance Team (RAT), Dr. Colin Thorne of Nottingham University, and by local experts and attended by Forest Service staff, permitting agencies, partners, funders, and sponsors to allow for a good discussion. The first day of the workshop provided an overview of the Stream Evolution Model (Cluer and Thorne, 2013) and the impact on floodplain connectivity; shared examples of restoration work; discussed permitting; and introduced the Geomorphic Grade Line modeling approach to restoration using LiDAR (Powers et. al., 2018). The second day was field-based, with site visits in the Wenatchee watershed and an overview of how to use the Relative Elevation Model (REM) results in the field. The third day covered other restoration techniques including wood loading, beaver dam analogs (BDAs) and beavers. See below for all associated workshop materials including recorded WebEx, meeting summary, participant list, presentations, and resources.

Links: Recorded WebEx of Day 1 Recorded WebEx of Day 3 Click Here for Meeting Summary Participant List Link for downloading the GGL REM toolkit for ArcGIS in Github Presentations- click on the links below for presentations from each agenda item DAY 1: STAGE-0 BACKGROUND
8:00 – 8:15	Welcome and Introductions	Greer Maier/UCSRB and Emily Johnson/USFS
8:15 – 8:30	Aim of Short-course & schedule for the day	Johan Hogervorst/USFS
8:30 – 9:00	Stage 0: genesis and theory, anabranching channels in nature (past and present), bankfull discharge in depositional reaches, constrained vs unconstrained reaches, stable channel design vs stable channel evolution & adaptation	Colin Thorne/Univ. of Nottingham
9:00 – 9:30	Stage 0: history and practice in Oregon, including review of disturbance history, early attempts at restoration in incised channels and transition to Stage 0 restoration	Hogervorst/USFS
9:30 – 10:00	Class exercise 1 – screening potential sites, identifying whether sites are suitable for restoration to Stage 0	Paul Powers/USFS
10:00-10:15	Morning Break
10:15 – 11:00	Geomorphic analysis and design I: Stage 0 valley restoration based on Geomorphic Grade Line (GGL), Relative Elevation Models (REM), cut/fill balance, d/s grade control, & preserving relict features	Powers/USFS
11:00 – 12:00	Class exercise 2: Designing restoration to Stage 0 using the GGL and REM – Applying the GGLREM Toolbox	Powers/USFS
12:00 – 13:00	LUNCH BREAK
13:00 – 13:40	Continue Class exercise 2:	Powers/USFS
13:40 – 14:10	Consultation and Permitting for Stage 0 in Oregon	Bill Brignon/USFWS
14:10 – 14:40	South Fork McKenzie River Stage 0 – an example of a large scale, multi-phased Stage 0 project on the Willamette National Forest	Kate Meyer/USFS
14:40 – 15:30	Stage 0 Outcomes – monitoring results to date; abiotic (geomorph., hydrology, habitat) & biotic (fish, vegetation, wildlife, foodweb) & stakeholder views	Thorne and Meyer
15:30 – 15:45	Afternoon Break
15:30 – 16:30	Discussion and Q&A – Stage 0 Challenges, opportunities, physical, biological, social, and regulatory.	All
16:30 – 16:45	Wrap up and Follow-up Steps

DAY 2: FIELD REVIEW OF MODELED RESULTS IN CLASS
8:00	Meet at USFS Supervisor’s Office, 215 Melody Lane
8:30	Stop 1: Big Meadow Creek
11:00	Stop 2: White River and Little Wenatchee
12:30	LUNCH BREAK (Lake Wenatchee State Park): bring your own lunch
14:00	Stop 3: Peshastin Creek
17:00	Return to USFS Supervisor’s Office

DAY 3: STAGE-0 TOOLS – WOOD, BDA, and BEAVERS
8:00 – 8:15	Welcome and Introductions. Aim of Day 3	Greer Maier
8:15- 9:15	Wood Loading– Use, site selection, design, funding, installation; Round table discussion of challenges, approaches, and examples from partners	Susan Dickerson Lange/NSD (lead)
9:15-10:15	Beaver Dam Analogs– Use, site selection, design, funding, installation; Round table discussion of challenges, approaches, and examples from partners	Julie Vanderwal/Okanogan Highlands Alliance (lead)
10:15- 10:30	Morning Break
10:30-11:30	Beavers– Use, site selection, design, funding, installation; Round table discussion of challenges, approaches, and examples from partners	Alexa Whipple/Methow Beaver Project (lead)
11:30-12:00	Discussion Wrap Up and Q&A – Application of different Stage-0 tools and techniques, challenges and opportunities, next steps
12:00- 13:00	Lunch- on your own
13:00- 15:30	Field Visit Opportunity– Mission Creek – Established wood site, techniques used, successes and challenges