Land Trust starts restoration along Nelson Creek

The Columbia Land Trust is engaged in restoration work on a local project site to enhance habitat for deer and fish.

The 180-acre property, known to the land trust as Nelson Creek, is situated across State Route 4 from the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge and is bordered by Risk Road and Nelson Creek Road. Indian Jack Slough runs through the site. Two tidegates block migratory fish from accessing the slough.

Prior to diking and farming, the area was intertidal freshwater marsh with stands of Sitka spruce, cedar, and poplar. Historically, the site was used to grow cucumbers and graze cattle.

In 1995 the then-landowners planted the current project area with hybrid poplars they intended to sell for paper pulp production, but the trees were never harvested. Alders have grown up amongst the manicured rows of cottonwoods.

The site was purchased by the land trust in 2006 primarily to benefit the Columbian white-tailed deer, a federally listed endangered species, but the site provides potential habitat for many fish and wildlife species. Bald eagles nest nearby. Cutthroat trout, coho salmon, and steelhead are found in Nelson Creek and frogs and salamanders are plentiful.

Visitors to the site hear the sound of heavy machinery. Contractor JD Strange of Naselle is working to clear areas along the slough of logs and blackberries before Stewardship Lead Dan Friesz mows the strip to prepare for planting next spring. Roughly 51 acres will be planted with 45,000 native plants. The young plants will be fenced off for five years to keep elk out. Friesz estimated he’d seen 5-8 elk in and out of the site.

In early September, Greenwood Resources will begin harvesting 50 acres of cottonwoods. Friesz explained the stumps would be cut flush with the ground other than a few left much higher to provide perches for raptors. The trees will come off as logs rather than being chipped onsite, creating a huge pile of debris. “It’s cleaner,” said Friesz. Harvesting will take three weeks.

Also in September contractors will begin filling two miles of drainage ditches and recontouring nearby ground to create by 25 acres of potential rearing habitat for juvenile fish if the site were to be reconnected to Nelson Creek.

Friesz explained that several alternatives for Indian Jack Creek are under consideration, including tidegate installation and reconnection to Nelson Creek, but that all must be considered in light of deer habitat being the main objective.

Funding for the work comes from six sources, said Friesz. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is providing funds through two separate grants and a cost share agreement to pay for equipment and planting materials and crews. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is administering a grant under the landowner incentive program.

A National Fish and Wildlife Federation grant is paying for site analysis, and a North American Waterfowl Conservation Act grant will provide additional funds. The land trust will put the money earned from sale of the poplars back into the project as well.

In addition, Friesz said the Land Trust received many in-kind contributions and volunteers such as members of the local Audubon Society chapter.