Project/Contract History:
The Big Canyon Creek Watershed Rehabilitation Project was originally funded by BPA in 1999 to complete a watershed analysis.  Since that time, the NPT Watershed Division has been working on resource assessments and project implementation throughout the Big Canyon Creek Watershed.  Prior to the initiation of this project, a massive data gap existed on fish, the condition of fish habitat, and limiting factors within the watershed.  Only a minimal amount of baseline data collection had occurred.  We felt it was of utmost importance to address this issue prior to any large-scale implementation of restoration activity.  Thus, the early years of the project (1999-2001) were focused on watershed assessment and subbasin planning.  Unfortunately, these efforts were very broad in scope, and the watershed assessment was based on what minimal data existed on the watershed at that time.  This proved to be much too coarse to provide any substantial direction or to guide our restoration activities.  To fill this data gap, beginning in 2002 the NPT Watershed Division developed and/or modified existing protocols to facilitate the collection of relevant baseline data within the watershed.  In realizing that this data collection phase would involve a substantial amount of personnel and take several years to complete, NPT Watershed in collaboration with the Nez Perce Soil and Water Conservation District (NPSWCD), began implementing watershed rehabilitation activities concurrently with data gathering activities.  Due to the lack of a comprehensive, detailed watershed assessment to help prioritize restoration activities, implementation activities since 2002 have been concentrated on the “hot spots” or obvious areas in need of rehabilitation (e.g., livestock feeding operations, un-vegetated riparian areas, passage barriers, and areas with direct livestock access to the stream).  As mentioned previously, these projects have been implemented in the interim while the detailed baseline data collection phase is completed.  The NPT Water Resources Division, Watershed Division, and NPSWCD are all involved in the data collection/analysis process.  

Summary of FY07 Contract:
In response to the ISRP and NPCC 2007-09 proposal comments, 2007 contract activities will be limited in scope.  The primary project objective during the 2007 contract year is to analyze and compile the fish presence and abundance data and stream habitat data collected annually since 2003, and develop a joint 10-year Restoration Plan, between the NPT and the NPSWCD, for the Big Canyon Creek Watershed.  This data will be analyzed and converted into a GIS-compatible format.  Once in a GIS-compatible format, the data will be combined with other available, watershed-wide data sets currently being developed by the Nez Perce Soil and Water Conservation District and the NPT Water Resources Division.  These data sets will likely include some or all of the following: 1.) Thermal imagery, 2.) LiDar Imagery, 3.) water quality data, and 4.) riparian canopy analysis.  The synergistic effect of combined data sets will help to provide an accurate assessment of the status and health of the aquatic resources within the Big Canyon Creek Watershed.  This assessment will allow us to spatially prioritize the implementation of future watershed protection and restoration projects.    

In addition to the development of a 10-year Restoration Plan for the watershed, it is necessary to continue some additional project activities, that began in FY 2006 on Allotment 1029 on Long Hollow Creek, through the 2007 contract year.  Allotment 1029 is situated geographically in an area where we have had an extremely tough time gaining landowner support and confidence.  The majority of this parcel is in agricultural production.  Long Hollow Creek and associated floodplain wetlands run through the northern half of the parcel.  A small, intermittent tributary to Long Hollow Creek curves through the southwest quarter of the parcel.  In most years the channel has been planted over with cereal grains or beans.  No riparian/wetland buffer currently exists on this property.  We have been working with the landowner and other tribal natural resource departments on this parcel for several years to assess and develop a conservation plan for the property.  The landowner is now very eager to continue with implementation on his property.  We have committed to the landowner to implement the following activities in 2007:  1.) approximately 15 acres of mechanical weed control (i.e., with weed eaters and brushers) to prepare the newly-established riparian buffer for revegetation, 2.) plant approximately 10 acres of native trees and shrubs within this buffer, and 3.) install a temporary irrigation system to water the plugs for the first year at a minimum.  

The implementation of these ongoing FY 06 activities on Allotment 1029 will attempt to ensure that landowners and community members do not withdraw support for our watershed restoration program.  It often takes a substantial amount of time, energy, and commitment to work with landowners and lessees to implement watershed restoration projects on private property.  A certain level of trust between NPT staff and the landowner must be established before permission is granted to implement these projects.  Once this trust is established, it can easily be broken (e.g., not following through with obligations, insufficient funding, implementing projects differently than described to them, etc.).  

The ‘07-‘09 ISRP and Council comments mandate that 2007 funds are “… for completion of the inventory and assessments” only, and no funds will be available for implementation until the inventory and assessments have been completed and compiled.  While we agree that these assessments need to be compiled and a restoration/prioritization plan be developed as soon as possible, we believe that the funding restriction is likely to reduce landowner confidence, trust, and incentive to continue working with us to protect and restore the habitat on their property.