The Scope of Work and budget presented in this document represent the activities associated with the Coeur 'd Alene Tribe's resident fish enhancement project on Hangman Creek within the Spokane Sub-basin corresponding to the contract period May 1, 2015 to April 30, 2016.  Total amount of this budget request is $362,000  The Coeur d'Alene Tribe has requested to BPA that a transfer of $62,000 to made to Project 2001-032-00 from funds available to BPA project 1990-044-00 in order to fulfill needs for restoration supplies. 2001-0332-00 has entered an active implementation phase following inventory and assessment which started in 2002 which includes the extensive use of heavy equipment to rebuild historical channel and floodplain conditions.

Ongoing objectives include:
o Determine areas that are in need of restoration to supply spawning and rearing habitat for Redband and other naturally reproducing trout.
o Support an educational outreach program to facilitate a “holistic watershed protection process managed thru BPA Project 1990-044-00.
o Implement a habitat/in-stream restoration strategy that will provide self-sustaining, naturally reproducing, and harvestable populations of native trout.
o Implement a monitoring and evaluation program to determine the effectiveness of habitat/in-stream restoration project.


The Hangman Creek watershed has experienced land use changes that have resulted in degraded in-stream habitat for fish and other aquatic species.  Conserving habitats in the upper tributaries is a priority along with increasing fish distribution and reconnecting fragmented populations. A primary method of accomplishing habitat enhancement is to enlist beaver in a holistic strategy to address multiple ecological and hydrologic process deficiencies. Beaver influenced channel and floodplain morphology and vegetation historically, but alteration of their habitat and trapping have substantially reduced their influence and the ability for their populations to rebound.  The absence of large wood as a dam foundation and impacts to the availability of suitable dam-building material in the riparian zone have influenced the resilience of beaver dams currently, which tend to blow out during high flow and/or ice melt.  If conditions could be made more favorable for their re-establishment, it is likely that channel conditions and in-stream habitat could be restored closer to the pre-settlement state, thereby restoring fish habitat, the riparian zone, and the floodplain in the process.

The following work will facilitate measured progress toward achieving the objectives for the project during this scope of work:


  
1) Implementing designs for restoration using beaver. WE F will be a continuation of the first major restoration project on the mainstem of Hangman Creek and an expansion of the concept of forcing flood waters onto the floodplain first implemented on Sheep Creek in 2012. Two relic floodplain channels will be reactivated by building flow-choke structures downstream of the intended overbank flow. This action is upstream of the activated relic channel completed in 2014 and will relieve pressure from flood waters as well as create additional riparian habitat. This work element will also complete the earthen plug of the man-made channel initiated in 2014.
Over-bank flows will be much more frequent because of an improved entrenchment ratio with the newly established channel.  These measures will support beaver activity that will agrade the streambed over time to achieve more normative hydrologic function and enhance riparian habitats. With these improvements in place, riparian restoration can proceed to ultimately provide better canopy cover over the channel and increased bank stabilization. With a healthy riparian area, complete with species that beaver need, we can expect habitat conditions to reach a stable equilibrium. This action follows up on recommendations assigning priority to this reach.  WE J will provide a temporary source of food and building materials for beaver by providing clipping at key locations at known beaver activities. WE K will provide riparian enhancement at the same location on Hangman Creek as WE F. WE G is in-stream construction to aid BPA Project 2001-033-00 by building a choke-flow structure to relieve pressure from flood waters on a constructed channel on lower Sheep Creek. WE H is a large woody debris addition on the NF of Indian Creek within Stimson Lumber co. property. This is part of a three year plan to add wood to all three forks of Indian Creek. WE I is a minor project to remove a fish barrier on NF Indian where a culvert was abandoned and subsequently plugged.


2) RM&E activities will involve a continuation of fish habitat surveys to track spawning and rearing conditions available to salmonids (WE T); migration trapping (WE M & N); continuous temperature monitoring throughout the watershed (WE V); as well as discharge and hydrolab monitoring (WE U), and; summer backpack electroshock surveys (WE L) and spring migration trapping to evaluate status and trends in redband trout populations. WE's I & M will expand a new protocol for the project which involves using PIT tag technology to monitor seasonal movements of redband trout in specific reaches of the upper Hangman watershed. A fixed PIT-tag station will be installed at two locations on Hangman Creek to monitor mainstem use by redband trout, one at the mouth of Indian Creek, and a 2nd at the mouth of Nehchen Creek. This will be in addition to three Pit-tag stations installed in Sheep Creek, Smith, and Indian Creek.

3) An annual report will not be done within this contract, as we are on a schedule of producing one RM&E and summary of restoration work completed on a biannual basis.