Contract efforts will focus on implementing the Desolation Creek Reach 3 restoration design. The design originated in the Desolation Creek Geomorphic Assessment and Action Plan (contract 68341, 71644, 73982 Release 11). The assessment was developed to create restoration priorities in the Desolation Creek basin. Because the highest priority reach was split during development of the 10 Road relocation design our focus moved to the second highest priority, Reach 3. A qualified design contractor was selected through a competitive process with the design contract administered by the CTUIR under contracts 73982 Release 65, 106, and 136. All permits save the Fill/Removal permit have been secured with the Fill/Removal permit application nearing completion. The CTUIR has selected a qualified implementation contractor (contract 73982 Release 136) through a competitive bid process. The selected contractor is responsible for sourcing and delivering rock and wood for the project under their contract with the CTUIR. Implementation is scheduled for 2022 and 2023 though a single year implementation will occur. Implementation is scheduled to begin in 2022 with the hope that all work can be completed that year with in water work completed during the 15 July to 15 August instream work period. Due to the scale of the project it is anticipated that it may be necessary to phase the project over two years with completion and final planting occurring in 2023. The CTUIR will contract with the design engineer to provide construction over sight and an as-built design. Contractor oversight will supplement that of CTUIR staff.

Desolation Creek Reach 3 Project Background:
Desolation Creek's Reach 3 is the second highest opportunity reach identified and ranked as a Tier 1 opportunity in the CTUIR's Geomorphic Action Plan and Prioritization. Collaborators used BPA's ATLAS prioritization tool to rank restoration potential for the entire Desolation Creek basin in 2016/17. Thus far one half of the highest priority Tier 1 reach has been addressed with the lower half put on hold pending the development of the 10 Road relocation. Grant SWCD is completing the road design and in the meantime collaborators determined an effective approach would be to design and implement on Reach 3. The John Day Partnership subsequently utilized Atlas to rank watersheds and opportunities within the entire John Day Basin. The North Fork John Day was ranked as a Tier one watershed and the project ranked as a Tier two opportunity within the entire North Fork Watershed Area.  

Reach 3 has been extensively influenced by past land management practices not limited to timber harvest and associated transportation management and grazing. Timber harvest and transportation infrastructure left much of the floodplain isolated and focused flows into a single channel thereby decreasing floodplain connectivity and isolating the wetlands which remained. Cattle have essentially had free access to Desolation Creek for an extended period of time as they moved off adjacent the landowner, USFS grazing allotments to camp on Desolation Creek throughout the summer as boundary fences did not exist. More recently ODFW, the NFJDWC, and CTUIR collaborated to develop riparian exclusion fence along 11.8 miles of Desolation Creek and associated stock water developments to replace lost stock watering opportunities from Desolation Creek.

The completed design utilizes a combination of 'Stage Zero' and traditional engineered structures to effectively address site conditions. A cabin and the 1003 Road bridge prevent use of 'Stage Zero' in the central portion of the site so such techniques will be focused upon the upstream and downstream extents.  

Floodplain grading and large wood structure development in the site's upper extent will improve floodplain connectivity and allow for reduced flow velocity by distributing flows across a broader area. This includes development of one high flow channel with associated wood placement.

In the site's middle adjacent to a cabin and 1003 Road bridge the development of features that may obstruct channel flows has been set aside for improving floodplain inundation. While several wood structures will be developed the focus of efforts here are related to increasing flow connectivity to an existing wetland through small floodplain cuts. Additionally moving a portion of the 1003 road to adjacent hillslopes improves wetland inundation and fish passage to Moonshine Creek and to potential thermal refuge provided by an unnamed creek.

The site's lower extent improvements will increase flow connectivity to existing wetlands, reconnect and old meander scroll, increase floodplain connectivity to dry floodplain areas isolated by past road construction, and increase stream complexity through the development of large wood structures and multiple flow channels.

Thus far a implementation contractor has been identified and all permits secured or in the process of being secured. Implementation is scheduled to begin in 2022 with the hope that all work can be completed that year. Due to the scale of the project it is anticipated that it may be necessary to phase the project over two years with completion and final planting occurring in 2023.

The design engineer will provide implementation oversight and develop an as-built design once implementation is complete. Monitoring will include metrics lined out tin the Desolation Creek reach 3 Monitoring and Adaptive Management Plan (MAMP) previously developed to include stream measurements, photo points, and water temperature monitoring. The CTUIR will administer implementation and oversight of contracts.

All contract administrative, permitting, and reporting obligations for the Desolation Creek Reach 3 Implementation effort will be completed under the CTUIR North Fork John Day contract that renews annually (FY22 CR-350961 or FYT23).

CTUIR North Fork John Day Program Background:
The CTUIR’s North Fork John Day Fisheries Enhancement Project (The Project) works to protect and enhance physical and biological process and in turn habitat to improve the natural production of indigenous, Mid-Columbia River (MCR) Evolutionary Significant Unit (ESU) summer steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) listed as threatened under the Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), spring Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), and Pacific Lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) within the North Fork of the John Day River Basin. The Project originated in 2000 with initial on-the-ground implementations occurring in 2001. Restoration actions were initially undertaken within lower Camas Creek tributaries (Snipe and Owens Creeks), Deer Creek and the Lower North Fork John Day River. Over time however, the Project identified three focus basins (Camas, Desolation, and Granite Creeks) for which analysis and actions plans have been developed to guide restoration actions.

Focus basins contain a mix of privately held and publicly managed lands. Historic land management practices influenced each basin somewhat differently, however, past and current grazing, timber harvest, and transportation infrastructure development and maintenance influence all basins. The Granite Creek basin however, has been heavily placer and lode mined as well. Restoration Prioritization is primarily guided by the John Day Basin Partnership’s ATLAS prioritization of the John Day basin supplemented by the CTUIR derived Camas Creek Assessment and Desolation Creek Geomorphic Assessment and Action plan. The Bull Run Creek Action Plan informs work in portions of the Granite Creek watershed and also was incorporated into the John Day Partnership's Atlas Framework.

These documents do not however replace the CTUIR’s First Foods Policy implemented through the Umatilla River Vision and Upland Vision. The Project’s approach to habitat restoration is rooted in the CTUIR’s First Foods Policy and Umatilla River Vision. The First Foods Policy identifies food groups integral to the tribe’s religion and culture while the Umatilla River Vision outlines a framework for process based analysis using five primary touchstones (Hydrology, Geomorphology, Aquatic Biota, Riparian Vegetation, and Connectivity). The framework has been adopted by the CTUIR’s Department of Natural Resources for all management and restoration actions. The First Foods Policy, Umatilla River Vision and Upland Vision are inherently consistent with the strategies and objectives outlined in the John Day Subbasin Plan and other planning and recovery documents.

Thus far, habitat has been improved through nine conservation agreements, nine complete or partial barriers to passage removed, 515 Km and 8,138 acres of stream channel and floodplain habitats improved, and two assessments and one action plan have been developed to guide restoration actions. Work will continue with the Camas, Desolation, and Granite reek basins until priorities guide our work elsewhere.