Tunk Creek Restoration
Project Goals and Objectives
Tunk Creek was heavily impacted by nearby a nearby mining project in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The degraded creek was further impacted by the 2015 Okanogan Complex fires, which burned much of its vegetation, leading the creek to become further straightened and incised. Our restoration goals for Tunk Creek included: increasing channel complexity, reconnecting the stream to its floodplain, and improving native riparian vegetation. In partnership with WDFW, the local land manager, another important goal for this project was to improve habitat for local endangered sharptail grouse.
Structure Construction Elements
In order to accomplish these goals, the Methow Okanogan Beaver Project Team constructed 31 Beaver Dam Analogues and Post-Assisted Log Structures in several complexes throughout the work area. These structures were built with locally harvested posts and woven with local conifer boughs. Structures were designed to increase channel complexity, helping to shift Tunk Creek from a straight, narrow, fast-moving creek to a much more complex and heterogenous system, with braided channels, deep pools, and floodplain activity during high flows. In fall of 2023, we planted over 1000 native riparian plants of various species, including Water Birch, a key forage species for sharptail grouse. Throughout our time on this project, there has been local beaver activity nearby and at times within our project area.
Project Photos
Cover Photo
2023-12-14
A non-channel spanning PAL (aka bank-blaster) works to improve channel complexity directing water towards the opposite bank to promote channel widening and sediment transport.
2023-12-14
Equipped with monitoring gear, the MOBP team checks out a beaver dam in the project area, just above our structures
2024-04-15
A batch of plant starts awaits planting
2023-10-14
A deep pool forms behind a newly-constructed BDA