Pumpkin Creek Phase 2
Project Goals and Objectives
The Pumpkin Creek riverscape is currently degraded as a result of historic land use practices (i.e. extensive livestock grazing and agriculture development) and beaver extirpation. The mainstem channel suffers from incision and lack of geomorphic complexity, such that the fluvial system cannot support healthy floodplain, riparian, or instream habitats. Restoration aims to promote natural, self-sustaining processes such as channel aggradation and widening that allow a healthy, resilient riverscape to develop in the absence of beaver and wood structure. These processes will allow the channel to recover from previous incision and provide higher quality habitat for native fish and terrestrial species. Specific goals associated with the initial phase of this project are: Increase the proportion of active valley bottom, increase lateral connectivity, expand riparian cover along the channel and within active floodplain, increase channel/habitat complexity.
Structure Construction Elements
Structures consisted primarily of channel-spanning and bank-attached PALS with few occurrences of mid-channel PALS, 2 BDAs, and 6 headcut mitigation structures. Material consisted of ponderosa pine and juniper sourced from a nearby forest plot owned by the State of Montana. Structural material ranged in size between 3 to 8' in length and 2 to 5" in diameter.
Project Photos
Cover Photo