Redwood Reader

This summer Mattole Restoration Council implemented their Good Road Clean Creeks Project in our neighborhood. This is to address sediment delivery to Mattole tributaries primarily by improving subdivision roads and drainages and a small component of in stream rehabilitation- shifting Middle Creek away from the soil bluffs it undercuts and into the old channel away from the banks.
I drove in in a down pour over a very wet weekend. The road was in very good shape. All the water had been drained via large rolling dips. They may actually be a little high for large vehicles or trailers. The road is fairly steep for several miles and there is often no room for the back of tyhe dip to drain more than a few feet down the road before it is running the other way. A small section of road had minor water running down it near the Park, who may have opted out rather than have dips installed, I am not sure. The road is as good as it has been in years, but usually the level grading is gone by winters end and needs more work in one or two years. The rolling dips and out sloping should be good for quite a while.
Seeing the creeks in the Park were up I stopped at the top and hiked in, as there is no hope of crossing the creeks after big rain. I looked down from the bend in the road and was delighted to see the creek roaring in its new/old bed. The old bed still had water entering from the upper stream but was much reduced in volume and cutting power. Before, the soil bluffs were the left hand bank and the right hand banks was revegetating. Now both banks have established trees.
I moved down to the ford by the Magic Pool. The creek was high and ripping. You feel the power being right next to it. But here as in the section viewed before, the creek was in its channel. I doubled back up the hill and dropped down the other side, crossing the Upper Creek that now forms the waterfall. Much smaller than the creek it was still too wide to jump and the banks were steep and wet. The cat cut trail was extremely slippery and the Back Creek was also too wide to safely cross. We are talking about a lot of water.
I am still on the left side of the Creek but now I am downstream of the area I saw from above. Here looking downstream I see the creek has stayed in its channel, which is not usually the case. Vegetation grows along both banks to the waters edge and nothing even looks amiss. Some planted firs there are twenty-five years old. Redwoods are starting to appear in the brush. This area appears to be recovering nicely but it is part of the stretch that goes dry each year. There is also several side creeks entering the main stem here and the area has repeatedly blown out from large events uphill or upstream.
Moving back upstream to the soil banks themselves I am kind of frustrated another rocck wall wasn't built. The channel was dug except the last four feet and would have removed the cutting force from the bottom of the bluffs. Here I believe we are a victim of our own success, as this was the first year that section of creek has run all year since the mid eighties. There are little fish in there and it probably was a whole different permitting issue to dewater rather than working in a dry stream bed.
Nevertheless the creek will work its way into the back channel eventually.
NOw that we are moving along new project ideas make themselves known. One example would be to put the second section of Middle Creek back in its old bed. A second on, putting a culvert in the Upper Creek, restoring the flow to its old channel and dewatering the waterfall. It would then be possible to backfill the entire bowl with the soil bluffs, putting in a road that eliminates the Middle Creek fords and bringing the land to a plantable slope of repose.
Kudos and thanks to all the people involved over the years. The implementation came after years of planning and field visits, finding the connections between sediment, roads and creek conditions, several years collection of baseline data with Mattole Salmon Group
It was an amazing day for mushrooms, some areas literally littered with little brown and/or white mushrooms. We found several perfect boletes and a patch of white coral mushrooms. There were bright yellow ones, gold and black ones and pink ones. We didn't look too hard or too long but it seemed like numbers were up but variety was down.
I grabbed one redwood about four inches in diameter and was surprised how spongy the wet bark felt, much different from most other bark. I could see a lot of water is being reserved in the bark. Again we see the individual trees doing their bit to moderate climate for the good of the community, here by extending the time water remains in the biological zone rather than simply running off.
Coyote brush is blooming now and available from covering large amounts of grou7nd simply by shaking the seeds free. This was very effective for us years ago here and I still recommend it for and open ground like Big Hill above Cuneo or any burnt sections above fish bearing streams. Alder cones are also ready. These are simply dropped in the creek and allowed to sprout wherever they end up.
Once established they make plenty of seed every year and there is no need to repeat the process. We have had some success scattering seed on bare slopes in washouts high above the creek. Some have hit springs but we cannot account for several success stories in unlikely situations. We also note that several alder snags we have seen are over thirty-six inches in diameter.
We have been working with groups for a long while, and generally things are successful. However, removal of several items that probably seemed innocent enough have left some bad feelings in their wake. One was an old bent circular sawmill blade leaned against a stump along our road and belonging to my neighbor. This disappeared during the sediment inventory. Another was a large boar skull removed during tree planting several years ago and belonging to an absentee landowner. Both of these items come up now and then. Both of these items had sentimental value and belonged to other people. We have had restoration people on the land for many days and am thankful for all they accomplish.