er 390 kathy jenkins - urbanecology.ca technical series/jenkins.… · fee creek spawning and...

Fee Creek Spawning and Rearing Channel Re-Vegetation Project

Fee Creek Salmon Spawning Channel Riparian Restoration Project

Prepared for: University of Victoria Restoration of Natural Systems Diploma Program

ER- 390 Selected Project

Prepared by: Kathy Jenkins

Student # - 0135005

February, 2008


February 2008- Kathy Jenkins 2

ABSTRACT

In 1991, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans created a spawning and rearing system beside the Birkenhead River to enhance habitat for Coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) salmon primarily. The stocks of salmon from the Fraser River salmon runs had been declining since the 1970’s and there were efforts undertaken around the province to change this pattern of decline. A fish hatchery was built near the Fee Creek spawning channel before this development. The channel was designed to help enhance the salmon population more naturally; through increasing important habitat and to use the area in coordination with the hatchery for increased hatchery success... The DFO created a series of ponds and riffles to provide both spawning and rearing habitat for salmon and the area has been maintained since and has provided a healthy habitat for salmon. Fee Creek is currently used not only for important reproduction habitat but also for educational purposes. As part of the Department of Fisheries Salmonids in the Classroom program children are brought to the area to learn about the life cycle of salmon and their importance in our ecosystems. The Fee Creek re- vegetation project was developed to restore an area of the system that had been destroyed by BC Hydro clearing during their routine power line protection. The objectives of the Fee Creek re-vegetation project were to restore the vegetation to provide continued healthy habitat for salmon, repair degraded bridges that provide access for schoolchildren and to provide an educational opportunity to teach students about the salmon life cycle and the importance of restoration activities such as these. Some different aspects of this project were identifying landscape characteristics in order to determine suitable vegetation for planting, designing bridges, sourcing materials for new bridgework to enhance safety for schoolchildren, and finally identifying an educational opportunity to combine with the restoration activity. The project was successful in reaching its objectives and early monitoring has shown a good recovery of the habitat in the area as well as increased safety for schoolchildren.



TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................ 3 LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... 4 LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ 4 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 5 BIRKENHEAD RIVER FISHERIES BACKGROUND ............................................................... 5

Geographic Identity .................................................................................................................... 5 Ecological Value ......................................................................................................................... 6 Fishery Values and Species Variety ........................................................................................... 7

Birkenhead population ............................................................................................................ 7 History of Fishery Impacts .......................................................................................................... 7 History of Conservation and Enhancement ................................................................................ 7 First Nations Values .................................................................................................................... 9

FEE CREEK PROJECT HISTORY ............................................................................................... 9 Fee Creek Value .......................................................................................................................... 9 Salmonids in the Classroom ...................................................................................................... 10

FEE CREEK VEGETATION PROJECT ..................................................................................... 11 Introduction and Project Area Description ........................................................................... 11 Fee Creek Design Profile ...................................................................................................... 11 Geography ............................................................................................................................. 12 Soils ....................................................................................................................................... 12 Vegetation ............................................................................................................................. 12

Objectives ................................................................................................................................. 13 Budget ....................................................................................................................................... 14 Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 14

Pre-planning .......................................................................................................................... 14 Restoration Day .................................................................................................................... 15

Community Involvement and Support ...................................................................................... 15 Monitoring ................................................................................................................................ 16

CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 17 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 18



LIST OF TABLES Table 1.Species List for Plants Identified at Fee Creek ................................................................ 13 Table 2. Budget for Fee Creek Vegetation Project ....................................................................... 14

LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Birkenhead River and Fee Creek Location ..................................................................... 6 Figure 2. Birkenhead Hatchery Location and Defunct Hatchery from 1906 at left. ...................... 8 Figure 3 Fee Creek Design Profile ............................................................................................... 11 Figure 4.Newly planted vegetation growing well on site. ............................................................ 17



INTRODUCTION Fee Creek is an engineered spawning channel that provides good quality spawning and rearing grounds for Coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) salmon. It consists of a series of ponds and riffles that connect to the Birkenhead River by way of a fish ladder and tributary. The area was first engineered by the Department of Fisheries (DFO) and the Pemberton Sports Wildlife Association in 1991. (Naylor, 2005) As soon as the system was created the ponds were stocked with Coho fry that over wintered and migrated in the spring. There was also a separate holding pond for the release of Chinook fry from the hatchery. The project reflected a change in emphasis from the reliance on a hatchery program to a more natural and less costly habitat improvement project, with public involvement being an important factor. Each year fry were released into the ponds and both spawners and smolts were counted to track success. It is also used currently as an educational site as part of the DFO Salmonids in the Classroom program to teach school children about the importance of habitat protection and the life cycle of anadromous fish. Fee Creek is a valuable addition to the Birkenhead River system from an ecological, cultural and educational perspective and for this reason, it is necessary to ensure that it remains to be an in tact and healthy habitat to provide spawning and rearing availability for Chinook and Coho. BC Hydro lines run above Fee Creek and through ordinary thinning to reduce hazards to power lines, a section of the vegetation that provides important shade to the spawning channel was cleared. The Fee Creek Spawning Channel re- vegetation project was created to restore the stream bank with vegetation that would provide adequate cover for juvenile and spawning salmon while not growing large enough to need thinning for power line protection purposes.

BIRKENHEAD RIVER FISHERIES BACKGROUND

Geographic Identity The Birkenhead River begins at Chipmunk Mountain, flowing south for about 60 kilometers until it enters the north end of Lillooet Lake near the communities of Mount Currie and Pemberton, British Columbia. It is the largest tributary of the Lillooet, draining a watershed of about 600 km2. The hydrology of the Birkenhead is characterized by a dominant spring snow melt and fall and spring precipitation. It has a daily discharge of about 24m3s-1 with a maximum discharge in June and minimum in March. The Birkenhead has much less glacial influence than the Lillooet and the water is quite clear for most of the year. Most of its flow is through a long narrow valley which is bounded on either side by steep mountain banks. Because of the steep banks along the river, most of the spawning habitat is in the main river and short side channel areas. (Schubert et al, 2007)



Figure 1. Birkenhead River and Fee Creek Location

Ecological Value The Birkenhead River is home to many different fish species. There are significant numbers of Sockeye, Chinook and Coho salmon and also chum, kokanee, rainbow and coastal cutthroat trout, Dolly Varden char, bull trout, mountain whitefish, northern pike minnow, large scale sculpin and lamprey. Although there has been little testing done on the water quality in the river, the few that have been done suggest the quality is generally good. ( Berezay, MacKinnon & Fedorenko, 1988)



Fishery Values and Species Variety The Birkenhead River Chinook salmon population is one of the 64 populations of the Fraser River. The Fraser River is said to be the world’s largest salmon population. The Birkenhead Chinook population is classified as one of the “spring run” populations that migrate before early July. The status of the Birkenhead population has been of special concern since the 1970’s; along with other spring run populations when declining returns to the river were noticed.( Schubert et. al, 2007)

Birkenhead population The Birkenhead population is a genetically isolated population of Chinook. It possesses local adaptations, including a very early spawner migration and large body size that separate the species from other populations. The population abundance ranges anywhere from 130 to 1491 individuals based on DFO counts since the 1980’s. The Birkenhead population migrates far north to South Western Alaska and Northern B.C. , where they feed for three or four years until returning to spawn. A large number of Birkenhead Chinook are harvested in the Alaskan fishery and also in early season Canadian freshwater fisheries. Their migration up the Fraser River is the earliest of all of the spring run salmon. It usually begins in January and is complete by early May. They are thought to mature in Lillooet Lake or pools in the Birkenhead River and generally spawn in late August until September. The fish mature predominantly at age five and also at age four. Because of the genetic isolation of the population, it is likely that the Birkenhead Chinook could be designated by COSEWIC as a nationally significant population. (Schubert et. al, 2007)

History of Fishery Impacts The community of Pemberton has grown from 300 people in 1981 to over 2500 people in 2007 and the valley is situated on a floodplain. The Mount Currie First Nation is also affected by flooding on a yearly basis from rain induced spring and fall freshets. Flood control has altered much of the fish habitat in both the Birkenhead and Lillooet Rivers. In 1946, the Birkenhead was diverted to its current channel from one that drained into the Lillooet River 4.5 km above Lillooet Lake. Since that time many sections of the Birkenhead have been dyked and much of the original floodplain has been ditched or filled. This diversion of the Birkenhead from wetlands and floodplains has eliminated important rearing habitats from Birkenhead Chinook.

History of Conservation and Enhancement A hatchery was set up in 1977 on the Birkenhead River just north of Pemberton by the Department of Fisheries to try to enhance the declining Birkenhead population of the time. It was turned over to the Pemberton Wildlife Association (PWA) in the early 1990’s because the DFO



felt it was not achieving the results in had expected. The PWA continued to run the hatchery until 2003 when major flooding destroyed the hatchery beyond repair. Along with the hatchery, the Fee Creek spawning channel was created in 1991 to enhance the population more naturally by improving spawning and rearing habitat. Smolts from the hatchery were released into Fee Creek on a yearly basis. Despite 30 years of conservation and enhancement work in the area, the Birkenhead River Chinook population numbers have not recovered to their numbers prior to the 1970’s.

Figure 2. Birkenhead Hatchery Location and Defunct Hatchery from 1906 at left.



First Nations Values The Birkenhead River salmon run also provides a bountiful food supply for two First Nations cultures, the Lil’wat and the N’Qautqua, who both live in the area. Both cultures carry on smoking and storing of Chinook and Coho as traditional food sources. First Nations use set gill nets and angle with bait and lure to catch salmon. Harvest rates by local first nations average about 23% for Chinook but range from 6% to 63% depending on the year. The First Nations have worked with DFO throughout the last few decades on restoration, enhancement and educational opportunities in and around the Birkenhead River. (Schubert et. al, 2007)

FEE CREEK PROJECT HISTORY

Figure 3 Signs Posted at Fee Creek Spawning Channel

Fee Creek Value Fee Creek provides important spawning and rearing ground for all salmon species that travel up the Birkenhead. It has been used since the opening of the hatchery on the Birkenhead for Chinook and Coho smolt releases and also provides spawning habitat for Chinook, Coho and Chum Salmon. The water in the creek comes from a ground water spring and is of very good quality for fish habitat. The creek is well shaded from sun and is protected from much human disturbance due to its unpopulated location.



Salmonids in the Classroom Fee Creek has played a valuable role in the Department of Fisheries Salmonids in the Classroom program for many years. Students raise salmon from egg stage in aquariums in classrooms in Pemberton and Darcy and these are released as fry into Fee Creek in the spring time. Students learn how to care for growing salmon and gain an understanding for the importance of salmon in British Columbia. Fee Creek is used yearly for these purposes and provides an excellent teaching area for students in the program. ( Woodruff, 2006)



FEE CREEK VEGETATION PROJECT

Introduction and Project Area Description Fee Creek is located on the highway that goes from Mount Currie to Darcy. It is situated at 10.6 km from the junction at Mount Currie. Its UTM coordinates are 50°24' 01.23" N and 122°42'12.10" W. It is northeast of the Village of Pemberton across the highway from the Birkenhead River. A fish ladder and a small creek that existed previously provide access across the highway to the Birkenhead from Fee Creek.

Figure 4 Fee Creek Design Profile

Fee Creek Design Profile At the northern end of Fee Creek there is a natural groundwater stream that meanders approximately 600 meters southward through a series of ponds. This stream became the source of water for the newly developed spawning channel. The total ponded area of Fee Creek is 1.66 hectares and the total channel length is 200 meters. It is quite a small system but beneficial for spawning and rearing. The groundwater channel is approximately 3 meters wide along its entire length. Five semi- natural rearing ponds were constructed by creating five earthen dams along the channel. The ponds then drain through an outlet channel excavated adjacent to the downstream end of each pond. Each pond is between one and two meters deep. A final pond was then created that is isolated from the other ponds to be used specifically for rearing hatchery fry. A fish way was created to allow wild fry to bypass this pond and access the uppermost pond and channel.



Geography Fee Creek lies within the Interior Douglas Fir wet warm biogeoclimatic zone. Because the area has been engineered for spawning channels and pools there are wetland areas, creeks and pools which result in a variety of vegetation types. Swampy areas display wetter sedges and grasses and higher drier areas have more Ribes and drier soil plants.

Soils From a soil pit dug upstream from the site, it would appear that the Biogeoclimatic Classification would be IDF ww site series 01 or 04. The soil moisture regime is about 3 or well drained and the soil nutrient regime would be medium. The soil is coarse and is typical of the orthic eutric brunisols that were identified earlier in the region. (Ministry of Environment, 1973)

Vegetation The creek was created in 1991 by the Department of Fisheries and therefore much of the vegetation existing along the creek is about 15 years old. The dominant trees in the canopy are Western Red Cedars that would have been left in place from well before the creek was built. The canopy cover in the area is 40%. While much of this is cedar the rest is covered by pole sapling stage alder. In the specific re-vegetation zone, the canopy is 100% alder. These have grown up since the creek was developed and are all similar heights and diameters. See appendix.



The following is a list of vegetation present at Fee Creek. Species English Name Percent Cover Rubus leucodermis Black cap <5% Ribes Sanquineum Red Flowering Currant <5% Ribes triste Red Swamp Currant <5% Spiraea douglassi Hardhack 10% Acer glabrum Douglas Maple <5% Epilobium Augustifolium Fireweed <5% Arctium minus Common burdock <5% Galeopsis tetrahit Hemp Nettle 20% Rubus parviflorus Thimble berry 25% Alnus sitchensis Sitka Alder 30% Trifolium repens White Clover <5% Equisetum arvense Horsetail <5% Arithreum felix- femina Lady Fern 5% Lonicera involucrata Twinberry <5% Sambucus racemosa Elderberry 10% Cornus stolonifera Red Osier Dogwood 10% Scirpus microcarpus Small flowered bulrush 5% Streptopis amplexifolius Clasping Twisted Stalk <5% Aster modestus Great northern aster <1% Symphoricarpus albus Snowberry <5% Crataegus douglasii Hawthorn <5%

Table 1.Species List for Plants Identified at Fee Creek

Objectives The objective of the Fee Creek re-vegetation project was to re-vegetate the plants along an area of the spawning channel that were destroyed by BC Hydro clearing and to restore bridges that had fallen into disrepair due to flooding and age. The goal was to increase shade for spawning salmon and increase safety for children visiting the area for educational purposes. A final objective was to provide an educational opportunity for school aged people to learn about the importance of healthy habitat for salmon and other fish.



Budget The following budget was created for the project and funding was requested from the Whistler Blackcomb Employee Environmental Fund. This fund specifically funds habitat restoration projects in the Sea to Sky Corridor. The full funding request was granted for the project.

Project Description Costs In Kind Request Stewardship Pemberton/ PWA

Request from WB Envirofund

Western Red Cedar Trees x 8 -$7.35

$58.8 $58.80

Nootka Rose x 10- $4.46 $44.6 $44.60 Douglas Maple x 4- $6.00 $24.00 $24.00 Red Osier Dogwood x 6- $6.45

$38.7 $38.70

Red Elderberry x 12-$6.50 $78.00 $78.00 Shipping of plants from Vancouver

$220.00 $220.00

Nails for bridges $10.00 All lumber for

bridges

8 vollies for 3 hours@10/hour

Refurbish 4 x4 foot wooden sign for Spawning Channel

Blackcomb Sign shop-$200.00

Total Cost $200.00 $240.00 $474.10 Table 2. Budget for Fee Creek Vegetation Project

Methodology

Pre-planning Five site visits were undertaken at Fee Creek prior to the restoration project to determine potential for restoration. The following qualities were analyzed during these visits:

1. Vegetation characteristics 2. Structural stage characteristics 3. Water quality 4. Area requiring restoration 5. Previous restoration activities 6. Status of bridges over spawning channels 7. Beaver habitation in and around channels 8. Potential for restoration success

Contact was made with BC Hydro and the Department of Fisheries to communicate the intention of the restoration at Fee Creek and ensure proper approvals. All bridges were designed and prepared off site in order to facilitate less work on site during the restoration day.



Plants and shrubs were ordered to be in Pemberton the week before the restoration date. These were ordered according to how large they would grow so they would not interfere with hydro lines and the vegetation and site series characteristics identified on site inspection.

Restoration Day Restoration Day took place on September 30th, 2007 and was advertised as part of BC Rivers Day. Volunteers from Pemberton and Whistler were invited to take part in the event and a few local community group members came by to assist. The following activities took place simultaneously on restoration day:

1. Bridges that were designed off site were put together by groups of students and put into place

2. Vegetation was planted in the non- vegetated area by many students. The vegetation was planted in a random fashion in order to mimic the natural landscape. The non- vegetated area itself is a fairly high and dry bank so no wetland species were included in the vegetation planted. Western Red Cedars were planted along the back of the bank away from hydro lines.

3. Two groups of students pruned back overgrown shrubbery along the trail network that leads through the spawning channels at Fee Creek. This trail is used in educational walks to teach children about how the spawning system works.

4. No spawning salmon were using Fee Creek at the time but Coho were spawning across the road in the Birkenhead and students were taken for a full tour of the Fee Creek system and then over to the Birkenhead to see the spawning Coho.

Community Involvement and Support Members from Stewardship Pemberton, the Department of Fisheries and the Whistler Naturalists came out to help out on restoration day. Because an important part of the project was the educational component it was important to include this on restoration day. The Tamagawa University College of Agriculture from Japan has a collaborative educational program with Malaspina College in Nanaimo. They send students to Canada to Malaspina University-College for a 4-month mandatory program designed by Tamagawa and Malaspina University-College. The program offers all English instructions and lectures in classes such as Plant propagation and plant ID. The students also take an ESL program customized for the Tamagawa students, and its contents are based on Environmental topics. Tamagawa also sends its own instructors for the length of the program.



For the past two or three years, instructors from the program have worked with Whistler Blackcomb staff to receive lectures on Whistler and sustainability and this year, the students from the school were able to come to participate in the Fee Creek restoration project. A total of 35 students came to the project location, armed with shovels and warm clothes and they were divided into project areas according to the above activities. At the beginning of the project, they were given a lesson on the life cycle of anadromous fish and the importance of areas such as Fee Creek. It was a great opportunity to provide an educational experience to a distant culture and restore the area at the same time.

Monitoring Monitoring the effectiveness of the Fee Creek vegetation project will consist of site visits in the spring and in the fall to measure the growth of the vegetation and ensure the safety of the bridge work. Initial site visits in April of this year have proved to be very rewarding. The current survival rate of vegetation planted is 100% and all are showing good spring growth. Stewardship Pemberton will continue to monitor the site and provide ideas for improvement and the Salmonids in The Classroom program, which is ongoing, can also provide project feedback on a yearly basis. Photo monitoring will be done yearly to measure the success of the project.



Figure 5.Newly planted vegetation growing well on site.

CONCLUSION The re- vegetation of the Fee Creek Spawning and Rearing Channel was a success in the three objective areas it set out. The first was to revegetate the area destroyed by BC Hydro clearing. The vegetation is growing well and the area covered will eventually recover with vegetation that will not grow high enough to need further thinning. The second objective was to repair bridges and to make the area safe for young school children to learn about the life cycle of salmon. All bridges have proper deck work now and are much more stable to children to walk on. The final objective was to provide an educational experience as part of the project so a group could learn about the importance of ensuring continued good quality salmon habitat in times when salmon stocks are rapidly declining. This objective was met by being able to teach students from the Tamagawa School in Japan about salmon, their habitat and the process of restoring habitat in British Columbia. The Fee Creek project was only a very small scale project yet is an important part of continuing a history of enhancement and restoration that has gone on the area of the Birkenhead River for many years. The Birkenhead River Chinook particularly provide a unique contribution to nature because of their genetic isolation and projects such as this will help to continue that contribution.



REFERENCES Berezay, G., MacKinnon, C.N. and Fedorenko, A.Y. 1988. Birkenhead River Chinook Hatchery Operational History 1977-1986. Internal Report. Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Resource Enhancement Branch. Unpublished. Vancouver, B.C Ministry of Environment (1973). Soil Survey of the Pemberton Valley, British Columbia, Victoria, B.C. Naylor, Hugh, personal communication(2005). Pemberton, B.C. Schubert, N.D., Candy, J.R., Cooko, R., Greenbank, J., Lofthouse, D., McNicol, R.E., Parken, C.K., Sneddon, D., Tadley, J.A. and Wilson, K.H. 2007. Status of Birkenhead River Chinook salmon. ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Document # 2007/019 Woodruff, Veronica, personal communication (2006). Pemberton, B.C.

er 390 kathy jenkins - urbanecology.ca technical series/jenkins.… · fee creek spawning and...

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