Expanding restoration in West Fork Trail Creek

The project will build on existing restoration efforts in the Trail Creek sub-basin, complementing the West Fork Trail & Chicago Creek culvert-to-bridges immediately upstream, and the West Fork Trail Creek River Mile 1.5 restoration project downstream.

The primary objective of this project is to increase habitat and continuity of cold water refugia along West Fork Trail Creek. Large wood will be sourced from a combination of BLM-managed lands, private timberlands, and on-site materials. Logs will be transported or pulled into the stream to create habitat complexity, improve instream conditions, and encourage floodplain and side channel connection. 

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Our projects directly contribute to ecological resilience by connecting rivers to their floodplains. In practice, the addition of large wood structures and secondary channel enhancement allows water to spread out. This recharges groundwater, feeds native trees, and buffers the effects of flooding on streambanks and beyond.