Watershed Sciences Workshop: College of the Siskiyous

My name is River Montgomery, I am 19 years old and this is my second year in the youth initiative. I grew up in upper Hat Creek and am part of the Pit River Tribe. My cousin Lincoln Granillo is also completing his second year with the program. So far the year has been really fun and we have been spending a lot of time in the water which is great. My favorite project this year has been working on the willows walls. I am really excited for our snorkel surveys that are coming up at the end of the month too.

This week, Lincoln, myself and another crew member went to a Watershed Sciences Workshop at the College of the Siskiyous. We learned about watersheds and hydrology and how they work. We got to go on a lot of field tours and were trained in some basic watershed monitoring techniques. One cool thing I learned was how to measure stream discharge. You find the discharge rate by calculating the area of the stream and then you time the velocity by using a measuring device and then multiply the numbers together to get a measurement of cubic feet per second. This type of work really interested me because if I were to go to college I would want to go to study Hydrology.

Another field trip we went on was to a fish hatchery in Mt. Shasta. It was really interesting learning about how they raise the fish and about fish biology. Something I didn't know before the tour was about the layer of slime that covers fish. They produce the slime to protect them from disease and also to cut down on resistance from the water when they swim. Overall it was a really good way to spend the week. Having a pool table in the rec room of the college was a nice treat as well. 

Living Willow Walls: Living Landscaping

My name is Gabriella Villarriuel and I am a recent graduate of Burney High School. I will be attending Shasta college in the fall and then am planning to transfer to Humboldt State University after i earn my associates degree. In the future I would love to be a wildlife biologist.

This week our crew constructed willow walls which we constructed along the banks of Wood Duck Island  that have serious erosion problems. The walls are designed to stabilize the banks and help stop future erosion. Sediment will catch behind the wall and begin to build upon itself. Also the willow will take root and grow into new willows and stabilize the banks. The process of building a willow wall is a simple one. Our crew located willow bushes that were large and healthy enough for us to harvest thin, long branches or "whips." We harvested small whips and also thick branches to be used as stakes for the wall. We trimmed all the excess leaves and branches from the whips to make them as straight as possible. The stakes we cut to approximately 105 cm with an angle at the bottom. We then pounded the stakes in at the waters edge a foot or so apart. The willow whips were woven tightly through the stakes to create the "wall." We built five walls stabilizing almost 60 ft of stream bank. On top of stabilizing the banks, they will also provide cover for juvenile and adult fish, enhancing the  quality of the habitat in the area. I am very excited to come back next year and see if they worked and are growing. Hopefully the beavers don't eat them before then :).

 (Taking data)

( Construction of the wall)

 (Before)

 (After)

(3rd willow wall constructed)

Unwanted Guests: Managing Invasive Weeds Along Hat Creek

Invasive species are a major problem for Hat Creek. For our first official week of work, we committed our time to pulling different types of invasive plants. These noxious species can out compete the native plants and begin to take over the area. We hope to clear up areas that contain these invasives, particularly in locations where there will be future planting of native vegetation as part of the Hat Creek restoration project that will be occurring this fall.
Star Thistle is a highly invasive plant and in all the western states, California has the largest infestation of this noxious weed. Because of its abundance around Hat Creek, it is nearly impossible to remove by hand pulling methods. We pulled star thistle in strategic satellite patches around the creek to try and slow its spread. We concentrated our efforts along the trails and roads. This will help hinder its spread into different areas around Hat Creek. Teasel was the next invasive we pulled. There were five major satellite patches where we worked. Since Teasel is a bi-annual plant, which means it takes two years to mature and seed, we focused our efforts on removing the plants that would seed this year. This allows the young plants to grow and then can be removed next year. A few years of this treatment method and the plant can most likely be eradicated from the riparian area surrounding the creek. Poison hemlock and bull thistle are less common invasive plants that we treated along Hat Creek. The hope is that by getting these plants that have not had time to establish large colonies, that we can make it easier to control or eliminate them.
Invasive Species are very detrimental to Hat Creek. They are able to out compete and overtake an area. Our goal this week was to help slow or stop the spread of these plants to prepare the area for the large scale planting that will be occurring in the fall. By eliminating the invasives, the native plants will have less competition and will have a larger chance of establishing themselves once they are planted. These efforts will greatly help the overall restoration project on Hat Creek.

Training Week for the Hat Creek Youth Intiative

My name is Cody McCann. I am 16 years old and will be a junior at Fall River High School. My interests involve football, hunting, fishing and target shooting. I applied for this job at CalTrout again because I thought that it would be a good experience and it's better than mowing lawns all summer. Throughout the first week we had multiple presenters come out to speak with us about some of the projects that are happening around Hat Creek.We had Kit Mullen who is the Hat Creek District Ranger come speak to us about forestry management. One of the most interesting things I learned from her presentation was about the type of paint they use to mark trees. It is a special paint that the USFS orders and can only be used by forest service employees. If you are in possession of the paint and use it to mark trees without permission it is a felony crime. The Forest service uses this paint to mark trees and boundaries for timber sales.

We also had the opportunity to listen to Jeff Cooke from Spring Rivers speak about the aquatic ecology of Hat Creek and talk about the sedimentation issues surrounding Hat Creek. We took a walk with him to the site where the town of Carbon used to sit and he explained how the town rerouted Carbon Creek and the problems that the creek is encountering in its new channel. On the 4th day of training we headed to the Pit River Campground and Claude Singleton, the Recreational Manager for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), talk to us about the Fitzhugh Creek Project which we will be working on later in July. He also talked about the management of campgrounds and the history of the BLM. After the week of training I am really excited about the projects we will be working on this summer at Hat Creek.

(Jeff Cooke from Spring Rivers Ecological Services presents on the hydrology of Hat Creek)

Hello blog readers...

After a busy 2013 summer season with the 2013 Hat Creek Youth Initiative, the fun didn't end! Some students opted to continue engaging with the Hat Creek Restoration Project and Natural Resources by completing their Senior Project with California Trout. Dylan Spooner at Burney High School was one such individual and opted to help out the program by adding new photo-points to the collection of photos taken by the HCYI crew this summer.

Please read on below from Dylan to learn about Photo-point monitoring and what he did for his Senior Project:

Photo-Point Monitoring

            Photo points are general view pictures which are used for documenting and evaluating changes in an area over time. In the case of Hat Creek, I have assisted in performing photo point monitoring to document certain sections of Hat Creek before and after the full-scale restoration project. By committing time to taking these photographs, people will be able to clearly compare the effects of the Hat Creek Restoration Project on the specific sections that were worked on. Exact information about how, where, and when the picture was taken is required to provide an accurate location description for the future “after” photos to be taken. It is important to try and frame the exact same scene in both the before and after photos so a direct comparison can be made in the future. Details such as the type of improvement, degrees of orientation, time that a photo was taken, are all necessary to provide an exact description of the framing in the photograph.

            When the Hat Creek Youth Initiative first started in June, the crew’s first task was to take various photo points of different areas that would be improved by the restoration project. Each photo point location was marked by a pink flag with the file name written on it. The first feature we were to photograph was the new Carbon bridge location. This bridge would connect both the left and right banks of Hat Creek and allow for a complete trail loop. Another major feature we photographed were areas of proposed large woody debris (LWD) placement. LWD provides shelter and habitat for wild trout in the stream, and is necessary for a healthy fish population. Other areas we took photo points of include trail locations, Duck Island, proposed vegetation plantings, and tributaries. All of these areas will be improved over the course of the restoration project and are important to monitor and document to allow for a future comparison of the effects after the completion of the restoration.

            For my senior project, one of my tasks was to take more of these photo points in areas not captured during the summer. The purpose for adding more is due to the finalization of the Hat Creek Restoration proposal. As the project becomes closer to actually starting, there is a better picture of where certain improvements will be made. Duck Island was important to photograph in more detail since there will now be vegetation planted there. There is also a clearer understanding of where LWD will be added in Hat Creek, so these areas needed to be photographed as well. Another important feature that was not photographed at all during the summer initiative was the proposed area of a new parking lot. The old Carbon parking lot may be replaced by one further away from the stream bank, allowing people to walk into the area more easily. I took photo points of the old Carbon parking lot, the road leading to it, and possible locations of the new parking lot. These pictures will allow for easy comparison of the conditions of each location in the future after the restoration project.                                                                             

 

 Detailed descriptions of how, when, and where each photo point is taken is critical for the future photo points to be replicated exactly as the ones that were recently captured. Degrees of orientation, photo height, tilt, time taken, weather, and the feature being photographed are all important to include in a data sheet for each photo point taken. The name of the picture file is also very important to note. The photo has to be designated a unique name so it can be easily found and organized for later use. It also allows the picture to be easily aligned to the information sheet. A scene description is another important factor for photo point monitoring. This is useful for helping someone who may be replicating the photographs after the restoration project to understand what the photograph is trying to capture. Descriptive and clear information is just as important as the actual image is photo point monitoring.

            Photo point monitoring allows easy documentation of specific affected areas to be used in before and after comparisons. The photo points taken at Hat Creek recently will be used to compare the before and after effects of the Hat Creek Restoration Project. Many areas such as LWD placements, vegetation sites, and walking trails need to be documented in their current state so the changes made by the restoration project can be clearly observed and studied. The information provided from photo point monitoring will not only allow for comparison of Hat Creek conditions after the current restoration, but it can also help to study what aspects of the project showed significant improvements, and which ones showed little to no improvement. Future restoration projects on Hat Creek on anywhere else can be improved by studying the before and after effects of this current restoration, which is why photo point monitoring is an important part of this project.

 -Dylan

Senior Project- Forest Inventory at Hat Creek

Hello, 

My name is Clay Brock I am a senior at Fall River Jr. Sr. High school. I am doing my senior project with California Trout. A senior project is a requirement to graduate from Fall River High school. It involves 20 hours of volunteer work and has to do with something that helps out the community. My senior project is with Cal Trout and I am continuing with the work that I did this summer as part of the Hat Creek Youth Initiative. I worked for the Hat Creek Youth Initiative for 8 weeks and completed pre-project monitoring for the restoration project at Hat Creek. 

For my senior project,  I am doing Riparian Forest inventory quality control and double checking the plots that we completed this summer. Forest Inventory gives us an idea of what type of trees, how old they are and how big they are that are in a certain area. We did forest inventory plots on the Right stream-bank of Hat Creek from Wood Duck Island to Hwy. 299 Bridge. 

How we took data for the forest inventory was we first measured the Diameter at Breast Heights (DBH)and then determined the species of the tree. If the tree was a Conifer and had a diameter larger than 4.5 inches then we would take a core sample to tell how old the tree was. After all of this we would then find the height of the tree by either using a clinometer or a laser. We counted all of the trees within a 1/10^th acre plot that had a diameter greater than 1” and were taller than 4.5’ high. 

 

We completed 13 plots during the Hat Creek Youth Initiative. Doing Riparian Forest inventory quality control double checks the data that has already been taken and makes sure there were no mistakes.  I helped quality check 20% of the plots completed by the HCYI. I chose to do this as my senior project/summer job because I found it to be beneficial for a career path further down the road. It also looks good on resumes. I enjoyed this summer and learned very useful information and I hope to be back at it next year. 

Thanks, 

Clay Brock