Kuck Bioengineered Blank Protection

摘要

Private property restoration work to protect salmon and steelhead along the Shasta River takes many forms. On the Kuck Ranch previous work included livestock exclusion fencing, and limited tree planting. After several years, it was apparent that significant stretches of the excluded area were not significantly improving, primarily due to accelerated erosion resulting from years of livestock impacts and recent river avulsion. Temporary hardening of the bank was accomplished using bioengineered techniques, followed by planting of tules and willows. Bioengineered bank protection will function much like rock rip-rap for about 10 years, by which time it will have rotted. During that period the unstable areas will be colonized by planted and naturally recruited riparian and emergent plants. In all, 1500 feet of unstable bank were treated with a dense coverage of willow mattresses made up of approximately 6100 individual bundles of willows 14-12 feet long, and inter-planted with 35 cubic yards of tule root balls. During the late winter following installation of the matting, 1250 willow whips were planted immediately above the matting. Funding for this project was provided by the Klamath River Basin Fisheries Task Force and the California Department of Fish and Game SB 271 program.