From the Field Archives - Page 35 of 39 - Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group

Upper Day Slough Bridge Complete!

September 30, 2016/in From the Field /by Lucy

Check out SFEG’s latest fish passage improvement project! The poorly maintained culverts on Upper Day Slough have long been an impediment to chum, Chinook and other fish moving through this Skagit River side channel, and SFEG has wanted to fix them for more than a decade.

Blue circles represent the former culvert on the new bridge.

On September 22, Moceri Inc from Bellingham started work to replace the old culverts with a shiny new bridge. The bridge was in place by Friday 9/23 and as of today work on the project is wrapping up. These projects benefit both fish and landowners, and are an incredibly cost-effective way of restoring habitat.

Laying the gravel on the road

This is the 5^th such bridge SFEG has worked on with engineer Paul Tappel of Fisheries Engineers Inc. Design for this project was paid for by the State Salmon Recovery Board, and construction costs were funded by Puget Sound Energy as part of their Baker River relicense Aquatic and Riparian Habitat Improvement program. Special thanks to landowners Tony and Hilda Becerra, and all of the Day Creek meadows folks for putting up with the inconvenience while we work. Now we can sit back and wait for the fish to show up.

Blackberry!

September 16, 2016/in From the Field /by Lucy

Restoration can be hard work! SFEG field Staff Stephanie Blevens, Jen Dunn, and Catherine Harris (not shown) battle a 2 acre monoculture of blackberry on private property along Walker Creek. This is being done in effort to increase the riparian buffer, improve water quality, reduce erosion, and create habitat for the many creatures that live in and around the creek. Blackberry is an incredibly invasive plant that, when left unmaintained, will engulf native trees and shrubs, reducing diversity in the understory.

Fly Fishing Carey’s SloughAugust 12, 2016/in From the Field /by Lucy

Volunteer Dick Raisler fishing Carey’s Slough

What’s living in Carey’s Slough? Three volunteers assisted SFEG with finding out that answer, by going fly fishing! Volunteers Dick Raisler, John Leighton, and Robin La Rue recently joined SFEG staff and interns to assess the fish population of this Skagit River backwater slough using a different technique than our usual seine or snorkel surveys. These three local fly fishermen and AmeriCorps member Nik Novotny offered their skills to see what they could find in the slough. Although floating this calm waterway in a canoe made for a very relaxing morning, we didn’t catch much! They caught two cutthroat trout and one pumpkin seed sunfish. This information gives us another piece of the puzzle for analyzing Carey’s Slough for future restoration projects.

A few fish species and a few very wet staff members later, we at least got some neat photos!