Gifford Pinchot National Forest

Projects & Plans

Hemlock Dam Removal and Trout Creek Restoration Project

• NEW: Hemlock Dam webcam
• NEW: Steelhead video

• Background Information
  
• Planning
  
• News
  
• Project Status/Timeline
  
• Images
  
• Closures
  
• Partners

Background Information

Hemlock Dam, an aging concrete structure that once provided power and later irrigation to the CCC and Forest Service will be dismantled to improve habitat, water quality and passage for Lower Columbia River steelhead. The dam no longer produces power or irrigation storage, but continues to affect steelhead by impeding upstream and downstream movement of the fish, increasing water temperatures in lower Trout Creek, and obstructing downstream movement of valuable stream sediments.

Trout Creek is located in the Wind River watershed in southwest Washington. The Wind River is a Tier I Key Watershed on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, and as such is a top priority for aquatic habitat restoration. Trout Creek provides critical habitat for Lower Columbia River steelhead, a fish listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. This project will improve conditions for the fish and restore natural riverine processes to lower Trout Creek. Trout Creek was once known for producing a disproportionately large share of the wild steelhead in the Wind River, and this project aims to help restore that mantle.

Restoring Trout Creek

Since the early 1990’s, the Forest Service along with partner agencies and organizations have focused restoration efforts on Trout Creek, in efforts to restore the historically exceptional steelhead habitat. Riparian, upland, and instream habitats in upper Trout Creek have been enhanced by projects intended to reduce fine sediment introduction to Trout Creek, to provide increased shade on the stream, to improve fish passage at road crossings, and to improve instream habitat by placement of woody debris complexes. Removal of Hemlock Dam and restoration of lower Trout Creek contributes to this whole-watershed approach to habitat restoration, and is the culmination of many years of planning.

Project Goal

The goal of the restoration project is to increase the viability and productivity of Lower Columbia River Steelhead in the Wind River.
 

To meet this goal, the restoration project has these objectives:

• Improve passage for fish and other aquatic organisms
• Reduce peak stream temperatures in lower Trout Creek.
• Improve quality of channel bottom substrates throughout lower Trout Creek
• Increase habitat complexity in lower Trout Creek

Project Elements

• Remove Hemlock Dam along with associated buildings and structures
• Excavate excess sediments from the reservoir area
• Construct a channel in the area now occupied by the reservoir
• Incorporate large woody debris in the channel and floodplain
• Physically remove and/or treat invasive vegetation in the project area
• Revegetate the area surrounding the new channel

Lower Columbia River Steelhead

The Lower Columbia River Steelhead was listed as a threatened species on March 19, 1998 by NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service. The Lower Columbia River Steelhead is considered a distinct population segment (DPS).
 
The DPS geographic area the Lower Columbia River Steelhead includes all naturally spawned steelhead populations below natural and manmade impassable barriers in streams and tributaries to the Columbia River between the Cowlitz and Wind rivers in Washington, and the Willamette and Hood rivers in Oregon. The Lower Columbia River Steelhead DPS also includes ten hatchery programs on rivers and streams within the same geographic area. History of the Site

 
Hemlock Dam was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1937 to provide irrigation and power to the adjacent Wind River Nursery. With the closure of the nursery in the 1990s, the irrigation and power generation function was no longer needed. In the seventy years since the dam has been in place, sediment behind the dam has increased and water temperatures have risen to lethal levels for fish.

Project Status

Scheduled for implementation in summer 2009.

The $2.1 million construction project was awarded to the James Dean Construction company.

Planning:

In December of 2005 Mt. Adams District Ranger Nancy Ryke signed a Record of Decision (ROD) today calling for removal of 70-year-old Hemlock Dam northwest of Carson, Wash.

Ryke chose Alternative C of the final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Hemlock Dam Fish Passage and Aquatic Habitat Restoration Project. It calls for dredging years worth of sediment that has built up behind the CCC structure before the dam itself is removed.

Removing the dam and its sediment is the best way to fulfill our obligation to enhance fish passage for threatened steelhead, Ryke said. We have put a lot of effort into this study, and I believe it's the right course of action to achieve our objectives for steelhead recovery.

Hemlock Dam is located on Trout Creek, a tributary to the Wind River, approximately 10 miles northwest of Carson, Wash. The dam has been identified as an impediment to the migration and survival of Lower Columbia River steelhead, a fish that is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

Copies of the FEIS and ROD are available online at:
http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/04projects/hemlock-dam/

News:

Update - July 21, 2009:  Webcam Allows Viewing of Hemlock Dam Removal and Restoration of Trout Creek.  Work is now underway to remove Hemlock Dam north of Carson, Wash., and restore Trout Creek as a free flowing stream and enhance Lower Columbia Steelhead habitat in the Wind River drainage. If you can’t visit the site in person to watch the restoration work, which will occur through the summer, you can now log on and visit the site remotely via a live webcam.

Update - June 30, 2009:  In-stream Work to Begin July 1 to Restore Trout Creek and Remove Hemlock Dam.  Restoration of a one half mile stretch of Trout Creek and the removal of a 1930s era dam will begin July 1 on a $2 million project on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest near the former Wind River Nursery north of Carson, Washington. In-stream work will occur during the summer months to lessen impacts to resident and anadromous fish like the Lower Columbia River Steelhead. The restoration of Trout Creek to free flowing status will benefit the Wind River run of Lower Columbia River Steelhead.

Update - Week of June 01, 2009: The Hemlock Recreation Site and Forest Road 43 currently are closed to public access during the Trout Creek Restoration and Hemlock Dam Removal project.

While work within Trout Creek cannot occur until July 1, other jobs such as the removal of out buildings are taking place in June.

Trees are being collected and stacked near the site in preparation for rebuilding the stream channel up stream from Hemlock Dam.

May 26, 2009: Hemlock Special Area Closure and Map - (Adobe Acrobat PDF format - 758 kb)

Project to Remove Hemlock Dam and Restore Trout Creek.   A significant steelhead run will benefit from a project on the Forest near the former Wind River Nursery north of Carson, Wash.  The Forest and Mount Adams Ranger District, will host an open house on Saturday May 16, 2009 to provide information regarding Trout Creek restoration, and the removal of Hemlock Dam.  (April 24, 2009)

Timeline:

The restoration project will involve key milestones including:
Site closure to ensure public safety, Hemlock Recreation Site and Forest Road 43 will be closed until project completion.

• Facility Removal - Small buildings such as the pumphouse located just southeast of the dam will be removed.
• Creek Diversion - Trout Creek will be diverted upstream through 2 or 3 large pipes and returned below the existing dam.
• Hemlock Dam Removal - The 22-foot high Hemlock Dam will be dismantled.
• Invasive Weeds - A growing population of invasive weeds will be removed.
• Stream Channel - A large amount of accumulated sediment will be removed upstream of the dam. The natural channel for Trout Creek will be restored.
• Riparian Restoration - Once the natural channel is established, native plants and trees will be restored to provide shade and complexity to the area.
• Recreation Site - Hemlock Recreation Site will be reopened once construction is completed. The Forest Service will work with interested publics to identify recreational development at the site.

Images:

(Click on images above for a larger file).

Closures:

May 26, 2009: Hemlock Special Area Closure and Map - (Adobe Acrobat PDF format - 758 kb)

Partners:

The restoration of Trout Creek and the benefits to the federally listed Lower Columbia River Steelhead would not be possible without the financial support of the following partners:

• Bonneville Power Administration
  
• Salmon Recovery Funding Board
  
• Yakama Nation
  
• American Rivers
  
• Ecotrust
  
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
  
• NOAA Fisheries
  
• Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group
   

US Forest Service
Gifford Pinchot National Forest - Vancouver, WA
Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument - Amboy, WA
Last Modified: Friday, 04 September 2009 at 14:46:05 EDT