Project Links
The NPS has completed analysis and public review for a project to restore a portion of Strawberry Creek in Redwood National Park to provide habitat for threatened fish and to restore a more naturally functioning stream. Strawberry Creek, a perennial tributary of Redwood Creek in the lower Orick valley, once supported a productive coastal cutthroat trout fishery and healthy populations of coho salmon and steelhead. By the mid-1950s, a large portion of the Orick valley floor had been converted to agricultural use. Strawberry Creek was straightened and channelized, and adjacent forested wetlands cleared and drained. Stream alteration created conditions favoring invasive grasses, which filled in the stream channel and reduced salmonid habitat. The grass-filled channel blocks fish passage, decreases water quality by reducing dissolved oxygen, raises water levels which aggravate flooding on adjacent lands, and promotes sediment deposition in the channel.
* indicates the current step in the planning process
Step 1. Conduct external scoping
Step 2. Identify environmental impacts and select preferred alternative
Step 3. Prepare draft plan/environmental document
Step 4. Public review of draft plan/environmental document
Step 5. Analysis of public comment
Step 6. Prepare final plan/decision document
Step 7. Release final plan/decision document to the public *
We will restore about 1600 linear feet of stream channel on park lands in partnership with others engaged in similar restoration activities on Strawberry Creek downstream of the park, including private land and County-owned property. Restoration activities in the park include removing invasive grasses, excavating a new channel to mimic the natural form, installing wood structures in the new channel to control streambed elevation and create fish habitat cover, re-establishing a riparian canopy along the newly excavated channel, replacing an undersized culvert, and removing sediment sources on adjacent hillslopes. About three acres of park land will be affected by restoration actions. The Finding of No Significant Impact summarizes the planning, analysis, and public comment on this project.
* indicates the current step in the planning process
Step 1. Conduct external scoping
Step 2. Identify environmental impacts and select preferred alternative
Step 3. Prepare draft plan/environmental document
Step 4. Public review of draft plan/environmental document
Step 5. Analysis of public comment
Step 6. Prepare final plan/decision document
Step 7. Release final plan/decision document to the public *
We will restore about 1600 linear feet of stream channel on park lands in partnership with others engaged in similar restoration activities on Strawberry Creek downstream of the park, including private land and County-owned property. Restoration activities in the park include removing invasive grasses, excavating a new channel to mimic the natural form, installing wood structures in the new channel to control streambed elevation and create fish habitat cover, re-establishing a riparian canopy along the newly excavated channel, replacing an undersized culvert, and removing sediment sources on adjacent hillslopes. About three acres of park land will be affected by restoration actions. The Finding of No Significant Impact summarizes the planning, analysis, and public comment on this project.