May 12, 2021
SALEM, Ore. – ODFW is seeking public comment on a request to waive the fish passage requirements for a culvert replacement on Anlauf Creek in Douglas County.
Historically, Anlauf Creek provided habitat for coho salmon, cutthroat trout, and possibly steelhead. However, native migratory fish were excluded from the system by the construction of an impassable culvert conveying the creek under a private road and an I-5 off-ramp. In 2018 this culvert was replaced with two culverts, one under the private road, and one under I-5; with an 85-foot section of stream daylit between the two.
These culvert replacements triggered Oregon's State fish passage requirements. The culvert under I-5 was replaced to fish passage criteria. The upper culvert, under the private road, was replaced through the Forest Practices Act under the assumption it was not fish bearing. This culvert was not designed to provide fish passage and blocks fish from migrating upstream in Anlauf Creek. Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) has applied for a fish passage waiver for the site and plans to mitigate for the blocked habitat with a restoration project in a nearby watershed.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife can waive fish passage requirements at an artificial obstruction if mitigation is implemented that provides a benefit to fish greater than the benefit of providing passage at the waiver site.
The culvert on Anlauf Creek blocks access to 0.23 miles of moderate quality seasonal stream habitat. The proposed mitigation will fund part of a project that will add log jams and large woody debris to 0.6 miles of land owned by the BLM on Harrington Creek, a tributary to Rock Creek, in the Umpqua River basin. This restoration is predicted to create pool and rearing habitat for coho salmon, summer and winter steelhead, and cutthroat trout. The log jams will help connect an additional 0.3 miles of floodplain side-channels. Additionally, the restoration is predicted to increase hyporheic flows that will help cool the water in an area of the basin badly damaged by the Archie Creek fire.
ODFW has made an initial determination that the predicted benefit to native migratory fish from the restoration is greater than the benefit to fish if passage was provided at the culvert on Anlauf Creek.
The Fish Passage Task Force will be asked to consider this waiver request and provide a recommendation to the Department at its virtual meeting on June 4, 2021.
Project details, the fish passage waiver application, and ODFW net benefit analysis and supporting information can be found on the ODFW Fish Passage Task Force website.
Written public comments may be submitted through June 2, 2021. Send written comments to (or request additional information from) Katherine Nordholm, 4034 Fairview Industrial Dr., Salem, Ore. 97302, e-mail Katherine.e.nordholm@odfw.Oregon.gov or by calling (503) 947-6274.
There will also be an opportunity for public comment at the Fish Passage Task Force meeting on June 4, 2021. If you wish to provide a verbal public comment, you must pre-register 48 hours in advance of the meeting; more information on how to register will be available before the meeting.
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