Evaluation of restoration activities on the Horsefly River Riparian Conservation Area

Year 2009
Proponent The Land Conservancy of BC
Project type Habitat
FSWP funding source DFO Fraser Basin Initiative
Grant amount $13,100
Total project value $26,825
ID number 09-D18-H

Location: Cariboo-Chilcotin

Project Summary

Overview

Since 1999 a series of restoration projects have been conducted on the Horsefly River Riparian Conservation Area (HRRCA).  The restoration work has included the planting of riparian vegetation, bioengineering, the construction of a 500 m rearing channel, the placement of a series of debris catchers along a 500 m stretch of shoreline, and the breaching of 2 containment dykes. From 1999 to present there has not been a through evaluation of the efficacy of the restoration efforts that have occurred on this 900+ acre property that is known for its prolific sockeye salmon run, grizzly bears, and forest and waterbird populations.
We are proposing to develop a comprehensive evaluation and monitoring plan to assess past work and to help guide future work. This will include: the continuation and refinement of a previous photo point monitoring program that will be coupled with empirical vegetation sampling; a critical evaluation of major projects (salmonid rearing channel, engineering assessment of debris catchers, breaches of two containment dykes) to determine whether they are functioning as proposed;  and the refinement of the GIS project that began in 2007 that will involve the ground-truthing of habitat polygons constructed from archival maps.

Objectives
1. To develop a comprehensive evaluation and monitoring program for restoration efforts in the Horsefly River Riparian Conservation Area
2. To determine if the three major restoration construction projects (a salmonid rearing channel, a series of debris catchers, and breaches of two containment dykes) are functioning as proposed
3. To refine a GIS mapping project that was started in 2007.

Methods

Photo point and empirical monitoring: TLC staff and a private consultant will re-establish past photo monitoring plots and re-photograph all previous photo plots following the protocol of Hall (2001). We will also establish new plots where required (new properties not covered by initial photos). A component of the monitoiring program will include the cataloguing and sorting of previous photos, the construction of point animations for a selection of the points.  We will also establish empirical sampling plots using recognized methodology on a substet of the photo monitoring plots. Data to be collected will include percent cover of herbaceous plants, and stem counts of shrubs and trees.

Large project areas: Each of the three projects will be visted by TLC, DFO staff, and a professional consultant. Instream sampling of salmonid rearing channel and affected oxbows will be conducted with the assistance of DFO field staff. Similarly, the debris catchers will be assessed with MOE staff and DFO staff, including DFO engineers. Summary reports will be produced outlining the functioning of these projects. These reports will outline intervention that may be required to ameliorate any potential problematic conditions that exist.  Action plans and budgets will accompany these reports.

GIS project: Archival maps will be ground-truthed by TLC staff and a private consultant and will be incorporated into the current GIS mapping project for the HRRCA resulting in a more detailed and accurate depiction of the habitat and restoration requirements for the entire Conservation Area.

References

Hall, F.C. 2001. Ground-based Photographic Montoiring. USDA FS. PNWRS. Gen. Tech. Report. PNW-GRT-503. May 2001.

Photo point animations (http://www.fs.fed.us/eng/rsac/invasivespecies/documents/photopt_anim.pdf).


Final Results

The final report for the study is posted in the orange resource box to the right.


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