Summary of the North Callahan Restoration Work - 2005 

The Yaak Valley Forest Council, a member organization of the Yaak Headwaters Restoration Partnership, applied for grants, assisted with project design, contracted equipment, purchased supplies, and coordinated with volunteers.  Local employment was provided for two excavator operators, six sediment survey crew members, and a vegetation restoration company.  In addition four members of Trout Unlimited volunteered with revegetation work.  On-the-ground partners benefited by paid employment, gaining new skills and knowledge about watershed restoration, and by being able to constructively contribute to restoration of their public lands.  Funding partners benefited by achieving their goals of improved fisheries habitat and supporting a collaborative approach to improving degraded ecosystems. 

USFS funding for this project matched funds raised by the Yaak Headwaters Restoration Partnership Group which is dedicated to restoring watersheds and improving native fish habitat in northwestern Montana. The watershed restoration accomplished long-needed work in one of the most important native fisheries watersheds in the area – Callahan Creek.   The restoration involved road decommissioning and stabilization in the upper watershed where the road system has been abandoned because of washouts and unstable soils.  The work improved habitat for the native redband trout (listed as Sensitive by the Forest Service), and bull trout (listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act).  The assessment part of this work included surveying streams in the nearby Yaak River basin for sediment sources, so that future restoration projects could be identified. 

The restoration work occurred over a period of twelve weeks from mid-July through mid-September in 2005.   Two excavators were employed for most of this time period.   Eleven miles of road were decommissioned.   Approximately 15-20% of the total length was recontoured, and the remainder was scarified and waterbarred.  Eighty-one road crossings of perennial and intermittent streams were removed and restored.  Streams were restored to their natural gradients and widths.   Logs and vegetation were spread across the recontoured slopes to prevent erosion and provide a source of organics.  The disturbed areas were also seeded and fertilized.  Erosion control blankets were utilized in some locations.  Volunteers from Trout Unlimited assisted with seeding and fertilizing, and placing slash on recontoured slopes for erosion control.  Cottonwood cuttings were started last spring and will be planted at stream crossings this year.

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The work was continuously monitored and reviewed by the Forest Service.  The restoration work in this area was particularly difficult because of the numerous stream crossings under deep road fills, and the unusually unstable soils.  The work that has been completed so far will be reviewed this spring after snowmelt.  Slope instability or sediment movement that occurred at the treated sites will be visually evident.  A report will be prepared summarizing the results based on the first season.  Photos were taken at a number of sites, and some of these will be repeated.  Based on this monitoring, any modifications in techniques needed will be incorporated into the work planned for this season.

There has been considerable debate about whether seeding and fertilizing decommissioned roads is needed or desirable.  In order to better answer this question, vegetation plots were established for various revegetation treatments which included seeding without fertilizer, seeding with fertilizer, and spreading duff without seed or fertilizer.  These plots will be monitored over the next several years.