Contract History:

This project was originally proposed during the 2007 NPCC/BPA Provincial Review.  While it did not receive funding during that process, it was recommended for funding as a FCRPS BiOp project.  This comprehensive watershed restoration effort focuses on mitigating and restoring limiting factors to fisheries production.  The primary limiting factors are excessive sedimentation in the spawning and rearing areas of streams, and the lack of available habitat and habitat connectivity.  These limiting factors are the result of past land management activities, including road construction, logging, and mining.  

The Nez Perce National Forest (NPNF) has completed several surveys, assessments, and NEPA decision documents.  The first assessment, the South Fork Landscape Assessment, was completed in 1999.  This document provided the baseline conditions for each subwatershed as well as general recommendations for future restoration efforts.  The Crooked/American Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) evaluated a complex system of watersheds using a multidisciplinary approach.  The final product included a proposed list of specific watershed restoration projects, including the Crooked/American Watershed Restoration project.

This project is a part of the BPA, Nez Perce National Forest (NPNF), and Nez Perce Tribe (NPT) Watershed Restoration Partnership.  Since the NPT program’s inception, we have shared project planning and development, costs, and implementation responsibilities.  


Summary of FY 2012 and 2013 Contract Implementation:
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
FY 2012 and 2013 contract implementation will include the decommissioning of 2.6 miles of roads in American River, treating invasive weeds and mechanically planting vegetation along approximately 2 miles of Crooked River, producing a feasibility study, design, and environmental compliance documents for the Lower Crooked River Channel Reconstruction and Narrows Road Improvement, producing designs for one culvert replacement on the 311 Road, one culvert replacement on Five Mile Creek, one culvert replacement on Rainbow Gulch, and the execution of one culvert replacement on the 311 Road and two culvert replacements on Rainbow Gulch.  Two fish barriers (road crossings without culverts) will be removed on Rainbow Gulch.  Contract implementation will also include the inventory, assessment, and prioritization of culvert, bridge, and road improvement projects in American and Crooked Rivers.  Early negotiations will also continue in the pursuit of the potential acquisition of the Maines Estate property in the American River subwatershed.