Picture above- Laura Hubbard, The Nature Conservancy's Idaho State Director talking with John and Elizabeth Stevenson about riparian plantings done along Patton creek last fall.
On June 24th, over fifty people gathered to hear Ecosystem Sciences Foundation present the preliminary enhancement plan for Silver Creek. After the meeting I hung around and spoke with a variety of people. Reactions ranged from staunch excitement to extreme disappointment. ESF stayed their course of ‘do no harm’ and advocated taking care of the remaining sediment inputs before doing any more extensive stream work. Because they think sediment inputs are coming largely from overland flow during the snow melt and runoff events, stopping those inputs will mean creating more substantial riparian buffers. Much of this work has already been done, riparian buffers being the focus of stream work from the 1970s to late 1990’s, but there are still some areas that need attention. Beyond the riparian buffers, we talked about a variety of subject ranging from groundwater usage, extending conservation partners, mitigating temperatures with increased riparian plantings, trout populations and existing (and lacking) data, restoration philosophies, and the list goes on.
It has been my goal from the beginning to have the planning process as open and transparent as possible. Nothing is written in stone at this point! This plan is still very much a work in progress—I myself submitted four pages of questions, concerns, ideas, and input to ESF last week and am waiting for their response. Feel free to do the same, here or in an email or phone call—the more they hear from us, the more robust the plan will be.
I am excited about the Ecosystem Sciences involvement in creating a master plan for the entire Silver Creek Watershed. I have wanted an independent consulting firm to come in and get sportsmen, landowners and TNC to understand and hopefully work together for the benefit of Silver Creek. We need to understand the reality of how Silver Creek works and what is needed to preserve and protect it. If you are truly interested in the facts and scientific data of Silver Creek you can get a vast amount of data that has been collected for over 60 years on Silver Creek at www.savesilvercreek.org. This website also has updated information on the issues that are being addressed right now about Silver Creek. I am now after nearly 30 years, hopeful that everyone can work together to preserve in a positive way what Silver Creek should always be like.
ReplyDeleteGreg Loomis