Training

BIGHORN CREEK PROJECT

Location: Fernie, British Columbia

Client: Tembec Industries Inc.

Objective: To train and supervise a First Nations crew as part of a regular crew on a riparian restoration project.

In October of 2001, Terra Erosion Control Ltd. was requested to provide training and supervision to a local First Nations crew as part of a riparian restoration project in Bighorn Creek. Bighorn Creek is located in southeastern British Columbia near the town of Fernie and is a major fish tributary to the Wigwam River.

The project consisted of identifying and collecting various native species to use for riparian restoration. The following species were used: black cottonwood (Populus balsamifera L. ssp. trichocarpa), willow (Salix scouleriana) and red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea). The harvested live cuttings were soaked in a local creek and transported on a forestry road and dry creek bed to the sites This was followed by machine assisted hand planting or "live staking" of gravel bars and a live palisade. The work was done on a total of nine gravel bars over a distance of 2 kilometres, planting a total of 12 000 cuttings using a 14- person crew over a two- week period.

The primary objective was to accelerate vegetative growth in riparian and floodplain areas in order to stabilize gravel accumulation along reach 4 of Bighorn Creek. The live palisade was established to provide a stout riparian cover of cottonwood trees adjacent to the eroding bank.