A Restoration Project at Little Butte Creek
By Emily Heller
June 6, 2024
Pictured above: The restoration site at Little Butte Creek, featuring non-invasive, bright green algae on the bottom of the crystal-clear creek
“Nature can restore itself, it just needs a little bit of help,” recalls Environmental Science & Policy (ES&P) student, Hailey Stephenson, regarding an important takeaway from her EcoAdventure trip to Little Butte Creek.
Little Butte Creek is a tributary to the Rogue River. The tributary is known to be an important spawning ground for salmon. In recent years however, the stream, like many other water bodies in the U.S., has been affected by environmental degradation and the negative consequences of climate change. Salmon prefer cooler water to spawn in, and many restoration projects focus on restoring streams by adding natural infrastructure such as planting more trees to provide shade to the water body.
About 17 students from Southern Oregon University traveled about an hour by van to visit the restoration site at the creek on June 23, 2024, led by ES&P professor Dr. Claire Griffin. The goal of the EcoAdventure was to better understand aquatic restoration and to actively participate in the process of the restoration project for the day.
At Little Butte Creek, aquatic restoration biologist Lance Wyss and his team from the Rogue River Watershed Council are engaged in a creek restoration project. Lance met with the students that day for the EcoAdventure to show everyone the ways the restoration process worked.
The water in the creek was transparent, notably cold. The students noticed a non-invasive, bright-green algae growing on the rocks on the bottom of the creek. The surrounding area was quiet, with faint signs of the wind gracefully blowing and water softly flowing.
Lance showed the students several metrics of how to measure the health of Little Butte Creek.
For one, he introduced what pebble counts were. Pebble counts happen during a stream restoration for the benefit of the salmon that populate it. During a pebble count, an individual will get an idea of how large the pebbles are for the interest of salmon spawning. Suitable habitat for salmon spawning requires pebbles that are neither too big nor too small.
Pictured Above: Brilliant purple wildflowers growing on the side of Little Butte Creek
Lance showed the students how to do YSI measurements for dissolved oxygen and pH. The YSI is an instrument used to measure stream health. Dissolved oxygen, or D.O., is an important indicator of water quality because its abundance is imperative for the survival of fish species. Higher D.O. measurements, like 6.5 mg/L or higher, are the most ideal conditions for fish to thrive. The students measured the pH to assess the acidity of the creek, where levels too high or too low indicate an unhealthy creek. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, healthy freshwater areas should range from 6.5 to 9. Lower values of pH in freshwater streams indicate high acidity, and higher levels of pH indicates higher alkalinity levels.
Another aspect of the project Lance showed the students was the large wood counts. Lance and his team placed large, downed wood in the creek to create natural stream segmentation. The placement of the wood allowed for greater results for the best interest of salmon spawning and refugia.
At the end of the day, many of the students had a better understanding of how aquatic restoration projects work. Most importantly, a key takeaway from the EcoAdventure was that stream restoration can have a much larger impact when considering the natural order of the creek. Nature has the ability to restore itself, like Little Butte Creek can, but humans can make a lasting difference by offering a helping hand, like the restoration projects performed by the Rogue River Watershed Council.
Special thanks to: Hailey Stephenson for photographing the area and sharing her ideas about the EcoAdventure trip and Dr. Claire Griffin for aiding in the factual correctness of this article.
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