Driving east up Hwy 126 past Vida puts one through the Holiday Farm fire zone all the way to approximately mile post 45. There is a lot of heavy equipment up there clearing road-side trees, fixing lines, and much more. Above Finn Rock and before Blue River township you will now see some heavy equipment right down in the riverbed where Elk Creek enters the McKenzie River. The explanation is below.
In 2021, McKenzie River Trust and partners from the US Forest Service and McKenzie Watershed Council will begin an in-stream restoration project on the Elk Creek Channel which flows through the north-eastern part of the property. This work will be messy, but the outcomes will:
-Increase wetland areas and aquatic habitat around the Elk Creek side-channel
-Slow and spread water across the floodplain to improve habitat for juvenile Spring Chinook Salmon
-Increase nesting habitat for Western Pond Turtles
-Address stream erosion issues and reconnect the Elk Creek channel to its historic floodplain, and,
-Create space for water to move, mitigating against flood related issues
Read More about the project here: https://mckenzieriver.org/restoring-finn-rock-reach/
The Elk Creek project will be very similar to the South Fork of the McKenzie project, results on that project have been amazing!
Check out the South Fork project here: USFS Link, McKenzie Watershed Council Link
This is an exciting project which will be of great benefit to not only Chinook, but Redside trout. Additionally, it will be of benefit to not only Western Pond Turtles, but also elk, black bear, beaver, and other mammals of the Blue River area. While I have not read any projections regarding birds, it seems predictable that the duck, heron, osprey, and bald eagle populations will benefit. Hopefully it will not benefit the geese of wild turkeys!