Habitat Restoration Projects

Habitat Restoration Projects

Aequinox has completed many habitat restoration projects in the past 25+ years. Here are just a few:

Whychus Creek Restoration at Camp Polk Meadow Preserve

Between 2006 & 2012, Aequinox joined a team of professionals to design and implement 1.7 miles of channel and riparian habitat restoration projects along Whychus Creek on Deschutes Land Trust’s 145-acre Camp Polk Meadow Preserve to restore stream function and fish & wildlife habitat. Aequinox delineated wetlands, designed the Revegetation Plan, managed planting crews during two phases of planting (over 190,000 plants total) and seeding (over 665 lbs. of seed total), and monitored vegetation. The project achieved goals of reconnecting the floodplain, improving fish habitat, raising groundwater, and establishing over 70 acres of diverse wetland and riparian habitat. The project won the State Land Board Stream Project Award in 2012 and American Fisheries Society Award of Excellence in Riparian Management in 2011.

Upper Deschutes Watershed Council’s Camp Polk Meadow Restoration Ripples of Change” Videos, Parts 1-4 by Wahoo Films.

Habitat Restoration Projects , 2015 photo taken after stream restoration project
Camp Polk Meadow Preserve after restoration. Deschutes Land Trust/Russ McMillan.
Habitat Restoration Projects, 2008 photo taken before stream restoration project
Camp Polk Meadow Preserve before restoration. Deschutes Land Trust.

Whychus Canyon Restoration Project

Aequinox developed Restoration Plant Designs in conjunction with team members from the Deschutes National Forest and the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council to restore stream function and fish & wildlife habitat along 6 miles of Whychus Creek. The project will be implemented in multiple phases, beginning in 2016 with over a mile of channel & side channel restoration. To date, over 68,000 riparian and wetland plants and over 600 cuttings have been planted and over 17 acres have been seeded to restore diverse riparian habitat. Project goals include reconnecting the floodplain, restoring hydrologic function, raising groundwater levels, and restoring complex riparian and stream habitat conditions.

Three Sisters Irrigation District (TSID) Fish Screen, Passage, and Stream Restoration Project

Aequinox developed the Restoration Plant Designs and managed planting logistics on the TSID Project along Whychus Creek on Deschutes National Forest. Over 46,500 plants went in the ground and over 125 lbs. of native seed were dispersed.

Spring Creek Restoration Plan

Aequinox developed detailed restoration plans & budgets for four projects along Spring Creek on the Spring Creek Conservation Easement (held by Deschutes Land Trust) in the Metolius River watershed including restoration of in-stream wood, riparian restoration, upland meadow restoration, and weed management.

View the Spring Creek Restoration Plan.

Ecological Restoration Teaching

Karen Allen co-developed and taught the University of Oregon Field Studies in Ecological Restoration 2-week field course with Dr. Matt Orr in Central Oregon for nearly a decade thanks to a $240,000 private gift. Karen has also taught the Ecological Restoration on-campus course at Oregon State University Cascades Campus in Bend, OR.