Alaska Sustainable Salmon Fund Statement of Work

Transcription

1 Alaska Sustainable Salmon Fund Statement of Work I. Project Title: Kuiu Island Stream Restoration II. Project Number: PCSRF Objective: HP&R III. Principal Investigator Norman Cohen, Southeast Alaska Program Director The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Juneau Field Office 416 Harris Street Juneau, AK Phone: (907) Co-Principal Investigator Heath Whitacre, Hydrologist USDA Forest Service (USFS) Tongass National Forest, Petersburg Ranger District 12 North Nordic Dr. Petersburg, AK Phone: (907) IV. Project Period: 4/1/13 6/30/15 V. Project Description 1. Synopsis This project will implement instream and riparian restoration on approximately 3.9 km of high value salmon and steelhead streams in the Saginaw Creek, Kadake Creek, and Browns Creek watersheds on Kuiu Island in Southeast Alaska. Timber harvest, road building, and log jam removal activities have resulted in a lack of large, key pieces of wood in the streams and floodplains of these sites, and limited future recruitment of large wood from the riparian floodplain. Heavy equipment and a helicopter will be used to place approximately 1,000 large wood pieces within these watersheds to re-establish and create spawning and rearing habitat for pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha), chum salmon (O. keta), coho salmon (O. kisutch), and steelhead trout (O. mykiss). 2. Introduction The streams restored in this project were identified, along with several others, using Forest Service Region 10 Tier II stream habitat surveys (USFS 2001) conducted for the 2008 North Kuiu Integrated Resource Planning effort. The riparian area of these streams was harvested from the 1960s s, prior to the 1990 Tongass Timber Reform Act (TTRA), which subsequently provided buffers for all fish-bearing streams. Results from the surveys indicated these streams had low quantities of large wood and low scores in metrics quantifying pool habitat compared to standards Kuiu Island Stream Restoration Page 1 of 6 7/13/2015

2 outlined in the Tongass Fish Habitat Objectives for similar unmanaged stream channels. Habitat is degraded in portions of these reaches due to a lack of pools and large wood, including key piece sizes within the channels, which are causing bank erosion/avulsion, channel widening, streambed down-cutting, degraded floodplain connectivity, and loss of potential for recruitment of large wood from the floodplain in the near future. Strategic placement of engineered large wood structures will: restore instream habitat through pool creation, stabilize eroding banks, and improve floodplain connectivity. Addition of large wood to the floodplain areas will provide structure to help dampen large flow events and provide nurse logs for future conifer recruitment. These streams are all important spawning and rearing streams for coho, pink, and chum salmon, as well as Dolly Varden char and coastal cutthroat and steelhead trout. Restoring and improving fish habitat benefits commercial, subsistence, and sport fishing users of these species. This project will improve important spawning and rearing habitat and help ensure these areas do not further degrade until larger conifers return to the riparian areas. 3. Locations Site: West Fork Saginaw Creek Latitude: N Longitude: W Site: Mainstem Saginaw Creek (#1, upstream from bridge) Latitude: N Longitude: W Site: Mainstem Saginaw Creek (#2, downstream from bridge) Latitude: N Longitude: W Site: Josie Creek (Tributary to Brown s Creek) Latitude: N Longitude: W Site: South Fork Kadake Creek Latitude: N Longitude: W 4. AKSSF Objective 1B-2 VI. Objectives 1. Project Objectives Improve stream channel condition and instream pool habitat for salmon, steelhead, and other resident fish species through addition of instream large wood Improve riparian condition through placement of large wood in the floodplain of these channels 2. Methods A portion of the wood required for this project was sourced from bridges decommissioned during the Kuiu Island legacy road storage contract and stockpiled in Approximately 900 additional trees (about half with root wads attached) will be harvested and stockpiled within approximately 0.4 km from each restoration site using heavy equipment no later than July 1, Restoration will require transporting and placing whole trees and logs in the stream with a heavy-lift helicopter. The use of a large helicopter for instream and floodplain Kuiu Island Stream Restoration Page 2 of 6 7/13/2015

3 placements is preferable at most sites primarily due to the diminished effects on the ground, since trees can be lowered to the channel (stream banks and active stream beds) and floodplain via grapple and placed in designated locations according to contract specifications. Heavy equipment may also be used to place structures within the stream in locations where it would be difficult to achieve the desired restoration effects with a helicopter. Where heavy equipment is used, access puncheon roads will be created to provide access to structure locations. Trenches will be excavated to key the wood pieces into the banks. The trenches will be backfilled with the excavated material following wood placement. Instream, stream bank, and floodplain trees will be secured through their own mass, use of existing structures (root wads, trees, rocks), keying into the bank with material from excavated trenches, as well as additional wood pieces to provide ballast for structure stability. The use of cable, rebar, and/or cement for keying the trees in place will not occur with this project. Trees placed using either method (helicopter or heavy equipment) may eventually be mobilized downstream during large flow events, although the likelihood is low and results from recent similar past projects have noted no significant shifting of large wood structures to date. No structures other than bridges occur downstream of any of the restoration sites; therefore, risk of impeded fish passage if wood is mobilized is low. Methods for this project have been used with success on similar projects on the Tongass. Restoration Design Elements Instream restoration site objectives and individual structure designs will be developed by USFS Petersburg Ranger District hydrologist Heath Whitacre and USFS Tiller Ranger District fisheries biologist Calib Baldwin. Potential negative effects to stream and riparian resources will be minimized during project implementation by applying appropriate Best Management Practices (BMPs) and including contract stipulations with the design elements described below: Where heavy equipment is used, slash from adjacent thinning projects, as well as slash from trees felled for instream structural components, will be used to minimize erosion and soil compaction in areas where equipment operates or where mineral soils are exposed. Heavy equipment entering the stream channel is required to be power-washed to prevent the spread of invasive species from one basin to the next. Petroleum-based hydraulic fluid will be replaced with vegetable based hydraulic fluid to protect water quality in the event of a spill. Engineered log jams will be tailored to meet restoration objectives; potential structure types and how they function to develop critical fish habitat are described below: 1. Bar Buddies: These are small log jam structures that maintain point bar sediment storage; bar buddies decrease cross-sectional area to focus water energy to adjacent larger structures (see FMF below). 2. Apex Jams: These small to medium-sized structures will be constructed to maintain and develop mid-channel bars that support multiple channels. Kuiu Island Stream Restoration Page 3 of 6 7/13/2015

4 3. Formidable Multi-Faceted Jams (FMF): These large scale structures will be constructed to protect failing banks and riparian resources while reducing width to depth ratios. 4. Floodplain Roughness: Individual logs will be placed into the flood prone riparian area to increase the roughness factor of the floodplain which reduces the risk of uncontrolled bank erosion or channel avulsion during flood events; these trees will also function as nurse logs for growth of other conifers. Required Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) concurrences and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permits will be obtained. A bid package will be developed, a Request for Bids will be published, and contract(s) for the above listed work will be administered by TNC and USFS. VII. Benefits This project will enhance salmon and steelhead habitat by improving overwintering conditions for juvenile coho salmon and steelhead trout; accelerating recovery of fluvial processes currently leading to bank erosion and channel widening; improving instream pool complexity and cover through placement of root wad trees; improving year-round low velocity adult salmonid holding and juvenile rearing habitat through pool creation; and improving floodplain conditions adjacent to salmon streams by providing nurse logs and roughness elements for flood resilience. VIII. Products, Milestones, and Timelines October 1, 2012 April 15, 2013: Develop project design elements and instream restoration contract; conduct field preparation for anticipated contracted wood collection* April 15 August 1, 2013: Implement wood collection and stockpile contract; conduct low altitude aerial and point photography on Saginaw reaches for pre- and post-implementation monitoring September 1, 2013: Begin process of obtaining concurrences/permits for instream work; finalize design elements; begin contract preparation October 1, 2013 March 31, 2014: Obtain required concurrence/permits for instream work; finalize contracts; award instream restoration contract July 1 August 15, 2014: Implement instream restoration contract August 15 September 30, 2014: Close out project contracts; complete postimplementation habitat and low elevation photography/photo point monitoring October 1, 2014 January 31, 2015: Analyze data and write project report March 1, 2015: Provide final report to AKSSF * Costs incurred for activities prior to the project start date are funded separately. IX. Budget TNC Total 100 Personnel $0 200 Travel $0 Kuiu Island Stream Restoration Page 4 of 6 7/13/2015

5 300 Contractual $143, Supplies $0 500 Equipment $0 Total $143,934 TNC Budget Narrative: Line 300: Contractual ($143,934) At least $143,934 will be applied to any combination of the contractual costs listed in the following table. WOOD COLLECTION Option Items Estimated Quantity Unit Price Total Hydraulic Excavator #1 (50,000-90,000 GVW) 225 $ $ 56, Support Equipment (Low Boy, Trail Dump) 145 $ $ 25, Kuiu Mobilization 1 $ 30, $ 30, Timber Faller / General Labor 225 $ $ 22, $ - $ - Subtotal $ 134, INSTREAM CONSTRUCTION (INCLUDING HELICOPTER USE) Base Items Estimated Quantity Unit Price Total Small Helicopter (Vertol) 150 $ $ 60, Large Helicopter (Sky Crane) 75 $ $ 60, Helicopter Mobilization 1 $ 70, $ 70, Hydraulic Excavator #1 (50,000-90,000 GVW) 175 $ $ 43, Excavator Mobilization 1 $ 30, $ 30, Timber Faller / General Labor 175 $ $ 17, Soil Erosion and Pollution Control 2 $ 2, $ 4, Subtotal $ 286, Option Items Small Helicopter (Vertol) 175 $ $ 70, Large Helicopter (Sky Crane) 50 $ $ 40, Excavator Mobilization 1 $ 30, $ 30, Hydraulic Excavator #1 (50,000-90,000 GVW) 150 $ $ 37, Timber Faller / General Labor 150 $ $ 15, $ - $ - Subtotal INSTREAM SUBTOTAL CONTRACT TOTAL $ 192, $ 479, $ 613, X. Match Budget TNC (35%) Total Kuiu Island Stream Restoration Page 5 of 6 7/13/2015

6 100 Personnel $20, Travel $2, Contractual $20, Supplies $0 500 Equipment $0 Subtotal $42, % $7,685 Total $50,377 TNC Match Budget Narrative: Line 100 Personnel ($20,692) Norman Cohen will be responsible for overall project management, contracting, project oversight, and grant reporting responsibilities: 2 $8,161/month (including benefits) = $16,322 Jean Carter will be responsible for assisting in contract management and grant reporting responsibilities: 1.1 $3,973/month (including benefits) = $4,370 Line 200: Travel ($2,000) Norman Cohen will make two trips from Juneau to the Petersburg worksite: $730 airfare ($365/flight x 2 trips) + $780 lodging (3 $130/night x 2 trips) + $490 per diem (3.5 $70/day x 2 trips) = $2,000 Line 300: Contractual ($20,000) Contractual work will include tree felling, tree transportation, and/or construction of instream structures: $20,000 Line 600: Indirect ($7,685) The Nature Conservancy s federally negotiated indirect rate through June 30, 2013 is 18% on total direct costs including subawards regardless of dollar amount, and excludes, among other costs, external transfers and the value of land sold or donated to government agencies and other conservation organizations. Kuiu Island Stream Restoration Page 6 of 6 7/13/2015