County: Lincoln
Watershed: Siletz-Yaquina
Description: MidCoast Watersheds Council is working collaboratively with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to restore tidal wetland habitat at the Lower Drift Creek Unit of Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
Estuaries and tidal wetlands are essential habitats for ESA threatened Oregon Coast Coho and other salmonids, as well as other fish and wildlife species. This project (Phase II) will restore 32 of 80 acres of tidal wetlands on the Kangas tract through establishment of sinuous channels, filling of perimeter drainage ditches, placement of large wood, management of invasive plants, seeding and planting to restore native species, and establishing topographic diversity to support spruce swamp, scrub-shrub, and native marsh vegetation.
These restoration actions will restore sediment accretion process to build marsh surface elevations to increase resilience to sea level rise, absorb flood waters, and sequester carbon in wetland soil.
Native fish benefited: Oregon Coast Coho Salmon and Steelhead (smolt and juvenile); Chinook Salmon; Pacific Lamprey