Riparian Restoration
One branch of our work focused on riparian area restoration to develop and improve riparian habitats, benefiting pollinators and the surrounding ecosystem, as well as monitoring previous restoration efforts.
Study Site
This work took place on White Water Ranch, an organic blueberry farm and timber production on the McKenzie River. Our riparian restoration work focused on Goose Creek. White Water Ranch was previously a cattle ranch, and during this period, Goose Creek suffered significant degradation. Over the years, ELP Research and Restoration teams have been working to restore this area. While our restoration work takes place along a short stretch of Goose Creek, our monitoring work spans the length of the creek and in the neighboring blueberry fields.
Restoration Methods
Our hands-on work supporting native plants and pollinators in the Goose Creek area.
Planting
On the south side of the creek, we created a pollinator patch, a zone of the upper bank planted with a variety of native flowering plants that will provide food sources to pollinators throughout the growing season. We selected which species to plant here based on what succeeded in previous years’ pollinator patches.
We also documented and tagged each of our plants so that future teams can monitor their success and inform future planting decisions.
Towards the western end of the project zone, we planted willow canes to extend the vegetated area, support the bank, and provide shade.
Upkeep
Much of our work involved removing invasive species such as Himalayan blackberry and Reed Canary Grass to reduce competition and provide a more suitable habitat for our team’s and previous years’ plantings.
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Our work also involved upkeep of previous plantings. This included putting fencing around some successful willow trees that were being “repurposed” by local beavers.
Monitoring Methods
Critical to restoration projects is monitoring their effectiveness and determining if the work is achieving the targeted results. To monitor the effectiveness of this project, we employed four different types of monitoring.
Photopoint 15 in 2023
Photopoints
One method of monitoring the success of restoration projects is to simply visually assess progress. This can be achieved by taking photos at the same points at regular time intervals, allowing for visual tracking of growth and progress over time. Our team continued taking photopoints, allowing us to compare the points this year to the same points in previous years.
Photopoint 15 in 2025
Water Temperature Monitoring
One of the goals of our riparian restoration efforts is to increase shade along the creek, thereby reducing water temperature. To track this, we conducted water temperature monitoring surveys at four points along the creek at the beginning and end of the season. Comparing the data from these surveys with those from previous years allows us to assess whether our restoration efforts are having any impact on stream temperatures.
Riparian Plant Surveys
We also assessed the success of previous plantings on a finer scale than the photopoints. We conducted riparian plant surveys to document their status (alive or dead), the level of competition they faced from invasive species, whether they were damaged, and their growth rate. When compared with data from previous years, we were able to assess the vitality of different individuals and identify which protective methods seemed most successful in preventing competition from invasive species.
Pollinator Surveys
The main goal of this restoration effort is to create habitat for pollinators and support their populations, thereby increasing pollination and crop yield of the adjacent blueberry fields.
To assess pollinator populations, we conducted two surveys, one early in the bloom season and one later, during which we counted the number of each species of pollinator present. These surveys were conducted in 60m transects on the same four rows of blueberry bushes that previous teams had surveyed to produce comparable data.