Upper Tully - habitat work?

[SBecker]

No he said the so called "trained experts" failed. So basically I think he is saying it is not worthwhile.

 

[Maurice]

First off you can't just throw rock into the stream willy nilly. Chaz says some projects fail, thats right. Some are probably mis-prioritized within the watershed, maybe some have design flaws.

Chaz believes the single greatest habitat improvement is the addition of sufficient riparian buffers to both add cover (shade for thermal issues) and stabilization of the stream banks to control width/depth ratios necessary to provide good instream habitat. But planting trees in areas where w/d ratio is out of wack or the flood plains are not connected to the streams water edge is futile as well and every reach of stream requires assessment and analysis toward the BMP's that will yield the best bang for the buck. Often times with low budgets watershed groups will take small steps and employ mini-projects to combat local issues and often these fail because of the fluvial dynamics generated upstream being overwhelming for the area stabilized.

So Chaz paints most stream projects with this brush. Hes not a stream restoration guy, he's a buffer guy. Chaz knows alot about the stuff thats important to him and only enough to come off half cocked about the stuff he don't.

Habitat improvement projects / bank stabilization should certainly not be a "throw mud on the wall and see if it sticks" approach but it is successful the vast majority of the time, when done properly. And lately they are is peer reviewed by both the DEP/ PAF&B habitat division and the ACOE in cases of Joint permitting. (Channel re-alignment or encroachment). Its not easy to sneak past poor design or rather altered design, I know, I've tried. Most of the accepted habitat and bank rehabilitation devices have been ground proven for long enough now that their success rates and understanding of limitations have become second nature for those approving the designs at the DEP/PF&BC.

The Irony with Chaz's position on this is that often times the work he thumbs his nose at is necessary to stabilize the stream only long enough for the riparian buffer to become established. (albiet 25-30 years)

But I think what Chaz is targeting mostly is the group that puts in deflectors, sills and other habitat structures to improve fish habitat that without considering the streams bankful profiles and floodway usage, resulting in washed away projects because they are caught up in a proverbial sluice box.