Successful Applicant:
Richmond Bay Watershed Association Inc.
Award:
$10,410
Project Title:
Life in and Around Flowing Water
Project Gallery:
Project Summary:
This project carried out a number of activities to restore, maintain, create and enhance fish and wildlife habitats on the Trout River (Tyne Valley), the Mill Creek (Birch Hill), the Little Trout River (Richmond), and the Ellis River (Wellington) Watersheds.
In our efforts to rehabilitate degraded aquatic habitats including connectivity, two kilometers of stream restoration was completed which consisted of install 3900 sq. ft. of brush mat structures to help trap current in-stream silt, restoring/improving off-channel and spring habitats any by selectively removing in-stream blockages including one abandoned blocked culvert structure from the stream channel to allow fish to migrate. Additional to this, access trail development and maintenance was carried out to monitor restored work sites and beaver populations were managed in areas where fish habitat is not unduly compromised.
In our efforts to convert two kilometers of open meadow riparian sites to forest cover, we planted eight hundred native tree species. Working closely with a local business, sediment holding ponds were constructed to mitigate the impacts of sediment reaching restored aquatic habitats downstream. In our efforts to optimize wild apple tree health and fruit production for wildlife, fifteen wild apple trees were pruned and fertilized along two kilometers of riparian buffer zone. In our efforts to maintain and improve cover and favourable holding and rearing habitat for aquatic species, using rock and/or logs, roughly forty-five in-stream structures were installed in suitable habitats. Maintenance was also achieved on three sediment traps. All three sediment trap sites provide and enhances valuable wetland habitat for wildlife and provides recreational opportunities to the public like angling and bird watching.
Activities achieved with the engagement of individuals from the watershed communities included access trail development/maintenance, early spring tree planting, wild apple fertilization project, holding ponds, fall redd surveys, and landowner contract.