Rocky Creek Rehab

Rock Creek Rehab-Over the past two years, Trout Unlimited Canada (TUC) has worked with Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) on habitat rehabilitation in the upper North Saskatchewan River watershed. These efforts have focused on habitats that have been identified as priorities for Bull Trout recovery. Bull Trout, a native char distributed throughout the eastern slopes of Alberta, was recently added to the federal Species at Risk Act. They have experienced declines in population and range due to a combination of factors including habitat degradation and fragmentation, overfishing, and threats from non-native species.

In the upper Clearwater River watershed, fisheries sampling identified Rocky Creek as a valuable stream for Bull Trout. Meanwhile, recreational trail assessments had identified an unsustainable off-highway vehicle trail crossing the creek an average of six times per kilometer. During a site visit in 2017, TUC and AEP staff encountered Bull Trout stranded in a segment of the trail which had captured flow from the creek. A fish rescue was quickly coordinated and emergency measures to carry out restoration work followed. This included installing bioengineering works such as log walls and soil wraps to both deter motorized traffic to the now-closed trail and to speed up the recovery of damaged streambanks.

In early summer 2018, TUC held several volunteer workdays to harvest and plant live willow stakes at the former stream crossings. In 2019, AEP staff carried out site visits to assess how the willows were growing and how the creek was recovering and realized that some of the structures had been damaged.

In late August, TUC and AEP staff spent a few days at Rocky Creek repairing log walls, planting additional willows, and felling trees to prevent further motorized access. Despite the damage, it was very encouraging to see the growth of the planted willows, and how the native vegetation was naturally growing along the trail, especially where compacted soil had been “roughened and loosened”. Perhaps most impressive though, is how the creek is naturally rebuilding its banks by depositing sediment at former stream crossings now that these areas are not being regularly driven through.

Following the project at Rocky Creek, TUC worked with AEP to carry out similar works on Fall Creek, an important Bull Trout stream in the Ram River watershed. Both of these projects are being evaluated as part of a BACI (before-after-control-impact) study to assess the impact that these watershed-level habitat actions have on the fish population. This work and these studies will help us to plan and implement habitat restoration actions in the future, here and elsewhere along the eastern slopes.