Fall 1998 Conservation Almanac Newsletter, Trinity County Resource Conservation District

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1 Trinity County Resource Conservation District Fall Issue 1998

the highly erosive Grass Valley Creekwatershed poured directly into the TrinityRiver, seriously disrupting salmon andsteelhead spawning and rearing habitat.The fine sand once coated the river bed,

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Conservation AlmanacConservation AlmanacConservation AlmanacConservation AlmanacTrinity County Resource Conservation District

Fall 1998 Vol. VII No. 4

Also In This Issue:

Planting Time for Native Grasses RCD Busy with Projects this Fall Employee Feature

RCD Gives Away SandRCD Gives Away SandRCD Gives Away SandRCD Gives Away Sand

for Gardening, for Gardening, for Gardening, for Gardening,RecreationRecreationRecreationRecreation

IIII n October the Trinity County ResourceConservation District (RCD) hosted a"Decomposed Granite Sand Give-Away

Day," near Lewiston. People from all over the county arrived with their trailers, dumptrucks, and pick-ups and loaded up on asmuch sand as they desired.

The Give Away lasted all day onSaturday October 10, and from the momentthe gate opened at 9:00 a.m., people beganarriving to claim free sand. Over 140 cubicyards of sand was given away (theequivalent of 140 small pick-up loads) toover 25 people, some of whom returnedagain and again for the free sand.

The sand will be put to many uses,from creating a "paved" parking area, toenriching clay soils in home gardens, to

lining running tracks and other recreationspots.

The sand comes from the "HamiltonPonds," which capture sediment at themouth of Grass Valley Creek to prevent itfrom entering the Trinity River just belowTrinity Dam.

Before the Ponds were constructed,the decomposed granite sand flowing out of

Load ‘em Up: Loading a Trailer with FreeSand at the Give-Away Day.




such as these. Becauseerosion and weed infestationsare usually the result of disturbance, the best way torestore the land is to revegetatewith the native plants that wereon the site before it wasdisturbed.

For erosion control,native grasses are often thebest means of quickly creatinga layer of vegetation to stabilizethe soil. Native grasses areuseful for revegetatingcutbanks,steep hillsides,post- roadconstruction,

and burnedareas. Nativegrasses arealso useful for any areawhere alandowner wants to createa naturallandscape,especially in

an area wherethere may beunattractiveweeds.

For areas infested withyellow starthistle, nativegrasses are an excellent meansof re-establishing an

assemblage of native vegetation,although some

additional methodfor starthistlecontrol is neededthe first few yearsuntil the nativegrasses have fullyestablished, suchas hand pulling or chemical control of

Fall is SeedingTime for

Native Grasses

W ith the hot summer fading into a cool and moistfall, now is the perfect time for seeding your property withnative grasses. Why seedwith native grasses?

In Trinity County manylandowners face variousproblems on their property,such as weed infestation and

soil loss; problems that cannotbe solved by traditionallandscaping techniques. Suchproblems include hillsideerosion, which is often facedby landowners who have their home sites built against cutslopes or steep hillsides.Another common problemfaced by property owners isinfestations of yellowstarthistle and other noxiousweeds, which can ruin anotherwise beautiful homesiteor pasture land.

BENEFITS OF GRASSES - Usingnative plants is often the bestway to address problems

starthistle; however, it is theRCD’s policy to encouragealternatives and to discouragethe use of pesticides andherbicides for pest and weedcontrol.

Seeding with nativegrasses is useful for large

areas on property wherewatering or lawnestablishment is not practical,because native grasses donot need supplemental

watering. Tokeep grassesgreen duringthe summer,periodicwatering, such

as once aweek, wouldbe necessary,however.

SEED TYPE -Which nativegrass to usefor your property will bedependent

upon the typeof site thatneeds to be

revegetated. The RCD,through its numerousrestoration projects, hasdeveloped a list of 11 grassesthat it commonly uses andrecommends. Of thesegrasses, the RCD has foundthat two species, California

brome (Bromus carinatus)and blue wildrye (Elymusglaucus), have been the mostsuccessful for revegetatingsites. These grasses producea thick, uniform cover of plants even after the first year of seeding. Both grasses aretall, perennial bunchgrasses,

Benefits of Native Grasses

♦ Erosion Control ♦ Use Less Water and Fertilizer ♦ Reduce or Eliminate Pesticide Use♦ Provide Wildlife Habitat♦ Help to Preserve Biodiversity

Blue Wildrye




First, the ground needs to betilled. Then seeds can then bescattered by hand, or broadcast using a handheldseeder. For larger areas,seed can be applied using arangeland drill. The standardrate of application is

generally 15 to 20 poundsper acre. After application,the seeds should becovered or raked with a ½-to 1-inch layer of soil. For small areas, it is suggestedthat a 1- to 3-inch layer of straw mulch also beapplied, to protect seedsfrom bird and rodentpredation and to create a

favorablemicroenvironment for seedgermination. Strawmulches such as oat,wheat, and barley areused, and it is preferable touse certified weed-freestraw so as not to introduceweeds onto your seededsite.

TIMING - Fall is the besttime to apply seeds, inOctober and November,before the ground becomestoo moist to work. The seedswill be watered by winter

that reach heights of up tofour feet.

Due to their extensiveuse in revegetation projects,these two grasses tend to bethe least expensive of nativegrasses, ranging in price from$6.00 to $12.00 per pound.The one disadvantage of native grasses is their higher

cost compared with non-native grasses, whichgenerally cost from $1.00 to$5.00 per pound.

SEED APPLICATION - Applyingthe seed is a simple process.

Lemmon’s Needlegrass

precipitation and emerge inthe spring. Grasses can alsobe sown in the spring(February and March) assoon as the soil can beworked.

ADDITIONAL

INFORMATION - Pleasecontact the RCD office toreceive a free pamphlet

entitled the Use Of Native Grasses, or toreceive technicaladvice or assistancein obtaining grass

seed.

Sources Of Native Grass Seed

♦ Trinity County ResourceConservation District (530) 623-6004

♦ Trinity Nursery (530) 623-3225

♦ Rana Creek Ranch (408) 659-3820

♦ Pacific Coast Seeds (510) 373-4417

♦ Conservaseed (916) 775-1676

Intern Keren Bromley standsnext to a patch of California

Brome




sediment flowing down GVCfrom entering the TrinityRiver, but the sediment needsto be periodically removedfrom the ponds for them toremain effective. The Pondswere last dredged in 1997.

The relatively frequent

rate of dredging in the pastfew years has been due to thelarge winter storms the countyhas experienced, especiallythose of 1995 and 1997.Storms such as these causeextensive erosion in thewatershed, which hashistorically been highlyerosive, but this problem hasbeen heightened by the

amount of logging roadsconstructed in the watershedbetween the 1950’s and1980’s. Many of these roadswere constructed before theadverse affects sediment hason streams were properlyunderstood.

The RCD beganeliminating or upgrading theseroads in the early 1990’s in

order to minimize the potentialfor future sediment impact toGVC itself. Although there isevidence such restorationwork has been effective incontrolling sediment deliveryfrom roads, large storms stillhave a significant impact onslopes and stream channelsthemselves. The RCDcontinues to try to reduce the

level of erosion in thewatershed by revegetatinglogged areas in the hope thatsoils will stabilize over time.

Revegetation and roadremoval are a long-termsolution. Short-term impactsstill occur, especially duringlarge storms, and that is why

the Hamilton Ponds are soimportant: almost none of this sediment reaches theTrinity River because thePonds catch and holdsediment, where it can beremoved as necessary.

Road ImprovementProjects in the

South Fork

RCD road crewmembers have been workingsince June 1st on roaddrainage improvements inthe watersheds on the Eastside of the South Fork of the

Trinity River above ForestGlen. This huge area, whichencompases the areabetween Silver Creek andthe headwaters of the EastFork of the South Fork.

Projects includeupgrading culverts (to allowthem to accommodatehigher flows during severestorms), installing flared

ends and bevel cuts toculvert inlets, creating“critical dips” at streamcrossings, and rolling dips toimprove road drainage. Thecrew is also creating “rocked

Recent Projects

RCD BusyWith ManyProjects

This Fall

TTTT he RCD is keepingactive this fallimplementing a number

of projects around the county.Focus areas include ongoingwork in Grass Valley Creek,the South Fork of the TrinityRiver, and two communities in

northern Trinity County.

Dredging the GrassValley Creek

Sediment Ponds

This fall the largesediment catchment ponds,known as the “HamiltonPonds,” at the mouth of Grass

Valley Creek (GVC) weredredged of 42,000 cubic yardsof decomposed granitesediment. Sedimentaccumulates in the ponds,particularly after large storms,because the soils in the GVCwatershed are highly erodible.

The Hamilton Pondswere constructed in 1988 in aneffort to keep sediment from

the watershed from enteringthe Trinity River just belowLewiston. The GVC watershedwas identified in a studyconducted during the 1970’sas the single largest source of sediment to affect the fisheriesof the Trinity River. The pondsare effective at keeping

The South Fork Road Crew:“Arrow” Harrington, CynthiaTarwater, and Larry Cooper.




demonstration project for thetreatment of fuel buildup. Theproject has brought together area residents and fire andforestry experts. The EastBranch community hasthinned forested areas andremoved fuel ladders to

create defensible spacesaround homes. The nextphase of the project willupgrade road access andreduce erosion potential alongthe upper portion of EastBranch Road, create afuelbreak along the ridges on

Forest Service lands, implementprescribed burns, continue fuelreduction activities at homesites

and along the primary accessroad, and develop a brochurewith highlights of the Plan for distribution.

The Covington Millproject will unfold similarly to theEast Branch project, includingthinning, removing fuel ladders,and creating road buffers. Thisproject will also fund thedevelopment of a Forest/Fire

Management Plan for CovingtonMill and the surrounding area.

These projects are part of a larger effort to address theproblem of fuels accumulation inthe county. A Fire Safe Councilhas been initiated to develop aproactive approach to deal withthe threat of catastrophic fire onpublic and private landsthroughout Trinity County. The

Fire Safe Council is made up of representatives from local,state, and federal agencies,watershed-based groups,industry and commercialassociations, the Volunteer FireChiefs Association,neighborhood associations, andprivate landowners.

The RCD isinventorying the roadnetwork in these

watersheds in order todetermine if any portions of the roads need work tobetter prepare them for large, potentiallydevastating storms, the so-called “100-year events” (see also therelated article on page 7 of this issue).

Community FuelsReduction Efforts

Two projectsintended to address theaccumulation of wildlandfuels in the county areunderway, one in the EastBranch of Weaver Creekand the other in Covington

Mill. The projects arefunded by the CaliforniaDepartment of Forestry andFire Protection’s CaliforniaForest StewardshipProgram.

The East Branchproject, begun in 1996, is a

The South Fork Inventory Crew:Carolyn Roarke, Michael

Cottone, and

crossings,” or fords toreplace culverts where suchfords are possible.

The most difficultaspect of these projects istheir remoteness. Projectimplementor CynthiaTarwater said she is tired of

driving to reach project sites,which may require up to 2hours on the road just toreach a site.

The projects are partof an ongoing agreementthe RCD has with the USForest Service to “stormproof” these watersheds,which are important coolwater refugia for spring-run

Chinook salmon. Manyareas of the watershedswere identified as havingpotential to deliver significant amounts of sediment, which is harmfulto fish habitat, during largestorms.

This is part of theRCD’s and the South ForkCoordinated Resource

Management Planninggroup’s aim to protect theanadromous (salmon andsteelhead) fisheries of theSouth Fork of the TrinityRiver.

Road Inventory inthe South Fork

The RCD has begunwork in another part of theSouth Fork watershed, theUpper South Forkheadwaters area on thewest side of the river andPlummer Creek watershedon the east side.




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filling in the pore spaces of the gravel and cobblessalmon and steelhead needfor laying their eggs.

The Ponds wereconstructed in 1988 toprevent this fine sediment

from leaving Grass ValleyCreek. ThePondscapture thesediment,but after very wetyears,when largestormserode the

hillsides of GrassValleyCreek anddepositsediment inthe creek,the pondsaccumulate a significantamount of DG sand. Theponds thus have to be

dredged of accumulatedsediment to remain effective.

1995 and 1997 werevery wet years, with largestorms causing the deliveryof huge amounts of sedimentto the ponds. What oncelooked like placid forestpools began to look morelike beaches as the sedimentfilled up the ponds.

Because so much sandhad built up, the RCD began,in 1997, to look for ways toput it to practical use.Several projects resulted.

One of these was therestoration of the sand beachat Clark Springs, on Trinity

Lake. In 1997 the RCD, incooperation with the US ForestService and the Trinity ResourceConservation and DevelopmentCouncil, trucked large amountsof the sand to Clark Springs,creating a lovely white sandbeach where once bare dirt and

star thistle abounded. Thesummer of 1998 saw thereturn of sunbathersandswimmers toClarkSprings, andthe site nowappears to

be a verypopular recreationarea.The RCDhas alsodonatedsand to

Trinity County RecreationDepartment for the creation of volleyball courts at Lee Fong

Park in Weaverville.Another idea

was to create theDG Sand Give-Away Day so thatpeople who mighthave uses for thesand could simplyshow up and takeas much of it asthey desired.

All threeprojects havecreated successfulways to utilize thesand, which mightotherwise simplypile up at theHamilton Ponds.

Since the Ponds have to bedredged of sand everyseveral years it is likely thatthe RCD will continue to lookfor ways to utilize it.

Efforts to minimizeerosion in the Grass ValleyCreek watershed are still

under-way. It is hoped thatthe long-term benefits of revegetating the watershedwith native trees and plantswill result in reduced erosionand therefore reducedsediment delivery to theHamilton Ponds in the longrun.

But as long as DGsand from this highly erosive

watershed continues toaccumulate in the HamiltonPonds, there will be moresand for recreational usesand home gardening. Keepan eye out for another "DGSand Give-Away" in theFuture!

Project Manager John CondonSupervising the Dredging

Operation at the Hamilton Ponds

Decomposed Granite is Poured into a Trailer at the

DG Give-Away




Employee Feature

Polly Taylor

P olly Taylor is the RCD’s

Road Engineer Technician;she is responsible for supervising a crewinventorying roads in remote

areas of the South Fork TrinityRiver, particularly ForestService land in Plummer Creek and the Upper SouthFork watersheds. The crew isgathering data on the roadnetwork in order to determinewhich roads and parts of roads need to be repaired or improved to withstand largestorms, such as those the

county saw in 1995 and 1997.The crew gathers data

on roads such as length of theroad, number and type of crossings, and any other anomalies, such as landslidesand washouts. The data willbe used to determine thelocations and nature of any

modifications to the roadnetwork, such as replacingculverts with rocked crossingsor upgrading them to withstandhigher flows by increasingculvert diameter. Polly hasworked on the Trinity River Restoration Project for various

agencies since 1992, includingthe California Department of Fish and Game, the US Fishand Wildlife Service, and theUS Forest Service. Shestarted as a volunteer technician and eventuallylearned the skills of her trade,which include monitoring fishcounts in the South Fork: adultspawning, juvenile, and redd

counts.Polly’s family historyreaches way back into theannals of Trinity Countyhistory: her great grandfather was one of the original “fortyniners” during the gold rushdays and he established aclaim in 1854 near JunctionCity, a claim that the family stillholds. Her mother’s side of the

family is descended fromWintu Indians, who haveinhabited Trinity County sinceprehistoric times.

Polly was raised inTrinity County and went to thesame schools as her father:Junction City Elementary andTrinity High Schools. Her sonMax is now a sixth grader atJunction City, where he hasgone to school sincekindergarten. After firstgraduating from high schoolshe spent some time in other places: the Bay Area; Sparks,Nevada; and Sacramento. Likemany who grow up in TrinityCounty who seek out the wideworld, she eventually returned

home to stay.When she’s not

driving the remote backroads of Trinity County for the RCD she likes to hikeand coach sports, includingbaseball and basketball. Shealso likes to read and make

quilts, although lately she’sbeen too busy driving tohave much time for muchelse. Not only does her workday include driving miles of road in remote watersheds,but she often commutesbetween Weaverville andthe southern part of TrinityCounty, a two or three hour drive one way.

Polly and the crew dohowever frequently campout near the work area tominimize driving, and theyhave had a chance to haveshared many interestingexperiences. The mosthumorous incident was thetime she and the crew got atruck she had borrowedstuck off-road on a steep hill.

She called her boss on theshort-wave radio to tell himwhat had happened. Hesaid, “Well, can’t you pull itout with my truck?” Shehesitated before answering:“It’s your truck that’s stuck,”and then cringed while sheawaited his response.Eventually they did get thetruck out, but it took some

doing. Fortunately, day today work goes a lotsmoother than on thatembarrassing occasion.

Fall 1998 Conservation Almanac Newsletter, Trinity County Resource Conservation District

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