the singing falls waterfall singing falls logo text capella, the goat shepherd's constellation
We
Are left
With
Cultivating
Wilderness
~ox-{

 

 

~~*  The Singing Falls Stream Restoration Project  *~~


 

image of author ϕ

~~*  An Environmental Overview of the Watershed Project Area  *~~

 

Getting on Top of the Work

Much of what must be done to repair a watershed centers on common sense and mimicking nature. But one aspect of common sense is realizing that nature is extremely complex. Backtracking on the pathway of our historical mistakes has the potential for disaster. Fortunately the scientific community has a little hindsight under its belt to help us avoid many of the pitfalls.

Getting an overview of the region in which we live goes a long way in giving us some of the perspective we need to follow nature's nudging. By understanding what historical conditions were and by evaluating where we are now, a picture begins to come into focus as to where we must go.

It is not a very forgiving process. The record of the damage we have done as a society will not soon go away. Indeed, there are many elements in our culture that presume to think that no real damage has been done. This is a major barrier to reclamation. It's a hard pill to swallow when we must acknowledge that we have been working very hard at going the wrong way. It is even more difficult to come to grips with the stark reality of major ecological systems collapsing right before our eyes when we have we have accumulated great wealth in the process. Here again though, wisdom tells that the wealth will cease if a sustainable model is not discovered. I'm all for it.

Our community as a whole is beginning to come to grips with the problem. Since 2005 I have been an active member of the Umpqua Basin Watershed Council (The Partnership for the Umpqua Rivers). Currently my commitment is to serve three years (2007-2010) on the Board of Directors representing the interests of the agricultural community of Douglas County Oregon. It is a great privilege to work with many interests and perspectives (often in opposition to each other) and see good things happening on the ground. The board is made up of Native Americans, the timber industry, conservation groups, agriculture, county, sports fishermen and many others. We're working out the issues as we can.

In fact some of the images and information presented in this section of the site are directly a product of the watershed councils assessments of the subwatersheds of our county watershed basin. A thorough and ongoing evaluation of instream conditions and strategic planning on how best to fix the bigger problems is the result.

Admittedly, looking at charts and grasping their content doesn't seem exciting at first. But once those facts and figures hit home (in my case right in my back yard) they take on a deeper and more meaningful significance. In all actuality I've dedicated a good portion of my time keeping a record of the stream flow and rain fall since the salmon have showed up here at Singing Falls. The impetus for this long term commitment is the hope that our restoration work will bring forth the fruit of more water in the streams and healthier fish runs in the years to come.

So here is a short synopsis of "How?" and "Why?" for the project and apeek at the ecological, geographical and preparatory data we used to get a birds eye view of our fish and forest centered corner of the world. You'll soon see that I live in a wonderfully unique part of the planet where many complex and amazing natural phenomena crisscross and find their home.

 

Click on the links in the following table to access the information. Some of them are off site. Click your browsers back button to return here.
Project Overview Images and Information Watershed Council Assessment PDF Free Restoration Guidelines How ? Why ?
image showing a chart of the potential spawning mileage in our watershed

Mileage of usable spawning stream for the salmonids in the Tiller District. The Joe Hall Restoration Project contains but a fragment of the area needed to be treated in the district.

 

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Stanley & Alexandra Petrowski
34620 Tiller Trail Hwy.
Tiller, Oregon 97484
mohair@singingfalls.com