{"id":9154,"date":"2020-05-12T13:52:01","date_gmt":"2020-05-12T13:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/habitat.fisheries.org\/?p=2905"},"modified":"2020-05-12T13:52:01","modified_gmt":"2020-05-12T13:52:01","slug":"public-plantings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/public-plantings\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Plantings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 2016, a catastrophic flood removed infrastructure and\ndamaged habitat within several rivers along Colorado\u2019s Front Range, including\nthe popular coldwater St. Vrain River near the entrance to Rocky Mountain\nNational Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the flood, the Colorado Department of Transportation was tasked with rebuilding the highway and restoring the adjacent river throughout the canyon. Part of these restoration efforts included planting willow seedlings at strategic locations along the riverbank. Willow placement is a common element of river restoration, especially in coldwater systems; riparian vegetation helps to stabilize the banks and reduce erosion (Watson et al. 1997), as well as maintain cool stream temperatures by shading the stream (Opperman and Merenlender 2004). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Bankside vegetation helps to stabilize sediment along a stream. Meanwhile, overhead trees provide shade that maintain cooler water temperatures, as in this Wisconsin spring-fed creek. <\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, most of the planted willows did not survive. Low\nsurvival rates are not unusual for replanting projects, but in this case the willows\nappear to have been targeted; almost all new plants in the several-mile section\nwere uprooted and left nearby on the banks. Personnel within the Colorado\nDepartment of Transportation believe that this was most likely done by anglers\nwho disliked the presence of willows in their casting space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve reflected on the phenomenon of recreationist-instigated\ndamage since walking the St. Vrain river corridor and seeing the empty holes\nwhere the willows used to be. In the 21st<\/sup> century, rivers and other natural\nresources continue to experience increasing amounts of use; in 2017, the GDP\nfor the outdoor recreation economy grew by 3.9 percent, faster than the 2.4\npercent growth of the U.S. overall economy. Within outdoor recreation, boating\nand fishing led the board of conventional activities (U.S. Department of Commerce 2019). It seems increasingly\nimpossible to prevent ourselves from loving our outdoor spaces to death, as\nwith increased human traffic comes increased pressure through issues such as\nerosion and stress to wildlife. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case of the willows on the St. Vrain River showcases the\nneed for measures that minimize user impact. Fish and their habitats benefit\nfrom solid and innovative science, but only when scientists pass their\nknowledge on to fishermen and the general public. Options to do so may include\npublic forums, or even measures as simple as installing informational signs at\nrestoration sites. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Limited funding makes it difficult for agencies to justify\ncontinually re-planting willows in areas where they are promptly removed, and\nthe result is that this stretch of the St. Vrain river remains sparsely\nvegetated at best. Although the work for this project has largely concluded,\nsimilar habitat improvement projects will be a mainstay of agency efforts in\nthe future for both Colorado and throughout the country. The best public\noutreach approach for these projects remains to be seen. It seems clear,\nthough, that agencies need to consider public involvement and cooperation when\ngoing forward with habitat improvement projects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All opinions expressed are that of that author and do not\nnecessarily represent those of the American Fisheries Society. All photos are\nproperty of the author and may not be used or distributed without express\npermission.  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Works Cited<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opperman JJ, Merenlender AM. 2004. The\nEffectiveness of Riparian Restoration for Improving Instream Fish Habitat in\nFour Hardwood-Dominated California Streams. North American Journal of Fisheries\nManagement. 24(3):822\u2013834. doi:10.1577\/M03-147.1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watson CC, Abt SR, Derrick D. 1997.\nWillow Posts Bank Stabilization. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources\nAssociation. 33(2):293\u2013300. doi:10.1111\/j.1752-1688.1997.tb03510.x.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. Department of Commerce. 2019. Outdoor Recreation Industry Grew\n3.9% in 2017: Boating and Fishing Industry Leads Growth. US Department of\nCommerce.https:\/\/www.commerce.gov\/news\/blog\/2019\/09\/outdoor-recreation-industry-grew-39-2017-boating-and-fishing-industry-leads.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2016, a catastrophic flood removed infrastructure and damaged habitat within several rivers along Colorado\u2019s Front Range, including the popular coldwater St. Vrain River near the entrance to Rocky Mountain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2906,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[855],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-information"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}