Beaver Assisted Restoration
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    • Beaver Restoration Topics >
      • Beaver Ecology & Hydrogeomorphic Feedbacks >
        • Introductions, Expectations & Overview
        • Beaver Ecology & History
        • Ecological & Hydrogeomorphic Feedbacks of Beaver Dams
        • Monitoring Beaver Activity - Understanding the Beaver Dam Cycle
      • Restoration & Conservation Regulations >
        • Potential Problems Using Beaver for Restoration & Conservation
        • Overview of Conservation & Restoration Practices
        • Existing Beaver Restoration Projects
        • Regulatory Framework Relevant to Beaver
        • Expectation Management: Communicating to Public/Stakeholders/Decision Makers
        • Assessing Potential for Beaver in Restoration & Conservation
        • Field Examples of Assessing Capacity of Landscape to Support Beaver
      • Designing & Monitoring Restoration Projects With Beaver >
        • General Design Considerations & Concepts
        • Design Process at Bridge Creek
        • Monitoring Design, Maintenance & Adaptive Management
        • Monitoring Findings in Bridge Creek
        • Curtis Creek Field Trip
    • Beaver Literature
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    • External LInks >
      • BRAT - Beaver Restoration Assessment Tool
      • Restoration Consortium @ USU
      • The Beaver Institute
      • Wheaton ETAL Lab
      • Anabranch Solutions

CEDAR CITY WORKSHOP MATERIALS

handouts, slides, & other references
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HANDOUTS

We used a field notebook to collate all the handouts used in the field portion of the workshop (and for a few in-class exercises). 
Download Workshop Field Notebook
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Day 1 - LUNCH TIME STORY

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Idaho rancher Jay Wilde from Mink Creek will share his story about reintroducing beaver into Birch Creek to try to restore perennial flow to the creek he, his family and his livestock depend on.  
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"Ranchers & Scientists Helping Rodents Mitigate Drought - The Story of Bringing Beaver Back to Birch Creek" 
- Jay Wilde (Diamondback W Ranch)
​

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Jay's story is mentioned in this June 7th Article in Science! Jay is also featured in Ben Goldfarb's new book: Eager.
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BLM's BIRCH Creek, Utah

All of our Day 2 field activities will take place on another Birch Creek (this one in Utah) on BLM land outside of Beaver, Utah.
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extra Field Handouts

All handouts came from our  field notebook, but when participants rotated through the 'Zeedyk Structures' station to build some one rock dams and Zuni Bowls, Jeremy handed out a pocket copy of the Quivira Coalition's Erosion Control Field Guide, by Sponholtz & Anderson. 
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See other resources below too! 

Presentations & SLIDES

Day 1: Restoring process & function in riparian areas

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Introduction & Overview Slides

Morning: Background & Context

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"Why are we here? Building resiliency for wildlife and working lands"
​- Jeremy Maestas (NRCS)
Video from similar presentation Jeremy gave at Society of Range Management meeting in Reno this year: Restoring and Managing the “Emerald Islands” of the Sagebrush Sea: New Science, Sticks and Stones, and the Eager Beaver.

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"Workshop Overview, Healthy Streams & Riparian Zones"
​- Joe Wheaton (USU, Anabranch)

Afternoon - Restoring Process & Function in Riparian Areas

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"Overview of Impairments & Restoration Objectives for Riverscapes"
​- Nick Bouwes (Anabranch, Eco Logical Research, USU)


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"Recovery versus Restoration - Role of Beaver?"
​- Joe Wheaton (USU, Anabranch)
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Although enthusiasm has grown recently, this is not the first or last round of enthusiasm for beaver or low-cost, simple structures. Joe highlights some of this above, but the link below draws on examples here in the US from the 1930s and in France from the 1860s. These ideas have been around for a long time.
Nothing is Really New... References


Implementing BDAs as low-cost restoration tools


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"BDAs, HDLWD, PALS, Selective Felling, Grip Hoisting & Zeedyk Structures" (i.e. an overview of various low-cost, cheap and cheerful structure types)
​- Scott Shahveridan (Anabranch, EUSU)


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"Bridge Creek Intensively Monitored Watershed - Restoring Steelhead Populations & Incised Streams"
​- Nick Bouwes (Anabranch, Eco Logical Research, USU)


 
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"Where? Picking the right places to work"
​- Joe Wheaton (USU, Anabranch)

See also Planning Tools & Resources
Since we ran out of time to cover this topic, I recorded you a little video of this lecture.

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"Adaptive Management, Pilots, Maintenance & Expectation Management"
​- Joe Wheaton (USU, Anabranch)
See also Adaptive Management Examples

OTHER RESOURCES

 NRCS has developed a number of supporting documents under Conservation Practice 643 to support planning and implementation of cheap and cheerful restoration techniques. 
NRCS Specific Resources on BDAs as Recognized Conservation Practice
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Click on album above to see photos from the workshop, or to add your own!

Permit Package APPLICATIONS for Utah

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In order to install low-cost, instream structures in the State of Utah, a stream alteration permit is potentially required. To do this for the workshop, we applied for such a permit using the US Army Corps of Engineers and Utah Division of Water Resources, Joint Application Form. At left, is a completed example for the Birch Creek Application. On UDWR's website, you can find the complete permit application, correspondence and determination letter. 

This example from the workshop helps highlight the sort of information that can be used to put together a successful permit application.

You may also find this design report helpful as an example for minimal reporting and documentation examples:
  • Shahverdian, SM. and Wheaton, JM. 2017. Birch Creek Restoration Design Report​. Prepared for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources by Anabranch Solutions, LLC. Newton, UT. 26 Pages. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.11439.84646
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PLANNING & Prioritization TOOLS

 In Joe's lecture on "Where? Picking the right places to work" he mentioned the Beaver Restoration Assessment Tool (BRAT), the Valley Bottom Extraction tool and the Riparian Condition Assessment Tool (RCAT). All these GIS tools are freely available, documented and open-source (part of Riverscapes Consortium family of tools).  Specific outputs from these tools are also available The Wheaton ET-AL lab has already run BRAT & RCAT for the entire state of Utah thanks to support from 
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Both Jeremy and Nick also mentioned easy-to-use web tools for looking a NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and derivatives for looking at mesic habitat resources (SGI Mesic Habitat Resources) to learn about riparian vegetation through time. Check out the links by clicking on SGI Map or Climate Engine below! 
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An output of BRAT for Birch Creek showing existing dam building capacities.
 

More information on 'zeedyk structures',  and low cost erosion control structures

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In addition to the Erosion Control Field Guide you received in the field prepared by the Quirva Coalition, NRCS Colorado released a new technical note that explains how to use cost-effective structures to improve riparian areas and wet meadows in sagebrush country.

Featuring successful collaborative projects in the Upper Gunnison River Basin, this technical note is geared toward resource managers looking for relatively simple solutions for addressing shallow headcuts or small gullies impacting the productivity rangelands. 
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It provides information and references that help field practitioners get started by identifying opportunities, prioritizing and planning treatments, and implementing similar projects in watersheds across the West.

Read more about Starter Guide
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Bill Zeedyk and Van Clothier's Let the Water do the Work, is an excellent resource for getting up to speed on process-based restoration using these types of structures.  ​
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Utah State University Restoration Consortium
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Joe Wheaton
Wheaton ETAL  Lab @ Fluvial Habitats Center
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Beyond Workshops... Need help getting started?

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  • Home
    • Beaver News
  • About Workshops
    • Recommended Readings
    • Learning Outcomes
    • Inquiries
    • USU Course Policies
  • Your Workshop
    • Upcoming & Current Workshops & Courses >
      • Open Erollment >
        • 2019 - Beaver Translocation
        • 2019 - USU WATS 6860 >
          • Course Materials
        • 2019 -Construction Workshop
      • Bespoke/Private >
        • 2019 SGI LTPBR
    • Past Workshops & Courses >
      • Open Enrollment >
        • 2011 - ICRRR Workshop
        • 2012 - ICRRR Workshop
        • 2017 - USU WATS 6860 >
          • Course Materials
        • 2018 - USU WATS 6860 >
          • Course Materials
        • 2018 -Construction Workhsop
      • Bespoke >
        • 2012 - UWCC Workshop
        • 2013 - RRNW Short Course
        • 2013 - NRCS Workshop
        • 2014 - Klamath Watershed Partnership /OWEB Workshop
        • 2015 - UDWR Workshop
        • 2015 - USFS Workshop
        • 2016 - SGI Workshop
        • 2018 - John Day Workshop
        • 2018 - NRCS, PF, SGI >
          • NRCS - Idaho >
            • Workshop Materials
          • NRCS - Utah >
            • Cedar City Workshop Materials
            • Logan Workshop Materials
          • NRCS - Wyoming >
            • Lander Workshop Materials
          • NRCS - Nevada >
            • Elko Workshop Materials
          • NRCS Specific Resources
  • Resources
    • Restoration Manual
    • Beaver Restoration Topics >
      • Beaver Ecology & Hydrogeomorphic Feedbacks >
        • Introductions, Expectations & Overview
        • Beaver Ecology & History
        • Ecological & Hydrogeomorphic Feedbacks of Beaver Dams
        • Monitoring Beaver Activity - Understanding the Beaver Dam Cycle
      • Restoration & Conservation Regulations >
        • Potential Problems Using Beaver for Restoration & Conservation
        • Overview of Conservation & Restoration Practices
        • Existing Beaver Restoration Projects
        • Regulatory Framework Relevant to Beaver
        • Expectation Management: Communicating to Public/Stakeholders/Decision Makers
        • Assessing Potential for Beaver in Restoration & Conservation
        • Field Examples of Assessing Capacity of Landscape to Support Beaver
      • Designing & Monitoring Restoration Projects With Beaver >
        • General Design Considerations & Concepts
        • Design Process at Bridge Creek
        • Monitoring Design, Maintenance & Adaptive Management
        • Monitoring Findings in Bridge Creek
        • Curtis Creek Field Trip
    • Beaver Literature
    • Interesting Links
    • Videos & Movies
    • Need Help Planning, Designing & Building?
    • External LInks >
      • BRAT - Beaver Restoration Assessment Tool
      • Restoration Consortium @ USU
      • The Beaver Institute
      • Wheaton ETAL Lab
      • Anabranch Solutions