[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
dam-l 5_12b.html
[INLINE] Crime in the City [USEMAP]
[INLINE] [INLINE]
[INLINE] invisible
[INLINE]
navmap
May 12, 1998
Grape-growers take initiative to save habitat
By BOB KLOSE
Press Democrat Staff Writer
GEYSERVILLE -- In the old days, just a few years ago, the rule of
thumb at Farrow Ranch for creek maintenance was to clear debris and
vegetation from the stream that cuts through the vineyards.
It was a bad idea.
When Mike Draxton took over as vineyard manager and found he couldn't
drive a tractor between stretches of Gill Creek and his merlot, he
called the Department of Fish and Game for help.
This spring, after two full years of a stream restoration program,
Gill Creek is building healthy sandbars and deep pools for the
steelhead that run wild there. And the bank erosion that threatened
nearby vineyards has decreased, although there were some setbacks
during the recent heavy rains and more work needs to be done.
But the brief effort to rescue this 400-yard stretch of Gill Creek has
made Draxton a believer, and he began the third year of his
restoration project in March when his vineyard workers and a Fish and
Game crew planted 300 alder trees on the stream bank.
''It's amazing how quickly Mother Nature can correct itself,'' he
said. ''And it's not that much work.''
In the wake of recent listings of salmon and steelhead as threatened
species, federal wildlife officials are expected to require property
owners and local agencies to launch restoration programs aimed at
improving conditions for the fish. While these efforts may be the most
ambitious attempts to restore fish habitat in Russian River history,
they won't be the first.
Public and private agencies and landowners like Draxton have been
working to restore creeks and river banks for generations.
Trout Unlimited has been working for more than seven years to repair
logging damage to Willow Creek, which flows into the river near
Jenner. Up in Cazadero, Jim Barry of the sawmill family has been
working with ranchers Ken Parmeter and Bob Schneider for years to
restore Ward Creek, a tributary of Austin Creek.
Near Asti, Ron Rolleri of Hidden Springs Vineyard continually plants
willows to protect his quarter-mile of Russian River frontage from
erosion. In Mendocino County, similar measures have been standard
practice of the Ruddick ranching family, which settled between Hopland
and Ukiah in the 1850s.
''If we didn't protect the riverbank our land would go down to
Jenner,'' said Dick Ruddick.
Compared with five miles of riverfront the Ruddicks look after,
Draxton's project on the 299-acre Farrow Ranch is small. But Gill
Creek cuts through part of the 85 acres Draxton and his wife, Carol,
have in grapes, and the creek is crucial to the ranch water supply.
An infrared aerial photo illustrates damage to the creek caused by
previous managers who routinely cleared the channel of vegetation.
The photo shows the creek thick and healthy with vegetation up- and
downstream of the vineyard, but barren in the middle. As a result, the
stream bank eroded and the water flow dried up in that section of the
creek in the summer, threatening the water supply and ruining fish
habitat.
Working with Fish and Game, Draxton installed log and boulder barriers
to prevent erosion and restore creek banks, redirected the channel to
encourage development of pools and gravel bars, and planted beds of
willows to ward off damaging currents.
''Mike's project is small, but it's a real classic example of what is
going on along the Russian River and its tributaries,'' said Fish and
Game representative John Fort. ''He'll have a nice piece of property
with a nice stream with some fish in it.''
Draxton said he initially worried the restoration work would become a
huge headache. But he said Fish and Game crews did some of the work,
and he was able to use in-house labor and rocks, logs and gravel on
the property. The cost was minimal.
''And it's fun,'' he said.
[INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE] [LINK]
Click here to return to the main page.
Click here to view a locater map.
[INLINE]
[INLINE] [INLINE] [LINK]
[USEMAP]
© 1998 The Press Democrat