Historically on this site, Myers Creek overflowed seasonally onto the floodplain and the water table was high enough to create a healthy wetland. In the late 1990s, the stream became disconnected from its floodplain throughout this reach and a substantial portion of the creek was downcut. This limited the amount of water that connects with and hydrates the floodplain, resulting in significant decreases in surface water inundation frequency and duration throughout the wetland. What should be a thriving wetland has become too dry to support a healthy riparian plant community.
OHA coordinated restoration planning, monitoring, and implementation at the Myers Creek mitigation site from 2010 through 2015. In 2014, OHA installed several structures that mimic beaver dams, known as beaver dam analogues. Read more about this work on the Restoration Approach page.
The Buckhorn Mine’s Aquatic Management Resources Plan required that the mine provide mitigation for reduced flows that result from dewatering the Buckhorn Mine. Part of this mitigation includes protecting and restoring aquatic habitat and wetlands on the Myers Creek mitigation site. When several rounds of riparian plantings installed by Kinross at the Myers Creek mitigation site failed, the agencies and the company settled on a different plan. To meet their mine mitigation requirements, the company replaced a culvert that posed a barrier to fish at Bolster/USFS Road 3575. The project helps satisfy the requirements for Kinross to offset the environmental impacts of the Buckhorn Mine.