Rock & Richardson Creek Watersheds Action Plan

The activities within this recommended approach provide multiple
opportunities for integration of Council efforts in education and outreach,
monitoring, research, planning and policy development, and on-the-ground
actions. There are countless other actions that the Council could take towards
watershed health, but these are suggested as the most strategic.Ý

2. Protection and Restoration of Key Areas

The watershed assessment (Ecotrust, October 2000) identified
three critical areas for salmonids in Rock and Richardson Creeks: Lower Rock
Creek, from the mouth up to the falls; Middle Rock Creek, from SE 172^nd
east to Foster Road; and the forested canyons of Lower Richardson Creek. If
salmonids cannot be retained in these core sections, then they cannot continue
to exist in the respective watersheds. Moreover, these core salmonid areas and
the broader zones that support them also have significant water quality, water
quantity, soil stability, and wildlife habitat values. If the Council can do
nothing else in these two watersheds, it should work to ensure that existing
values in these areas are retained and enhanced through protection, monitoring
and restoration.

The recommended protection of these core areas does not negate
the value of protecting and restoring other important ecological values in
these two watersheds. For example, the riparian zones on all creeks in these
two watersheds are critical habitat vital to the survival of salmonids. Good
water quality and healthy riparian zones are the key to salmonid survival. The
Council should make every effort through policy and private landowner incentives
to afford maximum possible protection to these riparian areas.

2.1 Forested Riparian Zone of Lower Richardson Creek

The mostly intact, forested canyon of lower Richardson Creek
(reach 1) is fundamental to the health of this watershed and to the presence of
salmon is this creek. This particular area also provides wildlife habitat
connectivity between the upper Buttes area and the forested areas of the
Clackamas Valley. This zone has been roughly delineated on the accompanying
Opportunity map based on the extent of steep slopes, soils with high erosion
potential, wetlands, and intact forest cover and other natural areas. Highly
erodable soils cover 40 percent of this 620-acre area, over one quarter of the
area has slopes greater than 25 percent, and wetlands cover a little over three
percent, or nearly 20 acres. Over 80 percent of this zone is forested,
primarily in closed canopy mixed conifer deciduous forest.

Lower Richardson Creek Canyon Zone: Vegetation and Land Cover Type*

*Source: Metro (1998).

The protection of this canyon area and the critical salmonid
habitat it supports is particularly important as parts of this watershed
continue to urbanize. Most of this canyon zone lies outside the urban reserve
zone and is therefore unlikely to be developed in the near future. Rather, the
principal threat to the water quality, water quantity, soil stability, and
wildlife habitat values provided by this area is from timber harvesting by
current or future landowners. Given the fragile nature of much of this zone and
its direct connection to critical salmonid habitat; tree removal and other
activities associated with timber harvesting in this particular zone could have
a significant impact on overall watershed health. Current State of Oregon
forest practice regulations do not prevent the removal of most of this forest
cover. The Council must take a lead role in ensuring that this area remains
largely intact. This will require working with landowners, the Metro
Greenspaces Program, Clackamas County, and local land trusts to find
appropriate economic and policy mechanisms for retaining this area as intact
forest.

This lower canyon zone includes about 191 separate tax lots owned
by 142 different landowners. The average lot size is about six acres, although
sizes range from a little over one thousand square feet to 43 acres. Many of
the larger lots, however, extend well beyond the delineated zone. Most of these
tax lots are occupied; about 70 percent have assessed improvement values of
$25,000 or more.

2.2 Forested Riparian Zone of Lower Rock Creek

As in lower Richardson Creek, the forested riparian zone of lower
Rock Creek (reaches 1, 2 and 3) is fundamental to the health of that watershed
and to the hope of restoring healthy populations of salmon to the lower end of
this creek. This zone is also delineated on the accompanying Opportunity map
based on the extent of steep slopes, soils with high erosion potential,
wetlands, and intact forest cover. Highly erodable soils cover 30 percent of
this 293-acre area, and nearly 40 percent of the area has slopes greater than
25 percent. Over 65 percent is forested, primarily in closed canopy mixed
conifer and deciduous forest and nearly 18 percent is in agriculture.

Lower Rock Canyon: Vegetation and Land Cover Type*

*Source: Metro (1998).

Like the Lower Richardson canyon area, protection of the Lower
Rock Creek canyon area and the critical salmonid habitat it supports is
particularly important as parts of this watershed urbanize. All of this zone
lies either within the current urban growth boundary or within the urban
reserve zone and is therefore likely to be developed in the near future. Given
the fragile nature of much of this zone and its direct connection to critical
salmonid habitat, intensive development could have a significant impact on
overall watershed health. The Council must take a lead role in ensuring that
the remaining forest cover area remains largely undisturbed. This will require
working with landowners, the Metro Greenspaces Program, Clackamas County, and
local land trusts to find appropriate economic and policy mechanisms for
retaining this area as intact forest.

The lower Rock Creek canyon zone includes about 229 separate tax
lots owned by 161 different landowners. The average lot size is about 2 acres,
although sizes range from a little over one thousand square feet to 50 acres.
Many of the larger lots extend beyond the delineated zone. Most of these tax
lots are occupied; nearly 60 percent have assessed improvement values of
$25,000 or more.

The Council must take a lead role in ensuring that this area
remains largely intact. This will require working with landowners, the Metro
Greenspaces Program, Clackamas County, and local land trusts to find
appropriate economic and policy mechanisms for retaining this area as intact
forest.

2.3 Middle Rock Creek

The Council should take a lead role in restoring the riparian
zone and stream channel in middle Rock Creek (all of reach 5 and parts of reach
4 and 6). Part of this area contains a small and isolated population of
cutthroat trout in a stretch of Rock Creek between Foster Road and SE 172^nd
Avenues. Generally there is poor riparian cover in this section, partly
channelized stream sections, a lack of habitat complexity and a lack of refuge
habitat. The stability and recovery of cutthroat trout in upper Rock Creek
depends on restoration of riparian cover and habitat in this zone.

As roughly delineated on the Opportunity map, this area is about
300 acres in size, and is characterized by primarily gentle slopes, although
eleven percent of the area has slopes of between 25 and 50 percent. Currently,
only 62 percent of the land cover is forested. Tree planting and restoration is
most important for areas closest to the creek.

Middle Rock Creek: Vegetation and Land Cover Type*

*Source: Metro (1998).

The middle Rock Creek zone includes about 189 separate tax lots
owned by 137 different landowners. The average lot size is about four acres,
although sizes range from a little less than 700 square feet to 125 acres. Many
of the larger lots, however, extend well beyond the delineated zone. Most of
these tax lots are occupied; about 65 percent have assessed improvement values
of $25,000 or more

The Council will need to work with landowners and residents of
this area to:

Potential Partners for Protection and Restoration of Key Areas

Clackamas Planning
9101 SE Sunnybrook Blvd.
Clackamas, OR 97015

503.353.4400

www.co.clackamas.or.us

www.co.clackamas.or.us/dtd/lngplan/l-plan.html (long term planning by project)

Columbia Land Trust

1351 Officers’ Row
Vancouver, WA 98661

306.696.0131

www.columbialandtrust.org

Metro Parks and Greenspaces
600 NE Grand Ave.
Portland, OR 97232-2736

503.797.1850

www.metro-region.org/parks/parks.html

Metro’s Metropolitan Greenspaces Program has begun to identify
and protect natural areas within the metropolitan area. The goal of the program
is to establish a regional system of natural areas, parks, and open spaces that
are connected by trails and greenways. Metro has identified specific greenway
linkages within the Rock Creek Watershed for acquisition and public management.

Oregon Sustainable
Agriculture Land Trust (OSALT)
PO Box 1106
Canby, OR 97013-1106

503.263.8392
www.osalt.org

Trust for Public Lands

Oregon Field Office
1211 SW Sixth Ave.
Portland, OR 97204

503.228.4529

www.tpl.org/nearu/nwro

3. Community Outreach and Education

Community outreach and education should be aimed at creating
awareness of the role of watersheds and key watershed issues, building support
for community watershed efforts, and changing behavior patterns in ways that
restore and enhance watershed health. Many of the activities of the Clackamas
Basin Council provide important outreach and education opportunities.
Activities that protect and restore these creeks should be used as a vehicle
for larger Clackamas Basin protection efforts. Moreover, there will be a lot of
media publicity as this area urbanizes, and the Council should be prepared to
use it to advantage There are at least two specific projects, however, for
which education is the principal goal. In conducting outreach and education the
Council should stimulate community partnerships with local schools, landowners,
and businesses, and aim to create a watershed community that will take the
individual steps needed to maintain and restore watershed health. Two excellent
avenues for reaching the local community are the Damascus and Sunnyside
Community Fairs in July and August as well as the Rock Creek Community
Association.

3.1 Damascus Restoration Demonstration

The Council should take a lead role in restoration of the section
of Richardson Creek that has been damaged by channelization and the failure of
the Safeway and Dairy Queen septic systems. This site is a critical link to
water quality in Richardson Creek. Moreover, while it may not be the most
important restoration project in the watershed, it is the most visible one and
provides an excellent opportunity to connect residents to the Richardson Creek
watershed and demonstrate the potential for restoration. As a leader in this
effort the Council will need to work closely with the landowners, broker the
roles of various local and regional agencies, search for creative solutions to
the specific challenges of the site, and gather and focus the energies of local
residents. For example, while the Damascus waste treatment issue has often been
framed as a dilemma between inadequate septic and unavailable sewer systems
there may be other viable alternatives for onsite biological waste treatment. A
Living Machine is one example of an effective and economical system for
biological treatment of high strength industrial wastewater and sewage that
could offer an effective solution. Living Machines incorporate and accelerate
the processes nature uses to purify water. With the help of sunlight and a
managed environment, a diversity of organisms including bacteria, plants,
snails, and fish break down and digest organic pollutants. Depending on the
climate, Living Machines can be housed in a protective greenhouse, under light shelter
or in the open air.

The Council may be able to play a pivotal role in brokering
resources and partners to implement such a local solution.

Resources for Damascus Area Restoration

Living Technologies
431 Pine Street
Burlington, Vermont 05401
802.865.4460
Fax: 802.865.4438
info@livingtechnologies.com

http://www.livingtechnologies.com

http://www.livingtechnologies.com/htm/home.htm

Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. EPA Region 10
1200 6th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
206.553.1200
http://www.epa.gov/region10/

http://www.epa.gov/owmitnet/
(Office of Wastewater Management)

State of Oregon
Department of Environmental Quality
811 SW Sixth Avenue
Portland, OR 97204

800.452.4011

Water Environment
Services (WES)

Clackamas County
9101 SE Sunnybrook Blvd, #441
Clackamas, OR 97015

503.353.4567

Further Reading related to Damascus Area Restoration

Whole Earth Review. Modern
Landscape Ecology (Special Issue). Whole Earth Review. Summer 1998.

Honachefsky, William B. Ecologically
Based Municipal Planning. Lewis Publishers. 1999.

Matilsky, Barbara C..Ý Fragile Ecologies: Contemporary Artists’
Interpretations. Rizzoli Books. 1992.

United States Environmental Protection Agency. Wastewater
Primer. EPA 833-K-98-001. May 1998. (http://www.epa.gov/owmitnet/primer.pdf).

3.2 Use of Fertilizers, Herbicides, and Pesticides

The Council should take a lead role in educating residents,
operators, businesses and vendors about the role of fertilizer, herbicide and
pesticide on water quality and watershed health, and more sustainable
alternatives to their use. This outreach and education effort should be
strategically focused for greatest long-term impact. Likely partners to the
Council may include University Extension and Metro as well as local business
associations and non-profits.

Conventional agriculture relies on massive application of
pesticides, fertilizers, and fossil fuels, which result in soil erosion and the
contamination of groundwater and ecosystems. As an alternative, sustainable
agriculture eliminates the use of pesticides and artificial chemicals and
largely maintains soil fertility by application of on-farm residues and
rotation of nitrogen-fixing crops. Any external fertilizers must themselves be
sustainably produced. Soil erosion is minimized through crop choices,
cover-cropping, and low-till methods, and crop diversity provides inherent
resilience in the face of pests, disease, and weather extremes.

Most, but not all, aspects of Sustainable Agriculture are addressed by organic
certification standards like those administered state-wide by California Tilth
and Oregon Tilth and nationally by the U.S.D.A. This form of product labeling
and certification is well-understood in the marketplace, and can attract a
premium of 50% or more. The organic food market is the fastest growing sector
of the food industry, with a growth rate of 20% per year over the last two
decades. Processors, handlers, marketers, and restaurants can also receive
organic certification, creating a wide range of opportunities for value-added
production.

Agriculture is only one source of fertilizers, herbicides and
pesticides, and a diminishing one in the Rock and Richardson Creek watersheds.
The use and impact of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides on watershed
health in urban and suburban areas can often exceeds that of agricultural areas
due to the unregulated use by untrained homeowners. Owners of farms and
household landscapes and gardens can improve watershed health by maintaining
their own soil fertility, avoiding pesticide use, and preventing erosion.

3.2.1Partners and Resources for Fertilizer, Herbicide and Pesticide Reduction

Oregon State University

North Willamette Research and Extension Center
15210 NE Miley Road
Aurora, Oregon 97002-9543

503.678.1264
Fax: 503.678.5986

http://osu.orst.edu/dept/NWREC/

Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to
Pesticides (NCAP)

P.O. Box
1393
Eugene,
Oregon 97440

503.344.5044
Fax:
541.344.6923

http://www.pesticide.org/

Washington Toxics
Coalition

4649 Sunnyside Ave N Suite 540E
Seattle WA 98103
206.632.1545
http://www.watoxics.org/

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education
Grant program (SARE)

United States Department of Agriculture

Room 322, Agricultural Science Building
4865 Old Main Hill Road
Logan, Utah 84322-4865
435.797.2257

http://wsare.usu.edu

The mission of SARE is to expand knowledge and adoption of
sustainable agriculture practices that are economically viable, environmentally
sound and socially acceptable. An example of their grant program is the
Farmer/Rancher Research and Education Grant program (USDA). Producers and
producer groups residing in the Western U.S. eligible to compete for grants to
identify, evaluate and test sustainable agriculture practices and challenges.

Oregon Sustainable Agriculture Land Trust (OSALT)
P.O. Box 1106
Canby, Oregon 97013-1106

503. 263.8392

Email:
osalt@teleport.com

http://www.osalt.org

OSALT protects urban gardens and farm, ranch and forestland,
holding them in trust for agricultural use by future generations. OSALT trains
growers in sustainable practices through apprenticeships, seminars, workshops
and publications, and seeks to inform the public of the importance of
sustainable practices.

Oregon Tilth

1860 Hawthorne Ave. NE
Suite 200
Salem Oregon, 97303

503.378.0690

http://www.tilth.org

Oregon Tilth is a non-profit research and education
organization certifying organic farmers, processors, retailers and handlers
throughout Oregon, the United States, and internationally.

The Food Alliance

1829 NE Alberta, # 5
Portland, OR 97211
503.493.1066
Email: info@thefoodalliance.org

http://www.thefoodalliance.org

As an independent third party the Food Alliance endorses farms
that meet their strict requirements and allow products to carry their seal of
approval, which ensures consumers that they are buying healthy food and
supporting farmers who protect the environment and provide safe and fair
working conditions for their employees. Farmers whose products bear the label
meet or exceed their standards in the areas of conserving soil and water, pest
and disease management, and human resources.

Chefs Collaborative

282 Moody Street, Suite 207
Waltham, MA 02453
781.736.0635

Email: cc2000@chefnet.com or
info@portlandcc.org

http://www.portlandcc.org

http://www.chefnet.com/cc2000

The Chefs Collaborative is a network of chefs, restaurateurs and other culinary professionals who promote sustainable cuisine by teaching children, supporting local farmers, educating each other & inspiring their customers to choose clean, healthy foods.

Environmental Working Group (EWG) 1718 Connecticut Ave., N.W.Nickerson
Marina Building

Suite 600   1080
W. Ewing Pl, Suite 301
Washington, DC 20009   Seattle,
WA 98119
202.667.6982 206.286.1235
x18
Email: info@ewg.org Email:
ewg_seattle@ewg.org

The Environmental Working Group is a leading content provider
for public interest groups and concerned citizens who are campaigning to
protect the environment. They produce hundreds of headline-making reports each
year, drawing on original EWG analyses of government and other data. Food News
(http://www.foodnews.org