Large wood placement…in the pasture?

Usually when you hear people talk about a large wood placement project, it is something being done to improve the health of a river or creek system.  Large wood in waterways adds complexity, creates pools, riffles and slack water that are some key elements needed for healthy wildlife habitat.

So why would NCLC partner with the Necanicum Watershed Council this summer to do a large wood placement in the pasture at our Circle Creek property?

Well, large pieces of woody debris are something that are found in healthy forest systems when trees fall and decay as part of their natural life cycle.

As you walk through the woods, have you ever noticed how many plants are growing out of old tree stumps and fallen logs? As they slowly break down, these ‘nurse logs’  provide important habitat for plants that need their roots up above the flood plain.  Decaying trees also add vital organic matter to the soil as well as providing amphibian habitat- salamanders especially love old wood.

Large woody debris in a flood plain like that at Circle Creek can provide much the same benefit that it does in a creek or river system- it slows the velocity of water moving across the landscape and adds crucial habitat for amphibians in the area between the forest and the creek. We are planting thousands of trees and shrubs in the Circle Creek pasture, slowly connecting the forest to the creek and placing the pasture on a trajectory to once again become a coastal temperate rainforest. But it will take hundreds of years before any of these trees will grow old enough to die, fall over and add any large woody debris to the forest floor.

Which is where a backhoe, a collection of trees and stumps donated by The Campbell Group and a small grant from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board come in!  The Necanicum Watershed Council applied for an OWEB small grant to help fund the placement of woody debris throughout the Circle Creek pasture, helping to add this crucial component of a healthy forest system into our newly emerging rainforest.

NCLC’s Land Steward Austin Tomlinson has tagged many of the pieces of wood and marked their starting location with a GPS unit, so we will get to see how the wood moves across the landscape during high water events in the years to come.

Many thanks to everyone involved for helping to make this project happen!