Trout passage being restored on Jack Creek

Beginning next week, fish passage for bull trout and redband trout will be restored on Jack Creek.

Starting on Monday, the Sisters Ranger District, the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council and the Lundgren family will partner to remove an irrigation dam and diversion ditch to improve juvenile and adult passage for bull trout, which are listed by the Fish and Wildlife Service as threatened.

The water for irrigation will be pumped downstream off National Forest and the existing dam at the Forest Road 1230 crossing will not be needed.

The partnership and the project are significant for bull trout. The Metolius is a stronghold for bull trout in Oregon and this project will restore access to important spawning habitat upstream of the dam.

Delays in migration of spawning adults make them vulnerable and can reduce their survival.

Juvenile passage to two miles of habitat upstream also will be restored with the project. Working together, the partners met the goal of restoring fish passage and shared costs.

The project will take approximately a week and a dispersed recreation site immediately adjacent to the dam will be closed to the public during that time.

For more information, please contact project manager Mike Riehle, 541-549-7702 at the Sisters Ranger District.