Ochoco National Forest begins McKay Creek restoration

The Ochoco National Forest is start construction on a 12-acre stretch of McKay Creek this week, and for fisheries biologist Jennifer Mickelson, this project is her baby.

“This has been a long time coming and we are excited to see work happening on the ground,” Mickelson said Monday.

Mickelson has been working on the restoration of McKay Creek outside of Prineville since its inception. She said the main goal is to improve the spawning habitat for steelhead and redband trout.

“This project will improve habitat and will hopefully show successes toward reintroducing steelhead back into McKay Creek,” Mickelson said.

The restoration program is all part of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s ongoing commitment to improving the habitat at McKay Creek.

Mickelson said every spring,; thousands of steelhead are reintroduced into McKay Creek.

“It’s been a long road, but it’s exciting to see things happen,” Mickelson said.

On the long road to improving Crook County’s wildlife, the Ochoco National Forest has all hands on deck.

Hydrologist Kyle Wright said watershed health and fish biology play a crucial part in stream restoration.

“We work together, because they let us know what the fish like and we say, ‘OK, well, if we build this, it will support a sustained fishery.'” Wright said. “It will also give some hiding cover for fish during high flows. So we work a lot with those types of habitats to make sure we are providing the best bang for the buck for the fish.”

Mickelson said this project will not only allow wildlife to thrive, but Crook County residents to enjoy their own backyard.

“There is a lot of people up here, and this is a special place to them,” she said. “And I hope that people in the future will come up here and look at the changes that we’ve made all for the better in improving wildlife fish habitat and water quality.”

Reintroducing this species back into its natural habitat is one small step that will make one huge difference.