October 6-7, 2005 Fishlake NF
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Additional Comments
UM Creek is considered by Fishlake Level II Riparian Inventories, to have excellent fisheries and beaver habitat. A 2002 inventory (Shell Valley Consulting) noted regarding Lower UM Creek above Forsythe Reservoir, “The creek…has been neta5tively affected by cattle grazing and to a lesser extent, ATV use. Most reaches are in downward successional trend, and species diversity is declining…The area is also ideal habitat for bever, and beaver reintroduction should be considered on stream sections above Forsythe Reservoir.”
In this section former dams are abandoned, sagebrush and alder have been burned (apoparently for forage for livestock?), and banks are being trampled and chiseled, widening the Creek.
October 7, 2005
LOWER UM CREEK,
Forsyth Reservoir Quadrangle
Immediately above Forsyth Reservoir
0453193
4265072
Dam breached
Eat alder? Cow patties in area—
Forsythe doesn’t provide culinary water, right? Only for irrigation. Alder-dominated
8,021’
0453193
4265179
A dam with a pond behind
E. side—an island—would have been part of a dam
Usually where there are alders, not many willow
8,021’
0453193
4265179
Pond beyond and two islands that would have been part of a dam
Right width, right flow for beaver dams.
October 7, 2005
LOWER UM CREEK above Forsythe Reservoir (cont.)
Not eating this 3-leaved legume: Thermopsis montana?
Whole plain looks flat enough to be formed behind a dam. The riparian area is mostly a Kentucky bluegrass lawn; few forbs.
“[Thermpopsis montana grows] along roadsides and in moist meadows. They are unpalatable to livestock, so they are not eaten when anything better is available. They therefore tend to reproduce and spread when other plants are overgrazed.” (http://www.rootcellar.us/wildflowers/thermops.htm)
Hear a Townsend’s solitaire. See red-shafted flicker feathers
October 7, 2005
LOWER UM CREEK (cont.)
8,034’
0452992
4265481
Forest Service (?) burned sagebrush and alder, to get a lawn
Narrowed riparian area—were once functioning, because dams were here
West bank LOWER UM CREEK
Eliminated riparian area by burning alder
8,097’
0452564
4265688
Further upstream eroding hillsides where burned alder
60’s SCS used to spray willows on the theory they used water. Sprayed huge sections of Gila River. It was an attempt to increase water yields, but a lot of streams just blew out.
Other dams are up UM Creek. Beaver chewings along trail. Townsend’s solitaire and robins eat juniper berries in winter; Townsend’s solitaire sings in winter
0453107
4265115
Bare bank
This chiseling comes only from cows. You can’t narrow such a stream without a beaver (or built) dam to capture sediment.
October 7, 2005
West bank LOWER UM CREEK
Bank nearby being chiseled apart.
Can’t narrow this stream or recover the lost sediment. The stream is almost permanently widened; it won’t narrow simply by taking cattle off.
With stream widening evaporation and temperature rise; flooding increases, silt collects downstream. The stream has less resiliency during drought, with water quickly running through.
October 7, 2005
LOWER UM CREEK Down near Forsyth Reservoir
8,006’
0453247
4264922
Widening of stream
Alders chewed off
More bank being chiseled off
PLT: Agrostis? in wet meadow down to Forsythe Creek