Overview

Along the banks of the Deschutes River in the center of Bend, First Street Rapids is a popular park for recreational and leisure use. From the park heading north, a trail follows the river to Mt. Washington Drive. The trail is heavily used by pedestrians, bicyclists and dogs. Due to the lack of designated river access points, recreational traffic from the trail to the river degraded the natural vegetation along the river’s edge. In areas seeing the most traffic, the lack of vegetation led to erosion.

In 2004, the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council led an effort through its Community Rivers Program to stabilize a 120 square meter section of the bank that had suffered the worst degradation. The project was supported by the landowners, Bend Metro Park and Recreation District and funded through the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board’s small grant program. As a Community Rivers Program, the effort combined ecological needs with social responsibility by outlining the following goals.

1. To restore the slope with native upland plant species in order to control erosion and protect water quality in the Deschutes River.
2. Provide community members and trail users education and information about the value of habitat and stream bank restoration;
3. Exemplify one approach that can act as a model for other potential restoration sites along the river; and
4. Raise awareness about the role that humans and dogs play in stream bank erosion.

Bank Stabilization

Small log structures, known as ElWd structures, were used to stabilize the loose and eroding soils. The logs were placed to create small terraces leading down the steep embankment at the project site, both stabilizing the soil and creating planting areas.

Vegetation Plan

The Upper Deschutes Watershed Council determined a list of native plants suitable for the project site. Where possible, Clearwater Native Nursery collected seeds and cuttings from the project area to propagate during the summer. Amongst the plantings were blue elderberry, woods rose, chokecherry and bluebunch wheatgrass. In addition, non-native invasive weeds were hand pulled from the project site.

Community Involvement

The project was completed in partnership with the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council (COIC). COIC financially supported the project and donated labor through student work crews. The students served to place the log structures, pull invasive weeds and replant the project site with native vegetation. They completed the work both efficiently and effectively, at the same time, creating a group of river stewards with a tangible connection the project site and its future success.

In addition to the community outreach achieved through the involvement of the COIC students, three highly visible habitat restoration signs were placed along an eighty-foot fence built to protect the project site.