Basin & Range Projects
Silvies River
Sodhouse Marsh
 Silvies
River
Location:
The Silvies River floodplain, 20 miles southeast of Burns
(Harney County)
Project: Restore a five-mile stretch
of the Silvies River floodplain just above Malheur Lake.
Partners: Ducks Unlimited, U.S. Natural
Resources Conservation Service, Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Watershed
Enhancement Board (proposed), local landowners
Notes: Ducks Unlimited is working with
two private landowners, the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation
Service and other partners to restore 2,244 acres along the
West Fork Silvies River to natural stream and wetland habitat.
The land, enrolled in the Wetland Reserve Program, has mostly
been leveled and ditched for agricultural purposes. Of the
five miles of stream in the project site, 3.5 miles are a
completely straight ditch with a dike on both sides and completely
void of riparian habitat. The project proposes to excavate
five miles of historical river channel and divert the river
back into this restored channel. Removal of the dikes will
also allow a more natural floodplain, permitting the restoration
and management of over 1,000 acres of wetland habitat within
the project area. Approximately 500 acres will be restored
to native grassland and 2,500 willow cuttings will be used
to jump-start the re-vegetation process. Proposed restoration
work will benefit migratory and breeding birds, improve water
quality, aid fish migration, and help control invasive carp
populations.
Contact: Steve Donovan, Ducks
Unlimited, 1101 SE Tech Center Drive, Vancouver WA 98663;
360-885-2011; sdonovan@ducks.org
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 Sodhouse
Marsh
Location: Malheur
National Wildlife Refuge, 30 miles south of Burns in southeast
Oregon's Harney County. The marsh is adjacent to the refuge
visitor center.
Size: The project will restore 460
acres of freshwater marsh.
Partners: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Ducks Unlimited, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife,
Burns Paiute Tribe.
Other: Sodhouse Marsh has been heavily
degraded by carp, an introduced fish that has wreaked havoc
on wetlands throughout the Malheur Lake system. The project
will separate the marsh from the Blitzen River and provide
a new spring-fed water supply to the wetland, allowing refuge
managers to exclude carp and mimic natural water cycles.
Plans also call for reestablishment of native redband trout
and riparian restoration. The project received a $60,000
North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant in 1995.
Contact: Gary Ivey, Malheur
National Wildlife Refuge, HC 72, Box 245, Princeton OR 97721;
541-493-2712.
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Updated
November 12, 2002
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