A case study for holistic, replicable approaches to building ecological resilience

Thank you to all past and present project partners and funders for making this great Jeff Stern and Ashley Newell work to happen!

ABSTRACT SUNDAY RIVER WATERSHED EFFORTS CONT’D

Flowing freshwater systems have been degraded globally by direct and indirect human influences, and 3 “CHOP & DROP” WOOD ADDITIONS (2007-10): The Region’s there's a growing awareness of the value of healthy systems and the need to adapt to future variability in secondary forests generally don’t contribute large wood into streams, climate. With river mainstem impairments and temperature warming trends that may mean cold-water an important process that helps attenuate flows, create complex species like Brook Trout are unable to be supported year-round, there's an increased focus on holistically 132 km² in size habitat & pools, and trap sediment and organic matter. The enhancing and protecting tributaries to provide refuge, restore natural ecosystem function, and aid in the Sunday River: 22.3 km 153 km of streams total overall improvement of conditions of the mainstem. “Chop & Drop” in low order streams help headwaters of the Sunday River offered a good opportunity to test dissipate effects of flashy flows, create the efficacy of the method for low-tech stream restoration. This poster serves as a case study of restoration and enhancement efforts on western Maine's Sunday habitat, and enrich streams with organics. River tributary of the Androscoggin River that could provide ideas for similar efforts on tributaries in New OUTCOMES: Partners and ARWC conducted “chop and drops” at 2 Hampshire. sites with a 3rd as a control. Stream surveys and biological monitoring over 3 years helped track the efficacy of the treatments, with positive response trends found over time. ARWC, University of Maine – Orono, Caribou Springs, LLC., Field Geology Services, Maine IF&W, USFWS, EBTJV Funding

“Goose Eye” ENHANCEMENT HABITAT ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION “Bull Branch” “Simon’s” 5 Rock Vanes and Tree “Bar Buddies” OUTWARD BOUND 4 OUTWARD BOUND & SUNNY HILLS (2008-10): deflect, diffuse, & absorb erosive The Androscoggin River Watershed Council (ARWC) is a nonprofit, flows around the bend, deepen the 2008 Erosion assessments identified locations where runaway channel, and provide habitat membership organization headquartered in Bethel, ME, which operates in both ME and NH. Formed in 1999, it is governed by a erosion was smothering downstream fish spawning beds diverse board that includes representatives from the paper and hydro- and threatening to wash out Sunday River Rd.

power industries, conservation groups, municipal officials, and “Sunday River” OUTCOME: Innovative stabilization methods were used recreational interests. Current membership is about 350. to deflect, diffuse, and absorb the stream’s erosive force SUNNY HILLS (2010) ARWC's mission is to “continuously improve while deepening the channel and providing habitat environmental quality and promote healthy, pools and cover for fish. In the other case, a log crib wall prosperous, and sustainable communities in the was another key feature that provides structural support

Androscoggin River Watershed”. Major focus Androscoggin that becomes ecologically integrated over time. Mainstem CONTROL EROSION ARWC, Androscoggin Valley Soil & Water Conservation District, Project SHARE, USFWS, MDIF&W, Mollyockett TU, Stabilizing “Crib Wall” of areas in the past decade has been the Mahoosuc Sunday River Ski Company, EBTJV Funds Project Locations across the Sunday River Watershed, Maine interlocking hemlock logs will Mountain region of western ME & nortnern NH. ecologically integrate into the banks SUSTAINABILE RECREATION & RESOURCE MANAGEMENT RESILIENCY BUILDING EFFORTS OUTREACH (2014): With local recreation booming, a need was CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS SUNDAY RIVER WATERSHED EROSION ASSESSMENT(2000-03): identified to better control and prevent trail erosion and divert Growing concerns with erosion issues along the river sparked an inquiry stormwater runoff away from headwater streams. Stream temperature and habitat condition influences the distribution and abundance of fishes and to assess the extent of problems across the watershed. OUTCOME: ARWC worked with local motorized recreation other aquatic organisms -- most especially for the Brook Trout's & its need for cool waters 1,2,3,4,5,6 OUTCOME: Field assessments identified locations and contributing groups and state resource managers to protect through The EBTJV notes that only 9% of the area historically inhabited by brook trout has intact populations. factors to the erosion problems, leading to the prioritization and education and employment of best management practices, like 8 Gully erosion from water runoff on Little Moose development of erosion control projects. OUTREACH Northern New England is its last true stronghold Road, a representation of the types of erosion waterbars and seeding. problems encountered U.S. Forest Service, Sunday River Ski Area, Mollyockett TU, Oxford County Soil and Water Conservation District ARWC Staff and a local Jeep off-roading club discussing their efforts in sustainable trail maintenance. ARWC, Davis Foundation, Conservation Fund, Western ME Mountain Jeepers, NH Off-Road Vehicle Association, Roxbury ATV Club, Impairments related to land-use practices, development, fragmentation and degraded water quality Oquossoc ATV Club, Maine Department of Conservation, Agriculture and Forestry. 4,6 makes it difficult to sustain populations in river mainstems BARRIER ASSESSMENT PROJECT (2011): Poorly designed stream WATER QUALITY MONITORING (ongoing): Temporal and Daily Mean Stream Temperatures (°C) from June-August 2016 crossings can impede fish movement & contribute to negative stream 25°C spatial variability of stream temperatures and water quality alterations. Funding was received by ARWC to conduct an inventory across across the watershed can be used to detect impairments, 2 watersheds in order to identify and remediate problematic sites. 20°C trends, and help better inform decisions & conservation plans. ASSESSMENTS Stream crossing and OUTCOME: 141 sites in total had been inventoried, which also included barrier assessment data help provide OUTCOME: The data collected at strategic monitoring sites on 15°C remnant log-driving dam barriers on the Sunday River mainstem. Results context of the turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and specific conductance gets The cumulative effects of climate change from extent of were used to prioritize and develop successful projects. Survey data are fragmentation submitted to the state’s River Monitoring Program (VRMP), and 10°C increasing water temperatures, altered flow across the landscape now displayed on the ME Habitat Viewer. temperature data is put into regional database (SHEDS) used in regimes, and changing disturbance patterns will ARWC, funded through EBTJV Maine Habitat Viewer MONITORING ARWC Staff enlist help from local students, providing 2,3,4,6 ecological models (I.C.E.) education and hands-on experience in these efforts. 5°C further exacerbate problems LOG-DRIVING DAM REMOVAL ON THE LOWER SUNDAY RIVER (2013) 5/31/2016 6/30/2016 7/31/2016 8/31/2016 ARWC, funded through ME Outdoor Heritage Fund ME via the ME Water Temperature Working Group Bull Branch Goose Eye Max. Tolerable Temp: Brook Trout Expected Change Impacts to Habitat Impacts to Brook Trout Simon's Sunday River Air Temp Warmer Summer ↑ Stress Temperatures ↑ Stream Temps ↑ Competition ↓ Suitable Habitat ↓ Growth, survival, & ARWC’s long-term temperature monitoring reveals summer trends in tributary stream temperatures as Lower Summer Flows one moves up the watershed, highlighting how important it is to maintain connectivity to these reaches reproduction success A MODEL FOR “TRIBUTARY-CENTRIC” WORK IN NH ↑ Erosion ↓ Spawning areas More Intense Storm Events 1 Despite facing similar challenges, headwater ↑ Sedimentation ↓ Aquatic insect communities A private-public partnership helped Road over-usage, severe storms, poor culverts, and lack of resources for ↑ Stream bed scour Higher Winter Flows ↓ Reproduction success permanently secure ~24,000 acres of adequate maintenance is severely degrading the aquatic resources in the tributaries have better potential as refugia to ↑ Erosion BEFORE DURING AFTER forestland in the unincorporated town Stearns Brook Watershed… provide: thermal refuge, and spawning, foraging, & Challenges as a result of increased climate variability (adapted from Rummel, 2017) of Success, NH as part of the rearing habitat to sustain populations into the LOG-DRIVING DAM REMOVAL ON THE WEST BRANCH SUNDAY RIVER (2017-19) MAHOOSUC GATEWAY PROJECT (2018), A watershed that contains exemplary wetland communities, quality wild Brook Trout habitat, and numerous other rare plants and wildlife future1,2,6 . It is imperative to restore these systems. protecting critical habitat, while also ensuring public access to enjoy the many recreational opportunities 2018 Conservation projects aimed at increasing resiliency, enhancing 2 ARWC and partners conducted a watershed-wide stream crossing strongholds, and reducing stressors may better mitigate threats – inventory to assess the severity of the culvert problem, and the extent of benefiting the entire system! 1,3,4,6 Stearns Brook Watershed was selected fragmentation across Stearns Brook Watershed as a restoration priority in this parcel

Restore impaired BEFORE DURING AFTER 2018-2019 Strategically plan, Trout Unlimited Build Strong Protect and Sustain systems: improve prioritize, & approach to NHFG conducted fish community surveys to inventory the distribution and Partnerships Healthy Systems water quality & LOG-DRIVING DAM REMOVALS (2013; 2017-2019): 2011 barrier assessments discovered implement projects adaptation in fisheries abundance of wild Brook Trout populations. Data help prioritize sites for connectivity management 6

BARRIER REMOVALS BARRIER remnant dams from the 1930’s, when they were used to flush logs downstream out of the protection, enhancement, and restoration. mountains. The dams blocked passage up into cold, headwater streams -- critically important 2018 – Present places for trout to feed, spawn, and find refuge from warm summer temperatures. ARWC is working with the landowner, NRCS, NHFG, and Mollyockett & CITATIONS Ammonoosuc TU to restore these trout streams in a multi-phased OUTCOMES: ARWC and Partners were able to manually dismantle the dams using low-tech grip approach to address the failing culverts and the eroding road 1.Aquatic Ecosystem Resilience. US Forest Service Research & Development, 2014, www.fs.fed.us/research/wildlife- 5.NorEaST – Stream Temperature Web Portal. Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center, 2013, necsc.umass.edu/projects/noreast- fish/themes/aquatic.php. %E2%80%93-stream-temperature-web-portal-demonstration-and-application. hoists. Natural stream processes continued to flush out logs, boulders, and decades of sediment Phase I: $343,500 has been secured and construction for 2 bridges and 2.Bassar, Ronald D, et al. Changes in Seasonal Climate Outpace Compensatory Density-Dependence in Eastern Brook Trout. Global Change 6.Rummel, Shawn. Climate Change and Impacts on Wild Trout: Conserving Brook Trout in an Uncertain Future, 2017, Biology, Feb. 2016, doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13135. www.fishandboat.com/Fish/PennsylvaniaFishes/Trout/Documents/WildTroutSummit2017/TroutSummit-Climate_BrookTrout_v3- 0.5 miles of road begins late-Summer 2020!! 3.“The Maine Stream Temperature Monitoring and Modelling Network.” Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, 3 July 2019, Rummel.pdf. build up, re-opening >4 miles of streams for brook trout. www1.maine.gov/wordpress/insideifw/2019/07/03/the-maine-stream-temperature-monitoring-and-modelling-network/. 7.Walker, Jeffrey D. “Spatial Hydro-Ecological Decision System (SHEDS).” SHEDS, ecosheds.org/. ARWC, Androscoggin Valley Soil & Water Conservation District, Project SHARE, USFWS, MDIF&W, Mollyockett TU, Sunday River Ski Company, EBTJV Funds 4.NH Wildlife Action Plan Appendix A. New Hampshire Fish & Game Department, 2015, 8.“Why Should You Care.” EBTJV, easternbrooktrout.org/about/why-should-you-care-2. www.wildlife.state.nh.us/wildlife/documents/wap/appendixa-fish.pdf.