South Fork Crooked River

Investing in Restoration

Beginning in 2011, ONDA partnered with a private landowner who had purchased an old homestead on the South Fork Crooked River. Working together, we developed a long-term restoration strategy with a goal of transforming the project site to host flourishing native plant communities with abundant cool water available to support productive fish and wildlife habitat. With a focus on strategies that encourage beavers to resume their foundational role as ecosystem engineers who create dams and wetlands for the benefit of the entire watershed, ONDA’s approach involved densely planting the native trees that beavers require deep into the water table. After more than a decade of investment, ONDA and our partners celebrated the successful completion of an initial phase of the South Fork Crooked River restoration project. With over 25,000 trees added along the river banks, the area is now well on its way to maturing into a lush streamside forest with thriving habitat.

In addition to providing site-specific ecological benefits and improved habitat, the South Fork Crooked River restoration project was designed to demonstrate to public land managers the recovery potential of streams in the high desert using ONDA’s innovative planting techniques. As we worked to restore a section of the river on private lands, we also built relationships with local public land managers at the Bureau of Land Management, who were motivated to partner with ONDA to improve habitat conditions on public lands along the South Fork.

Current Project

South Fork Crooked River Restoration Project

Thanks to ONDA’s advocacy, the Bureau of Land Management is now invested in restoring the South Fork Crooked River. ONDA and the agency have partnered to design and implement the next phase of this work, restoration projects on public lands along the South Fork Crooked River and its main tributary, Twelvemile Creek.

The main elements of this project include:

• Installing a system of water table wells and test plantings to track soil moisture.
• Planting trees and shrubs where enough water is present to ensure new vegetation can flourish.
• Constructing a fence to prepare a future restoration area on Twelvemile Creek.

Learn more about the history of ONDA’s work on the South Fork Crooked River in our article, A Decade of Restoration.

Get Involved

Visit ONDA’s Stewardship Trips page to sign up for current volunteer opportunities on the South Fork Crooked River Restoration Project.