DATE: Wednesday, January 27th, 2016
PLACE: Hawthorne Lucky Lab Brew Pub, 915 SE Hawthorne Blvd
TIME: 11:30 a.m. Networking, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Presentation
SPEAKER: Fred MacGregor, BES
TOPIC: Columbia Slough Biohabitat Restoration
Several locations within the Lower Columbia Slough have been verified to provide refugia for seasonally ESA- listed Coho and Chinook salmon from the Willamette and Columbia Basins. Studies have identified a lack of complexity and cover within the lower slough. Adding wood and riparian vegetation to the lower slough would contribute to the needed complexity, cover necessary to enhance the habitat to benefit native species of fish and terrestrial wildlife.
This project added in-stream wood to benefit native fish species, with an emphasis on rearing and refugia habitat for juvenile salmonids along the shoreline areas of the Lower Columbia Slough. Thirty-five (35) engineered log structures were installed around the perimeter of Wright and Moore Islands south of the Heron Lakes Golf Club and strategically along approximately 4,100 lineal feet of the west bank of Ramsey Reach on the Lower Columbia Slough.
Project Goals and Objectives
- – Improve Columbia Slough shoreline (beach) and riparian habitat in the project area.
- – Improve in-stream habitat for the benefit of native fish communities, with an emphasis on juvenile salmonids and off-channel rearing habitat from the Willamette River.
- – Improve wetland and riparian areas for the benefit of native wildlife species.
- – Create an environment for wood recruitment.
- – Provide food web support for macro invertebrate production
Bio: Fred MacGregor. P.E. is an Engineer with the City of Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services. Fred has been involved in the civil engineering field for 28 years, beginning as a drafter, then as a designer, engineer and manager of public and private projects. He is a registered civil engineer in Oregon, Washington, and California. Fred has been focused in the water resources engineering field (stream and habitat restoration, stormwater, hydrology, hydraulics and flood control) for the last 19 years with additional experience in utilities, transportation, land development, land planning, and survey. His organizational, managerial, and interpersonal skills compliment his technical background.