Little Rattlesnake Rd. - FS1501

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Contacts:
Naches Ranger District NEPA Planner Michelle King, 509-653-1420
Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Public Affairs Officer Roland Giller, 509-664-9314
WA State Dept. of Natural Resources Communications Manager Peter Lavallee, 360-902-1023
Yakama Nation Dept. of Natural Res. Dep. Director Phil Rigdon, 509-865-5121, ext. 4655
For immediate release:
November 8, 2013—11 a.m.
Editors Please Note:
Photographs of Little Rattlesnake Creek Road are available upon request.
Collaborative Utilizes Salmon Recovery Funds to Improve Naches River Basin Fish Habitat
NACHES—The Tapash Sustainable Forest Collaborative is utilizing about $420,000 in state and federal salmon recovery funds to improve fish habitat in the Naches River Basin’s Little Rattlesnake Creek.
Part of the recovery effort involves an Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest plan to decommission five miles of a road located in the Little Rattlesnake Creek floodplain about 12 miles northwest of Naches where frequent flooding has washed out the road pouring sediment into the creek.
The Little Rattlesnake Road (Forest Service Road 1501) runs along Little Rattlesnake Creek for many miles. In 2009 and 2011, major flood events led to the stream running onto the road and washing sediment into the creek. Subsequent analyses convinced U.S. Forest Service officials the road is vulnerable to more washouts so a determination was made to decommission the road and restore the floodplain with vegetation.
Little Rattlesnake Creek is an important habitat area for steelhead and bull trout so the Yakama Nation, non-governmental organizations, and state and federal agencies in the Tapash Sustainable Forest Collaborative (http://www.tapash.org/) have favored removal of the road. Little Rattlesnake Creek flows into Rattlesnake Creek and the Naches River, both of which are important habitat for Chinook salmon.
The U.S. Forest Service constructed the road many years ago to support a large timber management program south of the area. Agency managers now believe the roadbed should be removed and five miles of the surface be restored to a natural state because other roads in better locations now serve the national forest lands.
The presence of the road adjacent to Little Rattlesnake Creek has reduced stream shading, degraded floodplain function, interrupted hydrologic processes and affected water temperature for many years. Decommissioning the first five miles of road would increase the potential for woody debris collection, allow development of complex habitat, reduce sediment into the stream and lower water temperature. All are key components for improving habitat for fish species.
“By constructing a mile and a half segment of road at a higher elevation, we can ensure access needed for managing state forest lands and forest fire suppression,â€