by Addie Schlussel | September 2020
This summer, we said goodbye to one of our favorite lunch spots, an old farm bridge across Ohop Creek. The bridge was not so good for driving, at least not anymore. It was made out of wooden planks resting on the metal frame of a flatbed railroad car, and as the planks rotted over time, a former landowner seemed to have simply piled on more, creating a layer cake of wood decking in various stages of decay. But it was still walkable and made a great lunch spot with a lovely view of Ohop Creek passing underfoot.
Still, the bridge had to go. Located on the middle reaches of Ohop Creek, the bridge’s footings were causing the creek banks to erode. During the floods this past February, several feet of both banks were swept away. One more flood like that, and the bridge might have been washed away too.
Erosion like this can reduce water quality and clog salmon spawning gravels with fine silt and sand. This reach of Ohop Creek contains important spawning habitat for Chinook, chum, Coho, and pink salmon; and provides important rearing habitat for steelhead trout. Salmon spawn in gravel, where fresh water can easily make its way between the stones and eggs to keep the eggs well-oxygenated and healthy.
So, for the sake of the salmon, we pulled out the bridge. And before the bridge was removed, we partnered with the Nisqually Indian Tribe to get a jump start on restoring floodplain forest on the south side of the creek. The Tribe’s Restoration Crew planted over 10,000 native trees and shrubs; an Eagle Scout built 20 bird boxes, many of which have been installed on the south side of the creek; and a culvert was removed from the south end of the old farm road to eliminate a seasonal fish passage barrier on a tributary channel. These restoration activities have been supported through funding from the Natural Resources Conservation Service and Washington Recreation and Conservation Office.
The Big Day, as we called it, was preceded by months of paperwork and weeks of preparation on the ground by our contractor, but the removal of the bridge itself was pretty fast. Within an hour, the bridge was attached to a very, very large crane, lifted up, and put on one of the longest truck beds I’ve ever seen, and that was that.
As we head into the rainy season and start to see the salmon returning, it feels good to know that we’ve taken one more small step towards reducing the pressures faced by our watershed’s salmon.
Still, though, I can’t help feeling a little bit sad about losing that lunch spot.