(34) Upper Last Chance Creek (2002)

Upper Last Chance Creek Watershed Restoration on the Matley Ranch obliterated 6,500 feet of gully with pond and plug, directly including 250 acres of meadow and remnant channel; project also included one mile of road re-location and surfacing away from creek, and two conversions from culverts to low-water crossings. Monitoring includes photos, vegetation, and wells near Robinson tributary, and lvesia plots. Project cost was $250,000, funded by CalFed. Major partners included Plumas National Forest (PNF), Plumas County, Department of Water Resources (DWR), John & Corinne Matley, and National Fish & Wildlife Foundation.

(2004)
This project was on lands managed by the United States Forest Service (USFS), Plumas National Forest, but is part of the larger project which includes private lands described above.  The public land phase of the nine mile long Upper Last Chance Creek project entailed obliteration of 20,255 feet of gullly with pond and plug, directly including 800 acres of meadow floodplain and remnant channel.  Construction began in July of 2003 through November, with the remaining 5,000 feet completed in August of 2004.  Total project budget was $650,000 funded by CalFed through the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). Major partners included PNF, Plumas County, DWR, and grazing permittee- Fred Mallory.

(2004-Charles Creek)
This project is also in the Upper Last Chance Creek restoration project area.  It was identified but not funded in the initial project schedule to accommodate grazing management changes.  The 2,000 foot long reach was restored in Oct./Nov. of 2004 using Plumas County Water Forum funds ($35,000), which supplemented CalFed, NFWF funds ($20,000).  Restoration entailed obliterating two gully systems and returning streamflows to an existing remnant channel system.  Construction enabled the landowner to better manage grazing.  Major partners included The Nature Conservancy (landowner) and John and Corinne Matley (grazing lessee). 

(2005- Jordan Flat Supplemental Project)
This project was on PNF lands managed by the USFS, and is the second phase of the 2004 project that eliminated 1,200 feet of entrenched channel using the pond and plug technique on both Last Chance Creek and critical gullied areas on the Jordan Creek fan. The supplemental project obliterated an additional 1,000 feet of gully on Last Chance Creek and 800 feet at the mouth of Jordan Creek using the same technique.  Two and half miles of fence was constructed to control cattle movement and allow vegetative re-growth.  Revegetation was done by FRCRM staff with locally collected native grass seed.  Project budget was $64,000 funded by Plumas County Water Forum.  Major partners included PNF and Plumas County. 

Photographs