Riparian Restoration

This project undertook treatments to improve habitat characterstics for important Goshawk forage. While riparian restoration often focuses on in-stream work and lower bench stabilization, the Haida Nation has concerns over any work conducted on the lower bench of large waterways, such as the Yakoun River (the project focus). This project focused on benches within protected areas and the 100 year flood plain and are also red and blue listed ecosystems. The goal of the project was to repair these benchland riparian areas in a way that mimics the natural processes of riparian areas by accelerating the establishment of mature forest characteristics. Thinning, girdling and managing the woody debris were the main activites undertaken by the Haida workers. Spacing slash provided temporary coarse wood debris and standing snags provided wildlife habitat. These features will be replenished over time when individual trees die naturally in future years. The results of the project will be the acceleration of these forests towards older mature forest characteristics that ultimately resemble more closely the riparian benchlands prior to industrial disturbance.