Whiskeytown Logging Road Removal
Project
Logging Camp Road Removal
After Peltier Valley road was successfully
outsloped, Whiskeytown NRA and Shasta College applied
for and received a $30,000 Challenge Grant from the
National Park Service. This grant funding was
used to complete the road removal work designated for
Logging Camp Road. A unique aspect of this plan
was that the road decommissioning included a design
for a single track mountain bike trail. The restoration
plan called for the complete excavation of stream crossings
and complete recontouring (except for the bike trail)
by pulling back all roadfill. Shortly after the
winter of 1997-98, Natural Resources Surveying students
from Shasta College measured an astounding 109 cubic
yards of sediment (in the sediment pond) which was produced
by the untreated Logging Camp Road.
In April of 1998, Shasta College, with
the help of an expert equipment operator, removed Logging
Camp Road. One mile of road was removed and converted
to a trail. Experienced heavy equipment operators
performed the work, as it was considered too dangerous
for inexperienced heavy equipment students, because
of the steep slopes along Logging Camp Road. Students
used the sediment pond to monitor erosion during the
construction activities. The project took 13 days
to complete and over 10,000 cubic yards of road fill
was removed from the tributary streams. But El
Nino wasn’t over, and the project area received
over 13 inches of rain. The project was a demonstrated
success, as the sediment pond received less than 1 cubic
yard - a 99% reduction in sediment.
Whiskeytown Watershed Restoration Home
|
Geyserville Caltrans Bridge Project
Tara Petti and John McCullah in action.
