2023 West Fork Beaver Creek Helicopter Wood Loading Project

On Tuesday, October 10, and Wednesday, October 11, 2023, MKWC, the Karuk Tribe, and Columbia Helicopters completed the West Fork Beaver Creek Helicopter Wood Loading Project. 125 key log pieces (>=24" dbh, 45' long, with root wads) were added to 2.5 miles of West Fork Beaver Creek. It required 9 hours and 6 minutes of helicopter flight time with Columbia's Chinook helicopter, the largest commercial helicopter in the US. Working under this machine is exhilarating to say the least, with 80+mph rotor winds that send branches and treetops flying. There were no injuries during implementation!

This project is a huge win for coho salmon in Beaver Creek. WF Beaver has had consistent but minimal coho spawning in recent years due to simplified stream habitat from historic wood removal and subsequent channel incision.

A special thank you to Florance Condos, Kai Crockett and Bryan Souza for spending weeks identifying hazard trees, and to Galen Stevens for falling those hazards. In addition to the MKWC crew members who were under the helicopter, Columbia's stream crews and pilot expressed their appreciation for the work that was done to make their jobs safer. This project would not have happened without the brilliance and tenacity of Mitzi Wickman who gives her everything to making salmon habitat!

Many thanks to the landowner, FWS Forestry Services, LLC, and to US Fish and Wildlife Service for supporting this project. Those 125 key log pieces will be improving fish habitat in those 2-1/2 miles of West Fork Beaver Creek for at least the next 30 years! -Will Harling