Bend Bulletin - Years-long restoration project brings fish and wildlife back to Whychus Creek near Sisters

By Central Oregon Daily News Staff

Fish and wildlife are slowly but surely returning to a creek near Sisters thanks to a years-long restoration project.

Volunteers gathered Friday to plant hundreds of native flowering plants, called forbs, along Whychus Creek. The Deschutes Watershed Council has been working to restore Whychus Creek to its natural state to welcome back steelhead trout, chinook salmon and other species.

"Steelhead are a native species that historically spawned in this area and they’re coming back. What we’re doing is creating a healthy home for them to return to," said Kolleen Miller, Education Director for the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council.

"Just a year after restoration, we’ve had some beavers move into the site, and that tells us that we’re on the right track," said Director Kris Knight.

Whychus Creek was straightened out to prevent flooding in the 1950s and 1960s. The large-scale project is now allowing the creek to flow naturally, restoring the native floodplain.

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