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> By Damian Mann Mail Tribune September 14. 2014 6:38PM Weed-killing crews will bear down on Bear Creek in Medford Groups will work in the coming months to remove weeds and put in native plants along a stretch of Bear Creek near downtown Medford. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Blackberries and other noxious weeds will be ripped out this fall to make way for native trees and vegetation as part of a long-term effort to improve Bear Creek from 10th Street to McAndrews Road. Thanks to a $25,000 grant from the city of Medford and Pacific Power, workers will soon spray herbicides on weeds along the west bank of the creek from Jackson Street to McAndrews Road. Once the weeds are killed, they will be pulled out. Native vegetation then will be planted from late November through January. “Lots of stuff is happening,” said Jim Hutchins of Oregon Stewardship. “It’s really complex right now because we’ve got about 12 parties working on both sides of Bear Creek.” The latest effort to clean up the banks in the downtown area is intended to improve stream quality by providing shade and to create a safer experience along the Greenway. Volunteers, the city of Medford and students from South Medford High working on senior projects all have pitched in. The Oregon Department of Transportation previously ripped out weeds on the east side of the Greenway near McAndrews. The city will concentrate mostly on the west side. Over the past year, a team of volunteers has cleaned up both sides of the creek next to Hawthorne Park, as well as just to the north past the Fourth Street bridge. Behind the Inn at the Commons on Riverside Avenue, a volunteer group ripped out blackberries and planted native vegetation. Hutchins said that by November the banks from 10th Street to Jackson Street should be cleaned up and native vegetation planted. Hutchins and volunteers have recently been working near the wooden footbridge over Bear Creek across from the higher education building on Riverside Avenue. “We’re excited to get that piece done, because that completes that whole side,” he said. Another project in the near future will be to clean up the banks next to the Rogue Valley Inn north of Jackson Street, Hutchins said. One of the goals is to improve water quality for juvenile salmon and steelhead. Because the creek runs through farmland and Jackson County’s main cities, the water often has high levels of phosphorus, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, ammonia and fecal coliform. The native plantings are designed to shade the creek, diminish sediment in the water, improve nutrient levels and stimulate riparian plant growth. To make sure the native species get a foothold, a multi-year effort will focus on spraying or uprooting any weeds that pop up. “Our hope is to keep the invasive species down,” said Greg Stabach, project planner for the Rogue Valley Council of Governments, who estimated the project will cost $75,000 between the grant and in-kind work. “We may not be able to get all of it, but we’ll get a huge chunk,” he said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 541-776-4476, or e-mail [email protected]. Follow him atwww.twitter.com/reporterdm. http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20140914/news/140919798 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->