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Volunteers renew streams Photo by Jim Craven Volunteers plant creekside trees - From left, Jeff Stephens, Nan Carter, Denise Strejc and other volunteers plant trees along Wagner Creek to repair some of the damage caused by the 1996 New Year's Day flood. They hope to restore stream banks and improve native fish habitat. Plantings will help restore creeks for fish survival By WENDY SIPOREN TALENT -- Jim and Mary Lue Jeffrey lost 30 feet of their property during the New Year's Day flood of 1997. Bob Remias almost lost his entire house. Nearly three years later, fish-loving volunteers descended on these and other flood-damaged sites along Wagner Creek to help restore the damaged stream banks and improve habitat for native fish. "We're just generally on the side of good and helping fish," said Rogue Flyfisher Hank Rogers of Ashland as he planted trees at the Jeffrey property on Wagner Creek Road Wednesday. "Anything we can do to keep the streams in their banks in a natural way is fodder for our efforts." Rogers and 19 other volunteers from Rogue Flyfishers and the Bureau of Land Management were organized by Oregon Trout as part of a continuing effort by the fish conservation organization to improve riparian habitat for dwindling native fish populations. Financing for the project came from the Department of Environmental Quality, which bought the plants at a discount from Plant Oregon. "Of all the watersheds in the Bear Creek subbasin, Wagner Creek is one of the two most significant for fish," said Ashley Henry, who coordinates Oregon Trout's educational and advocacy efforts in Southern Oregon. "That's based on the numbers of fish that are still in the stream, the amount of habitat that still exists and its (overall) potential for recovery." Reeds, shrubs and trees were planted along the stream banks Wednesday with the hope that their leaves will provide shade to keep water temperatures low, and their roots will hold the bank together to prevent erosion. Fish need water temperatures less than 64 degrees for optimal living and breeding conditions, said Henry. Large amounts of sediment can interfere with fish reproduction by clogging the gravel where eggs are laid. When he's not out fishing, Rogers says he takes every opportunity to volunteer on projects like this. Helping restore fish populations is his motivation. "I'm afraid we're going to lose our anadromous fish. I wouldn't be out here if I wasn't," he said. "It's not that it can't recover. It's that it takes so long. ... I think if we all work on it, we'll keep them." Henry said she hopes the high visibility of doing restoration work in the cities will help educate the public of the need for more extensive restoration efforts in the Rogue Basin and statewide. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA