Article by Becca Hebron, Foster Creek CD. Photo credit: Sean Williams, VSP Coordinator | Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife

In coordination with Douglas County VSP, these two Foster Creek CD (FCCD) projects showcase an ecosystem approach to improving natural resources, protecting geologically hazardous landscapes, improving habitat health, and ensuring agricultural viability within the Foster Watershed.

Over the past decade FCCD has been focusing on Foster Creek to improve stream hydrologic degradation, 303D listings, and promote habitat restoration for both land and stream wildlife through continued restoration work on different segments of the stream.

The restoration process took a hit when most of the focus watershed was badly burned by the Pearl Hill Wildfire, which burned over 223,000 acres of Douglas County, badly impacting Foster Watershed. Three different plantings have taken place since that fire in areas within and upland of the riparian zone to increase sagebrush habitat and decrease runoff. Projects will increase streambank stabilization, decrease erosion, and improve riparian habitat for animals like the Sharp-tailed grouse.

There have been 22 in-stream structures consisting of Beaver Damn Analogues (BDAs), rocks structures, and Post Assist Logs (PALs) to decrease instream downcutting, increase sediment control and increase ponding. This stream is within a focused watershed planning process that is currently underway to gauge interested stakeholder’s values and priorities for this watershed and to assess how we can improve functions and sustainability of this ecosystem.

Foster Creek is also piloting a virtual fencing program that aims to decrease the amount of energy and time associated with consistently moving cattle to reduce grazing impact.

The virtual fencing system involves each cow being fitted with a collar that tracks the cow’s position relative to intangible fence barriers which are determined by the rancher. Guided by a network of solar-powered radio towers, this system dramatically reduces the amount of labor involved in moving cattle as part of a healthy rotational grazing system as well as eliminates adverse impacts to wildlife from traditional barbed wire fences.

Producers are able to increase their forage availability and utilization including areas such as crop fields, that are normally not fenced, within their digitally set virtual grazing zones, providing benefits for the field and the cattle. Future iterations of the system will allow time-lapsed movement tracking which will allow ranchers to evaluate grazing utilization with an unprecedented level of specificity.

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