Programs

Sakhalin River Restoration PartnershipSakhalin Salmon Initiative

The Sakhalin River Restoration Partnership focuses on increasing local skills and capacity for whole watershed restoration. This will be accomplished using demonstration projects on local rivers to showcase the planning and implementation of a variety of restoration treatments.

Healthy watersheds provide a variety of ecological benefits important to human health and well-being. These include a dependable supply of clean water, sustainable populations of native fish, wildlife and plant species, regulation of flood flows through stream-adjacent riparian areas, and a wide range of recreational activities. When watershed conditions are degraded, their ability to provide many of these benefits can be significantly reduced. Past heavy logging and agricultural activities have considerably altered the landscape, creating the need for restoration work.

Many years of experience in various international settings have shown that it is possible to use a variety of tools to speed the restoration and recovery of degraded watersheds. This is best accomplished through comprehensive planning, active community involvement, and a diversity of technical and operational skills.

As part of the Sakhalin Salmon Initiative, the Sakhalin Salmon Restoration Partnership (SSRP) is a community-based partnership to improve the restoration, protection, and management of salmon and the watersheds that support them. International partners (the USDA Forest Service and Siuslaw Institute, among others) are sharing their knowledge with local partners in an effort to adapt watershed restoration methodologies employed in the Pacific Northwest for use on Sakhalin.

Timeline

June, 2005: American and Russian partners carry out initial field reconnaissance on streams in the Bay of Aniva area and consultations with local, state and federal agencies and local communities.
November, 2005: Five partners from Sakhalin visit restoration sites in the Pacific Northwest, USA.
February, 2006: The following project protocols are delivered to Sakhalin-area partners: stream survey, culvert survey, road condition assessment form.
July, 2006: Site visit of American specialists to Sakhalin: watershed restoration seminar conducted in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
June, 2007: Preliminary watershed restoration plan prepared for the Dzhimdan River in the Nogliki Region as part of Sakhalin Energy Investment Corporation's Sustainable Development Program. American specialists collaborate through the SSI.
Summer, 2007: First Sakhalin culvert replacement in the Aniva Region.
April, 2008: Watershed council exchange to Oregon. Representatives of Sakhalin municipalities become acquainted with watershed restoration efforts led by Oregon councils.
2008: Feasibility scoping conducted on Dzhimdan project, international partners provide technical advice to Sakhalin watershed councils interested in performing small restoration projects, SSI partners pursue effort to gain Federal Fisheries Agency certification of watershed restoration methodologies.
February, 2008: Demonstration restoration projects undertaken at Salmon Park site.

Project Goals

Ecological Restoration

Select a pilot watershed on Sakhalin to demonstrate community-based planning and restoration implementation, using a variety of restoration treatments to improve salmon habitat and watershed condition.

Riparian rehabilitation and bank stabilization are important techniques in river restoration.

A pilot watershed will be selected to demonstrate the development of a watershed-scale assessment and restoration plan. A watershed assessment that characterizes the existing conditions, identifies the issues and concerns of the local community, and highlights priorities for protection and treatment is a critical step toward this goal.

Test treatments that could provide long-term economic benefits to local communities when implemented at a broad scale.

Treatments will include stream habitat enhancement, road stabilization, fish passage improvement, upland forest treatment, and riparian rehabilitation. Once efforts are successful in a pilot watershed, techniques and skills obtained in the demonstration area can be transferred throughout the region and across Sakhalin Island.

General Technical and Operational Capacity

Increase skills necessary to assess current watershed conditions and to design and implement on-the-ground restoration projects.

Technical and operational support will be provided primarily from USDA Forest Service restoration specialists. Established protocols for resource condition assessment and monitoring will be shared. Classroom and field training on actual projects will be used to increase restoration capacity/skills.

School education programs at restoration sites provide valuable hand on learning opportunities.

Community and Partner Outreach and Education

Form watershed councils to engage members of local communities in the river restoration process.

Provide opportunities for employment as well as education with a focus on school and university involvement.

Employment would be provided during implementation, maintenance and monitoring of restoration treatments. As for education, university students would play a central role in project development, data collection, analysis and design. School education programs would also be implemented at treatment sites. Efforts to partner with schools around the world that are currently engaging in similar educational efforts would be encouraged.