gee creek watershed restoration - WSU Clark County Extension ...

eport 23 and in a few GCEC file records, but little mapping of plantings and otherrestoration work was discovered.Prior to 1991, there are some records of restoration activity from Washington Departmentof Fisheries (WDF) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) fish habitat reviews,evaluations and sampling (1951, 1973, & 1985). 49,60,7 In 1966, the lower portion of GeeCreek was acquired as the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge (RNWR). 52 WDFevaluated fish habitat including Gee Creek in 1973, and conducted water qualitysampling and evaluated Gee Creek conditions for cutthroat trout and salmon in 1985.The Gee Creek Restoration Project was initiated by Greater Clark County Rotary club in1991 and was joined by the Clark County Conservation District (Now the ClarkConservation District - CCD) by 1993. 23 In March of 1994, the second year of a 5-yearproject, a mission statement was produced: 26The Gee Creek Watershed Enhancement Committee (GCEC) emerged out of this initialpartnership and began regular meetings in 1993-1994. By 1995 the committee wascomposed of Rotary, CCD, City of Ridgefield, SW Washington Health District, U.S. Fishand Wildlife Service (USFWS), Clark Co. PUD, Ridgefield area schools, farm serviceagencies, and citizens. 32From 1994-2001, the committee conducted restoration work. Grant funding was receivedfrom the Clark Conservation District from 1995-1999. The USFWS Columbia RiverFisheries Program Office (CRPFO) collected fish data from 1993-1997, obtained 2National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) grants, and produced a summaryreport. 23 In-kind services and cash support for both grants came from committee partners.Highlights of documented accomplishments were: 2329