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North Fork Nooksack River

The North Fork of the Nooksack River drains 297 square miles, and is the largest fork of the Nooksack. As with the Middle Fork, the North Fork originates from glaciers and snowfields on Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan. It is primarily a forested drainage, with 58% of the land under federal ownership. Most of the 3,871 residents live in the small communities of Kendall, Maple Falls, Glacier, and Welcome. Major tributaries include Racehorse, Kendall, Maple, Boulder, Canyon, Glacier, and Wells Creeks.

All Nooksack salmonids use the creeks of this watershed. In particular, the North Fork contains crucial habitat for both bull trout [link to http://whatcomsalmon.wsu.edu/salmon-threatened.html#bulltrout] and North Fork early chinook [link to http://whatcomsalmon.wsu.edu/salmon-threatened.html#chinook], which are listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. Canyon Creek is believed to be historically the single most productive tributary for the stock. During 1981 surveys, over half of the North Fork early chinook spawner carcasses were found in Canyon Creek. While habitat has deteriorated since then, the tributary is still a critical spawning ground for the stock.

Land management has triggered habitat problems in this basin that are primarily related to forestry practices. Sediment from failed forest roads and logged areas, especially on steep slopes, has clogged spawning gravels with fine silt and sand, overwhelmed streams with slugs of sediment, and clouded previously clear creeks.

Since much of the basin is under federal, state, or private forest management, restoration work has only needed to focus on a few key activities. One is reducing the sedimentation and erosion problems posed by forest roads, either by decommissioning them or installing more and larger culverts. Another key activity is replacing culverts that currently block fish passage to historical habitats. Other actions include:

• Riparian plantings to provide shade and future woody debris
• Acquiring key properties to protect existing habitat and reduce threats from future development
• Determining key areas where environmental damage results from chronic highway maintenance problems
• Installing log jams to roughen the stream channel and restore natural habitat-forming processes
  

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