Restoring a degraded forest ecosystem in northwestern California: Personal observations and experiences revegetating decomposed granite in the Grass Valley Creek watershed

The focus of this study is the revegetation methods used in the restoration of the Grass Valley Creek watershed, located in northwestern California. The watershed has been severely impacted by industrial logging, which has left the fragile decomposed granite soils very unstable, causing severe erosion to occur. This in turn, has delivered thousands of tons of sediment to the Trinity River, contributing to the decline of salmonid fish populations.;The revegetation techniques used to control surface erosion and increase forest health were developed over a period of four years. The format of this study consists of a typical revegetation field season. Following the introduction in Chapter One, subsequent chapters will focus on various seasons of the year from late winter to the following winter and the types of revegetation methods implemented during these particular seasons.;I was involved in the planning, implementation, documentation, and monitoring of various techniques used to revegetate the Grass Valley Creek watershed. I was particularly involved in the experimental trials implemented on harsh sheet and rill slopes found throughout the watershed. The views stated in this study are mine and not necessarily the views of the Trinity County Resource Conservation District.;All botanical nomenclature used in this study is from the Jepson Manual of Higher Plants of California.