Gales Creek Large Woody Debris Inventory Report

The Gales Creek watershed is a 49,481-acre sub-basin of the Tualatin River watershed and is located primarily within northwestern Washington County, Oregon. Elevations within the Gales Creek watershed range from 159 ft at the confluence with the Tualatin River to a maximum of 3,154 ft (TRWC 2003). The mainstem of Gales Creek is 23.5 miles long, and flows in a southeasterly direction through primarily rural areas before entering the Tualatin River south of the City of Forest Grove.

Vegetation and land use within the Gales Creek watershed varies from intensely managed Douglas fir forests in the uplands, to pasturelands, vineyards, tree farms and orchards in the foothills. Lowland flood plains are primarily dedicated as agricultural lands. Almost two-thirds of the watershed is privately owned as industrial forestland (26%) or agricultural and rural residential lands (38%). The Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) owns and manages 28% of the watershed; the City of Forest Grove owns the remaining eight percent of public lands (TRWC 2003). A variety of invasive plant species such as Japanese knotweed, Himalayan blackberry, reed canary grass, English ivy and Scots broom are present in the lower reaches of the watershed.

Salmonids such as cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki), steelhead trout (O. mykiss) and coho salmon (O. kisutch) exist within the Gales Creek watershed. Cutthroat trout and steelhead salmon are native to these waters, while coho salmon populated the watershed after a fish ladder was constructed at Willamette Falls in the late 1800s (TRWC 2003). Coho were also stocked in Gales Creek from 1936 to 1987 and now some natural spawning occurs (TRWC 2003). Statewide decreases in salmonid populations are forcing natural resource managers to focus on spawning and rearing habitats for salmonids in restoration activities. The TRWC hopes to re-create these vital habitats through the current Enhancement Plan.