The Upper Pitt Restoration Project

Just a mere 50km outside of the city of Vancouver lies one of the largest fresh water tidal lakes on the Planet. Pitt lake is located in Maple Ridge on the ancestral unceded territory of the Katzie First Nation. Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge, which are in the same federal electoral districts, have been under intense threat of development. Biodiverse wetlands, which are prime habitat for an array of species, are being diked, and filled. Marshes being converted into a sprawl of agricultural zones and amazon warehouses. 

Just in the lower mainland region, 1200 flood infrastructure barriers are blocking access to over 1500km of stream networks, closing off prime salmon spawning habitat. Over the years salmon populations have been plummeting. In 1990 more than 2 million sockeye salmon were harvested in the North Coastal area, in 2020 the commercial sockeye fishery was only allocated 50,000 fish. Many different factors play into the decline of salmon including climate change, over fishing, diseases spread by fish farming, habitat loss, deforestation and industrial logging. Logging plays a significant role in affecting the salmon’s spawning efforts in that the forest acts as a sponge during heavy rain events, slowing the rush of water.  Without the forest’s spongy floor to regulate water-flow, rivers gush over-and-out with water and devastatingly wash out the salmon’s hard efforts in burying their eggs with gravel within their beautifully constructed redds, nest-like depressions in the river’s bottom created by the salmons repeated tail action to move away rocks and pebbles. The roots of intact forests also work to hold soil in place, and without their interconnected root systems the soil washes away in heavy rain events creating sediment, which is a whole other issue for young fish. The Pitt River, both the lower portion and the upper portion is habitat for all 5 salmon species. Salmon spend most of their lives in the ocean and then migrate, making their long journey home to return the place in which they were born to complete their awe inspiring life-cycle. From the ocean, up the Fraser, through the Lower Pitt River, across the lake and into the Upper Pitt River. Rick Bailey, who is an elected member of council for the Katzie First Nation has been deeply concerned about the decline of salmon, he is a fisherman and has experienced the decline first hand. 

From the head of the lower Pitt River it takes 30 minutes by boat to cross the lake to get to the headwaters of the Upper Pitt- where elk, salmon and a recent addition of a lone grizzly bear roam in a wilderness that has been heavily affected by logging, unsurprising but oddly enough the same company that is logging Fairy Creek on Vancouver Island is logging the Upper Pitt Watershed.  

An exciting project to restore the Upper Pitt River is currently in the works. A Katzie led initiative with a 10-year plan has hit the ground running with the support and expertise of a community of organizations including World Wildlife, Age of Union, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Makeway Foundation, W.C. Kitchen foundation, Healthy Waters Initiative, Pacific Salmon Foundation along with others. Over 700 acres of land are being conserved and restored. Last winter a restoration project began in which a community of creative and hardworking individuals dug out man-made ‘tributaries’ for the salmon to spawn in, channels that will be protected from water-flow events that have been exasperated in the recent years by climate change. Eddie Gardner from the Katzie First Nation was speechless after getting to visit the location for the first time and seeing the red glow of sockeye salmon in the waters, already making use of the side channels. Tracks and scat of wild elk could be seen along the banks of the water. To think there is a place so close to the city where wild elk, salmon, and bear all exist together is endearing. But to know that the Katzie First Nation are being granted supported access to their ancestral territories with allocated funding meant to restore the damage that has been done, is incredibly up-lifting. This project is a great example of the true work and dedication it takes to make reconciliation an action rather than a word. It’s comforting to think that one day the mouth of the watershed might one day look like the old growth forest tracks that are found higher up the river system as you cross the boundary from crown lands to park lands. Plans are also underway to re-introduce water flow into the Red Slough which has been cut off from the river after it changed course due to the effects of logging in the area, the water in the slough is now starved of oxygen and look like a thick red soup. The hopes are that by bringing back water flow to the area the ecosystem will be able to support a greater number of species, including that of the salmon.

If you are inspired and would like to get involved, Watershed Watch Salmon Society has many amazing volunteer opportunities in the lower mainland. From pulling blackberries to replanting native species, you too can get involved in the work that it will take to restore our local watersheds. Not only for salmon but also for the 130 or so other species that reply on them for their survival.