Several decades of poor land management led to a degraded segment of Bear Creek, which exhibited significant bank erosion and poor habitat for adult trout. An aquatic habitat assessment identified only four pools in over 4,200 feet of stream channel. Previous overgrazing and woody vegetation removal efforts had also depleted the riparian corridor of nearly all woody species. These land use practices widened the stream bed considerably, covered it with fine sediment, and eliminated many of the habitat features essential to a healthy trout population. Pinyon restored Bear Creek by constructing over 40 pools and runs, creating spawning bed, adding woody debris for cover, and restoring the riparian corridor with 600 native shrubs and trees. Bear Creek has a rapidly recovering riparian corridor and a growing brown trout fishery. It has become a significant spawning tributary to the Madison River, a world-renowned trout fishery.
