It’s not often people get a chance to wander out into forests and other areas to hike along streams. The Coos Watershed Association is hoping people do just that.

There will be free tours of watershed restoration projects open to the public from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 10, and Saturday, May 17.

The May 10 trip will head up Willanch Creek to look at various types of projects, including one that has succeeded in controlling bank erosion and reducing stream temperatures by more than 11 degrees Fahrenheit. The tour bus will leave from the Catching Slough bridge parking lot out past Eastside at 10 a.m.

May 17 tour participants should meet at the Myrtle Tree Boat Launch near Daniel’s Creek Road on the Coos River. The tour will visit a site in Daniel’s Creek just installed this winter, and then head up the Coos River to see some older projects.  

Other types of projects on the tours include areas with culvert upgrades and bridge installation, large wood placed in the stream for salmon habitat, stream bank planting and fencing, and woven willow walls for erosion control.

The tours are part of a series of “neighbor-shed” meetings and watershed assessments being conducted in the drainage areas of Catching Slough, Daniel’s Creek and tributaries to the lower Millicoma River.

For more information and to sign up for a tour, those interested can call the Coos Watershed Association at 888-5922 or e-mail cooswa@cooswatershed.org.