Plantings mark final phase of ‘O Rew restoration

Prairie Creek has come alive again—with seedlings, salmon, and a vision for the future

Nudged up against the southern entrance to Redwood National and State Parks lies a small coastal valley cut by the meandering Prairie Creek. Redwoods in the hills above peer down upon the water as if to keep watch over the salmon and steelhead that spawn here. The Yurok Tribe calls this place ‘O Rew. In decades past, the valley was the site of the Orick Mill and was filled with the sounds of whirring saws and rumbling trucks carting in freshly felled old growth. But not anymore.

Today, ‘O Rew is nearing the end of a five-year plan to restore the ecological integrity of Prairie Creek. Save the Redwoods League purchased the 125-acre property in 2013 and plans to transfer the land to the Yurok Tribe in 2026. The resulting ‘O Rew Redwoods Gateway will be managed by the Yurok Tribe in partnership with the National Park Service and California State Parks as a recreational and cultural gateway to the parks and Yurok ancestral lands.

This year, crews are busily working on the final phase before conveyance. The Yurok Tribal Fisheries Program is planting nearly 40 native species—including redwood, willow, Sitka spruce, black cottonwood, and slough sedge—that will create thriving, mutually supportive plant communities. Each week, crews plant several thousand seedlings and starters and clear out invasives like thistle, poison hemlock, Himalayan blackberry, and weedy grasses, mostly by hand.

Revegetation is crucial for the return of a healthy population of anadromous fish to Prairie Creek. Lush plant life surrounding the creek provides nutrients that kick-start the food web, nourishing juvenile salmon and steelhead as they prepare to head to the sea with the first winter rains. The fish are noticing the difference. Hundreds of young coho, Chinook, and steelhead—plus their amphibian and waterfowl friends—have already been spotted thriving in the restored ‘O Rew habitat.