One of the most cost effective forms of erosion prevention is native plant barriers. Re-establishing these structures is more time consuming and public awareness. 
Erosion points look like good access or exit points along the river system, but are actually very detrimental to the river structure.
Slideshow of Tree Planting
Plant restoration project on going.
Despite the West Branch’s success as a fishery, parts of the watershed are listed as having “reduced” trout populations on the “NY State Trout Population” map. One possible cause of habitat reduction is excess stream sedimentation. The Ausable River Association (ASRA) has long recognized the importance and need for reducing sediment runoff into the river. Excess sediment and its impact to the aquatic ecosystem along the Ausable River have been noted by NYSDEC in their non-point source pollution Priority Waterbodies List and by embededness studies conducted by the Boquet and Ausable River Associations. This study continued the work of inventorying the stream in order to assess where sediment sources from eroding stream banks and to identify river reaches that may need stabilization efforts.
Methods & Materials
For this study two forms of data were collected. Field data was collect on stream geomorphic characteristics and existing data were collected from other studies conducted by the ASRA.
Data on erosion and bank height was collected using the Vermont SGA protocol. The river was divided into reaches by the ASRA Executive Director (ED) and then the Stream corridor was waded by the ASRA ED and volunteers. Each reach was marked at its starting and ending point using a handheld GPS unit. The reaches were assessed for the amount of bank erosion present and bank height according to the table listed below. Erosion Stream Inventory 2006
