NORDMAN — Contractors are being invited to bid on a project to restore form and function to Hughes Meadows.

Priest Community Forest Connection is putting out a request for proposals for the Hughes Aquatic Restoration Project. Bids must be submitted by Tuesday, May 30.

The 200-acre meadow about 17 miles northeast of Nordman had historically been bisected by naturally meandering stream channel. The channel, however, was diverted to a man-made ditch during World War II to accommodate a secret military airstrip, according to a U.S. Forest Service project scoping notice.

The ditch lacks the habitat structure and diversity to sustain the spawning requirements of bull trout, westslope cutthroat trout and other native fish.

“Currently, water temperatures exceed the thermal tolerance of bull trout during warm and dry summer months. The high stream temperatures are a thermal barrier to bull trout migration to historic spawning and rearing habitat upstream,” Priest Lake District Ranger Timothy Knight said in the scoping notice.

The ditch also lowered the water table in the meadow, diminishing its potential for use as grizzly bear habitat in the spring, Knight said.

To restore the channel, a 550-foot “encouragement” channel will be etched into the native stream channel and a dam that diverted the channel to its new course will be removed. The present-day ditch will be plugged to create a chain of six wetland ponds that will raise the water level in the meadow.

The project is expected to take two weeks and will occur during the driest possible time frame in September and August.

Flotation blocks or mats will be utilized to prevent the equipment from sinking in the wetter parts of the meadow during the work.

The project will not involve reconstruction of the channel for the length of the meadow.

“The Hughes Fork was a multi-threaded, highly braided channel that flowed through the meadows. The encouragement channel will deliver the water to the original braided channel network and the flow will occupy the braided system that still exists in the meadow,” the request for proposal said.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.