October 1, 2000
We are busy on many fronts! To begin with, we have worked hard in Redwood Creek, a South Fork Eel River tributary, where, thanks in part to a Cereus Fund grant, our Miller Creek Watershed Assessment has moved forward. Assessing this watershed, a sub-basin to Redwood Creek, is key to increasing year-round habitat availability for coho salmon and steelhead and to stabilizing these populations in the South Fork Eel. We recently finished a landslide sediment reduction and road stabilization project in upper Miller Creek and began addressing a landslide (while protecting private property and structures) on the banks of Redwood Creek.
We anticipate funding for summer 2001 restoration work and for maintaining a successful basin constructed on Redwood Creek in 1985; sediment, kept from entering valuable spawning and rearing areas, has filled this basin. Tree planting projects will be central to these restoration projects.
We are developing a five-year plan to evaluate our Redwood Creek fisheries restoration project, which includes a small-scale hatchery program, a biological monitoring program, and data on weather conditions since the project's inception in 1983. If California Department of Fish and Game approves this plan, the programs can continue. The National Marine Fisheries Service will receive this plan as part of our grassroots effort to restore fish in compliance with our Section 10 permit, issued under the Endangered Species Act.
We will continue to foster collaborative efforts between community members, NGOs, academic institutions, and public agencies. Our education program is expanding to more than sixty local classrooms. Public support is key to restoring our salmon and steelhead populations, as well as other "non-game" species such as aquatic insects, salamanders, and turtles. Two teacher-training sessions will precede this year's program.
More Information About
Eel River Salmon Restoration Project
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TOC for Forest & River News, Fall 2000