Salmonid Restoration Federation
by Harry Vaughn of Salmonid Restoration Federation
August 4, 2001
In the 1970?s, concerns over declining salmonid populations led to increased citizen involvement in fisheries restoration. This trend in citizen involvement grew in the 1980?s and led to the development of many new and unique restoration approaches, a process that is still ongoing.
Many of these approaches were developed by individual groups specifically for their own unique watershed conditions, which included different vegetation types, geology, soils, hydrology, climate, local fish populations, land management practices and the individual skills of the community members involved. The Salmonid Restoration Federation (SRF), which became incorporated as a non-profit 501(c)3, was formed to provide a forum to enable these individuals and groups to share information. SRF has a nine-person board of directors, elected by the membership, that meets six times per year. The current board comes from all over California and our focus is on salmonid restoration issues state-wide, not just on the coast.
Our first conference was held in 1983 at the Bodega Bay Grange Hall. It was an informal gathering and highly successful. This led to the creation of an annual conference which is usually held at the end of February. This time period was convenient because field season was over and the salmon eggs being incubated by various groups were in hatch-boxes and were at a stage that did not require daily feeding. The initial 2-day conference has evolved into a four-day event that includes a series of workshops and field tours on Thursday and Friday, followed by the conference on Saturday and Sunday. Annual attendance has grown to over 400 people from all walks of life. We continue to develop and refine session topics and workshop topics based largely on evaluation forms filled out and suggestions offered by attendees. These suggestions are highly valued for guiding us in our decisions for topic selection. Last year we were in Chico, this year in Ukiah, next year will most likely be in Southern California, possibly San Luis Obispo. The scope of topics to be covered in future years is limitless as is the ever expanding geographic range, which offers opportunities to address the individual environmental concerns and solutions provided in individual watersheds.
The Salmonid Restoration Federation also puts on a technical field school, first formed to meet the request of many that a ?hands on? field-based, classroom setting would benefit them in expanding their knowledge of and ability to design and implement restoration projects more efficiently. Some past topics included road design and removal and bio-engineering techniques utilized for erosion control. Many of the participants in our past field schools have gone on to become more involved in fisheries restoration, some becoming full-time restoration workers and project supervisors. We will be holding three field schools in 2001/2002: one in October 2001 in Plumas County near Quincy at the Berkeley Forest Camp and one in Spring 2002 in Mendocino County at Camp Gualala will both be teaching proper techniques in road design and removal. The third workshop will be on culvert assessment and fish passage and will be held somewhere on the north coast, at a time and site yet to be designated.
We recently submitted a grant proposal to allow us to coordinate a field-based workshop examining the use of small-scale hatcheries as conservation biology-based recovery tools. Some of the topics being considered are inter-basin stock transfer restrictions, marking hatchery fish and considerations that must be made to minimize genetic and disease impacts to wild stocks when using small-scale hatcheries.
The Salmonid Restoration Federation is committed to bringing together the various members of our society that have a direct impact on salmonids, both positive and negative. Through the interaction of and exchange of knowledge and skills among our constituents, we help to promote the sharing of pro-active solutions currently being developed for the restoration of our valuable term management of this fragile ecosystem to get involved.
In developing comments to be submitted to BLM regarding the designation and Management Plan for the Headwaters Preserve, consider the following points:
1) Habitat values should be paramount and species recovery must be the ultimate goal.
2) Guiding principles for management decisions should be principles of conservation biology, with the goals of restoration to a roadless landscape, restoration of old-growth associated species populations to sustainable levels and restoration to late seral forest conditions.
3) All possible activities, such as scientific research, restoration, recreation or others, should be analyzed with regard to risk to species.
4) Alternatives that promote recovery should be favored.
5) Effects of noise, food debris, soil compaction, automobile emissions, and other impacts stemming from human presence should be analyzed with emphasis on endangered and threatened species.
6) No commercial logging should be permitted anywhere in the Preserve. No logging should be allowed in the old-growth areas.
7) At a minimum, no recreational access should be allowed in the old-growth areas. There are sufficient recreational opportunities elsewhere and HWP is not the appropriate place for recreation. An alternative of no human access should be considered.
8) Preservation is not enough. Over half of the Preserve area has been intensively logged, and laced with 40 miles of logging roads. Restoration of the forest is essential, and removal of logging roads should be a top priority.
9) Restoration should occur only in previously disturbed areas.
10) Abandoned roads, skid trails, and landings should be
re-contoured wherever it will not damage the environment. Removal of invasive exotic species should be aggressive and done by hand/mechanical/prescribed fire methods without the use of toxic herbicides.
11) Cumulative impacts must be analyzed within the context of the examination of impacts of the damaging industrial logging and road-building that has been carried out.
12) The 7,400 acre area is not large enough to maintain an intact functioning old-growth redwood ecosystem, because the patches of old-growth trees are islands in a sea of logged-over forest lands. Yet the BLM has stated that the planning area must be restricted to the existing Preserve since ?... expansion of the Reserve would require specific Congressional action...? However, the state of California is participating with the BLM in developing the management plan and is not constrained like the federal agency. So expansion of the Preserve should be considered in the management plan.
Preservation of the old-growth ecosystem must come first. The fight to save Headwaters Forest was waged to preserve its ecological values, not for mountain biking and other recreational uses or scientific research. Yet these potentially harmful activities are being considered. A prudent management approach must be adopted to prevent any negative ecological impacts from human activities. The fight to preserve Headwaters Forest has been a long and worthwhile struggle; but it is not over.
Please get involved in this public process and submit your comments on behalf of this threatened ecosystem and its inhabitants. Your written comments can represent the voice of the voiceless. We need your help to save the Headwaters from further destruction.
For the most current information on the public comment period for the Headwaters Preserve Draft Management Plan (DMP) including talking points for comments once the draft plan is released and the exact dates, times, and venues for the DMP release, public comment period, and public hearings please contact BACH at:
Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters
Ecology Center
2530 San Pablo Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94702
phone: (510) 548-3113
or
Headwaters Hotline:
510-835-6303
email: bach@igc.org
For bi-monthly short updates and action alerts subscribe to the BACH list by sending an e-mail to:
listproc@envirolink.org
-In the text of the message put the following:
subscribe BACH list (mail to:me@myaddress.com) i.e., your e-mail address (Note: replace me@myaddress.com with your e-mail address )
This article can be found online at www.treesfoundation.org/publications/article-88
Forest & River News is produced by Trees Foundation.
For more information contact:
Salmonid Restoration Federation
PO BOX 4260
Arcata, CA 95518
Email: srf@northcoast.com
Phone: (707) 268-8182 Fax: (707) 268-8182