Friends of the Eel River: Economic Report Released
Friends of the Eel River continues to campaign on legal, administrative, and organizing fronts for the restoration of the Wild and Scenic Eel River. FOER's mission is to restore the Eel River and all her tributaries to a natural state of abundance, wild and free. Our immediate goal is to remove two antiquated dams that divert water from the mainstem Eel south into the Russian River through Mendocino and Lake Counties. Operated by PG&E and known as the Potter Valley Project (PVP) these dams block hundreds of miles of prime salmonid spawning grounds. (read more)


Eel River Salmon Restoration Project, Small Scale Hatcheries At Risk
Will the Eel River Salmon Restoration Project (ERSRP) continue to operate its small-scale natal stock supplementation hatchery into the future? With the release of 12,413 marked fish this last June back into Redwood Creek, this question was on all of our minds. Since 1983 we have operated a natal brood stock trapping and rearing program on Redwood Creek, a tributary to the South Fork of the Eel River at Redway. Last season (2003-2004) we trapped 72 chinook salmon, 10 coho salmon, two steelhead, and one chum salmon. This provided 13,145 chinook salmon eggs for our hatchery. Funding for our hatchery has been largely provided through the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) Grant Program. Unfortunately CDFG decided to discontinue funding for our hatchery, as well as the Humboldt Fish Action Council hatchery located on Freshwater Creek, and the Mattole Salmon Support Group hatchery located on the Mattole River. No specific reasons were given by CDFG for the closure of each individual hatchery. (read more)


Friends of the Eel River
FOER has taken on the effort to remove two antiquated PG&E dams that are part of their Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project. This project produces a very small amount of electricity, and it is well known that this is really a water-delivery system in the guise of a power plant. (read more)


Friends of the Eel River: 2000 is the Year!
This year is critical for our work on behalf of the Eel, since we are likely to see the fate of the river and the Potter Valley diversion decided as relicensing and other regulatory proceedings move ahead. Friends of the Eel River (FOER) is participating as an Intervenor in both Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and California Public Utilities Commission hearings, bringing fisheries and other environmental issues to the table. Thanks in large part to our participation and oversight, questions about the safety of the dams on the upper Eel, the accountability for their future failure and possible removal, and the need for Environmental Impact assessments all are being addressed. In February the National Marine Fisheries Service went on record agreeing with our position that a healthy, restored fishery would be of greater economic and environmental benefit to the public than the miniscule amount of hydroelectricity produced by the Potter Valley Project. In fact, since the amount of electricity produced is so insignificant and the facility a money-loser (in addition to being an environmental disaster), it?s clear that the project?s prospective buyer, the Sonoma County Water Agency, wants it as a water delivery system in the guise of a power plant. (read more)