A small industry of road and sediment surveyors has arisen in response to awareness of the impacts of roads and sediment on our fisheries. Ranging from rag-tag seasonal field crews to full-service companies employing Ph.D.s, these companies and non-profits are tackling the critical task of repairing, redesigning, or removing roads to deal with the sedimentation that has choked many of our fine salmon and steelhead creeks. (read more)
Good Roads, Clear Creeks
Most of the time that restoration practitioners talk about roads and their impacts on water quality and salmon habitat in our North Coast creeks and rivers, they are talking about how roads handle the heavy rainfalls that we often see at this time of year. How well water can drain off of a road surface is as important a consideration as the culverts and bridges that carry creeks under our roads. For salmon habitat, the main issue is how much dirt (sediment) is carried off of the road surface and fill along with that water. (read more)
Good Roads, Clear Creeks
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Good Roads, Clear Creeks
Today, our native salmon species are almost as rare as the grizzlies that used to eat them. Even more alarming is the fact that North Coast fisheries are in better shape than those in other regions of California. Salmonids depend upon clear, cold streams with fine gravel beds. Water clarity, temperature, and spawning grounds have been affected in almost every stream on the North Coast. (read more)