Wildfire Effects: Wanted Dead or Alive: Fire Scars and Cavities in Old-Growth Trees

Recent studies by Humboldt State University professor Steve Sillett and others have highlighted the incredible complexity of giant old-growth redwoods: canopies rich with iterated tops, huckleberry gardens, aerial salamanders, and even plankton. Yet only 3-5% of these ancient trees remain along California's coast. While many speak of restoration including creation of old-growth characteristics in young-growth forests, such efforts are new, experimental, and as yet unproven. (read more)


Freshwater Mussels of the Klamath River
Ask someone to name a threatened species that makes its home in the Klamath River, and odds are the answer you'll hear will be "salmon," followed by "suckerfish" or "sturgeon." While it's true that Klamath populations of these fish species are facing severe threats stemming from human activity, fish aren't the only aquatic creatures in danger of extinction. In fact, the majority of the organisms threatened by human impact on freshwater ecosystems like the Klamath are invertebrates. One of the least-known but most important Klamath invertebrate groups may be the freshwater mussels. And, until 2007, the Klamath's mussels were almost entirely unknown to Western science! Mussels, which are North America's most endangered group of organisms, are an important bio-indicator of aquatic ecosystem health and a cultural resource for indigenous peoples worldwide. (read more)


Editor's Note
Watershed recovery along the North Coast continues to advance. This issue explores the ways that community projects are leading efforts to restore ailing watersheds. Projects include instream restoration, controlled burns, community organizing, and native plant nurseries. (read more)


Watershed Recovery: Accelerated Recruitment: A Cost-Effective Approach To Instream Enhancement
Large woody material is critical for enhancing fish habitat, increasing instream biological diversity, and maintaining natural stream processes. Until recently, the South Fork of the Ten Mile River, a salmon-bearing stream in Mendocino County, was generally devoid of large woody material. (read more)


Watershed Recovery: Garcia River Recovery Update
Comprehensive efforts to restore the Garcia River's once-famous runs of salmon and steelhead continue. Garcia River restoration has benefited greatly by lessons learned on watersheds throughout northern California and by techniques taught at Salmonid Restoration Federation Field Schools and Conferences. The Garcia River Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Implementation Plan has assured steady progress on sediment control throughout the watershed. (read more)


Watershed Recovery: 12th Annual Coho Confab August 28-30th

The Coho Confab is a symposium to explore watershed restoration, learn restoration techniques to recover coho salmon populations, and network with other fish-centric people. The 12th Annual Coho Confab will be held on the beautiful Mendocino Coast. Trees Foundation and the Salmonid Restoration Federation are permanent co-hosts of this educational event and this year the Confab is also sponsored by the California Department of Fish & Game (DFG), Mendocino Land Trust, and Trout Unlimited. (read more)


12th Annual Coho Confab Hands-on Fish Workshops on the Mendocino Coast

	Photo: Hawk Rosalas

The Coho Confab is a symposium to explore watershed restoration, learn restoration techniques to recover coho salmon populations, and to network with other fish-centric people. To confabulate literally means to informally chat or to fabricate to compensate for gaps in ones memory. Not to imply that restorationists are prone to hyperbole when recounting the size of a rescued fish, the magnitude of the waterfall coming out of the culvert, or the heroics of a particular restoration job. The Confab is an informal gathering of fishheads that allows for participants and instructors to learn from each other's experience. Participants learn skills and practices that can be applied to restore habitat in their home watershed. Each year the Confab is held in another location on the North Coast. (read more)


Restoring Your Watershed: Coho Confab September 26-28, 2008 on the Smith River
The Coho Confab is an annual symposium to explore watershed restoration, learn techniques to recover coho salmon populations, and network with other fish-centric people. In an informal setting that encourages networking and connection, participants learn skills and practices that can be applied to restore habitats in their home watersheds. Always in a beautiful outdoor setting within the range of the coho, each year the Confab is held in a different location on the North Coast. This year, the 11th annual Confab will be held on the South Fork of the Smith River in the far northwestern corner of California on the weekend of September 26-28. (read more)


Coho Confab: Annual Watershed Restoration Conference Returns to Natal Waters August 17-19, 2007
The tenth annual Coho Confab will return to its origins (read more)


Salmonid Restoration Federation: 25th Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference March 7-10, 2007, in Santa Rosa, California
The Salmonid Restoration Federation will hold the 25th Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference at the Wells Fargo Arts Center in Santa Rosa, California, March 7-10, 2007. The conference includes full-day workshops on dam removal and FERC relicensing, fish passage barrier removal tools, estuary restoration, and an urban creek restoration workshop and tour. Field tours include visits to sustainable grazing sites in southern Sonoma and western Marin counties, Sonoma vineyards with salmon-friendly agricultural practices, restoration and ecologically-sustainable water projects in Dutchbill Creek watershed, steelhead habitat restoration projects on Upper Sonoma Creek, bioengineering and in-stream restoration projects, and roads and up-slope restoration sites in western Sonoma. (read more)


Marin County Once Again Welcomes the Coho Confab, August 25-27, 2006
Trees Foundation, the Salmonid Restoration Federation (SRF), and Salmon Protection and Watershed Network (SPAWN) are proud to invite you to attend the 9th Annual Coho Confab. This dynamic annual event brings together community members, landowners, activists, scientists, and restoration ecologists in an effort to accelerate the recovery of imperiled salmon and steelhead and countless other species in our coastal watersheds. The Confab is a weekend of hands-on workshops, project site tours, networking, and fun. Workshops are designed to provide participants with the latest restoration field skills and ideas for recovering our home watersheds. (read more)


2005 Coho Confab: Eight Years of Training Watershed Advocates
The 8th annual Coho Confab was held August 12-14, 2005 at the Wolf Creek Education Center in Redwood National Park in Humboldt County. The Confab, produced and hosted by Trees Foundation and the Salmonid Restoration Federation, is an outdoor symposium to explore watershed restoration and learn techniques to enhance recovery of salmon and steelhead. The Confab brought together 80 community members, landowners, activists, scientists, and restoration ecologists for a weekend of innovative skills-building workshops, tours of restoration projects, community networking, and fun. (read more)


California Wilderness Legacy Project
Wilderness volunteer workshop in the Fall (read more)


Coho Confab 2005: August 12-14, Redwood National Park: Sign up for the Coho Confab mailing list now.
The 8th annual Coho Confab will be held August 12-14, 2005, at the Wolf Creek Education Center in Redwood National Park, five miles north of Orick and three miles from the ocean, in Humboldt County. Trees Foundation will once again partner with the Salmon Restoration Federation to host the Coho Confab, which is a symposium to explore watershed restoration and learn techniques to enhance recovery of salmon and steelhead. (read more)


Save This Date!! July 22-24, 2005, For The 8th Annual Coho Confab
The 8th Annual Coho Confab will be hosted in the magnificent Smith River watershed on July 22-24, 2005. The specific site, co-host group(s), and additional information will be announced in the next issue of Branching Out and posted at the Trees Foundation website, www.treesfoundation.org. You can be sure that we will have an agenda full of the most popular workshops of prior Coho Confabs, as well as new exciting workshops. Tentative workshops include monitoring, land acquisition and land management, estuary issues, fish identification and more. We will offer an opportunity to get "out of the classroom and into the field" on the last major un-dammed river in California. Contact Trees Foundation for more information, and look for our regular Coho Confab Updates in Branching Out and on www.treesfoundation.org. (read more)