[env-trinity] San Francisco Chronicle May 17

[Byron]

SALMON: 

Guest Opinion: It takes a watershed to sustain our salmon

San Francisco Chronicle - 5/17/06

By Peter Moyle, professor of fisheries at the University of California,
Davis.  Dr. Moyle also is a member of the Board of Governors of California
Trout, Inc.

 

ONE OF the special things about California is that we still have large
salmon spawning in some of our rivers, the southernmost populations of the
species. The presence of salmon defines the nature of the rivers as "salmon
streams," invoking images of wildness and abundance. 

 

Yet today salmon fisheries are being shut down as our rivers lose their wild
salmon, the result of decades of neglect of rivers and watersheds. 

 

Nowhere is this more evident than in the Klamath River, where Chinook and
coho salmon are at low ebbs of their populations. 

 

Given the complexity of the problems besetting Klamath River, it is going to
take a long time to bring back the salmon to historic numbers, assuming our
society has the will to do so. In the meantime, we need to protect the few
remaining healthy populations in California, to make sure the salmon are not
forgotten and to make sure that we have sources of fish for damaged rivers
as they recover. 

 

For example, the continued protection of the beautiful and little
appreciated Smith River, the next major river north of the Klamath, is an
investment that will help sustain salmon fisheries in California and will
also support recovery of the Klamath River. 

 

The Smith River is a stronghold for salmon, steelhead and cutthroat trout in
California; at least five species in multiple runs use the river. It is
unparalleled in its combination of natural river flows, protected habitat
and healthy fish populations. Much of this watershed is within the Smith
River National Recreation Area and the Redwood national and state parks, but
not all. We now need to protect the entire watershed, to make sure that the
Smith remains an example of what a healthy river is like. The Smith can also
become our salmon insurance policy, a potential source of wild fish for
restoration of other watersheds such as the Klamath. 

 

Right now, we have an opportunity to further secure the Smith River as a
refuge for wild salmon. Thanks to the action of three hard-working
organizations, Western Rivers Conservancy, California Trout and the Smith
River Alliance, the public has the rare opportunity to purchase the lands
surrounding Goose Creek, the Smith's largest tributary and an important
spawning area for salmon. 

 

The timber company owners of the 9,500-acre Goose Creek property made the
decision to sell the land and the nonprofit guardians moved quickly to forge
a deal to add it to the Smith River National Recreation Area. 

 

Thanks to support from many individuals and organizations, including Del
Norte County, more than half of the purchase has been completed with funds
from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. Sens. Dianne Feinstein
Barbara Boxer and Rep. Mike Thompson all deserve credit for their diligent
work to make this happen. But $2.7 million is still needed to complete the
acquisition, and, this year, no funds have been allocated in the federal
budget for Goose Creek. 

 

The need for forward-thinking restoration measures to recover California's
northern salmon populations has never been more evident. 

 

Protecting Goose Creek is an important action we can take now with
long-term, positive consequences for the Smith and Klamath rivers. 

 

Those of us who continue to be optimists about the restoration of
California's rivers see this as a major, highly visible step toward
reversing decades of abuse of our salmon rivers.

 

 

Byron Leydecker

Chair, Friends of Trinity River

Advisor, California Trout, Inc

PO Box 2327

Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327

415 383 4810 ph

415 383 9562 fx

bwl3 at comcast.net

bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org

http://www.fotr.org

http:www.caltrout.org 

 

 

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