Around the turn of the millennium, the lands of two large timber companies changed hands. The new owners, Mendocino Redwood Company and Campbell Timberlands Group brought a conservation-based approach to land management. Trout Unlimited has been working closely with these companies to mitigate the damage left by the previous owners and improve instream habitat for salmon and steelhead.

While working with the timber companies is the major component of this effort called The North Coast Coho Project, the partnership has expanded to include vineyards, gravel mines, and homeowners. On the government side of things, California Department of Fish and Game and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provide technical support and funding.

Rob Dickerson works for TU, spearheading the North Coast Coho Project from his Santa Rosa office. Rob’s family has inhabited this part of California for generations. With the exception of stints as a geologist in the arid country to the east, Rob has called this coastal region home his entire life.

His 22 years in the geothermal energy business provide ample experience working with government agencies and private landowners, as well as writing the grants and project designs necessary to complete a large-scale restoration project.

What type of work is TU doing? Rob told me that much of the instream work involves restoring spawning and rearing habitat for coho salmon. This requires removing culverts to restore migration corridors, decommissioning or repairing poorly-designed logging roads that leach sediment into streams, and planting logs and root wads that scour pools and protect the fish. Coho salmon, an endangered species, are also very sensitive to light and restoring overhanging riparian vegetation is a boon to habitat quality.

The North Coast Coho Project is a massive effort, encompassing 10 major watersheds spread out over hundreds of miles. The first TU work in the area was undertaken by the North Bay Chapter in the 1980s. Their tremendous success in Lagunitas Creek encouraged TU to devote a full-time staff member to the project.

So far, TU and their private and government partners have removed countless culverts and replaced them with fish-friendly bridges. They have also decommissioned or repaired over 400 miles of dirt road, preventing tons of sediment from entering the streams.

Rob showed me the work on Austin Creek, a tributary to the Russian River. Substantial disturbance in the watershed has left the lower reaches of Austin Creek wide, straight, and choked with sediment. The stream acts as a migration corridor to the headwaters, but the water temperatures are warm and it lacks the pools and structure required by juvenile salmonids.

In the last few years, TU and their partners have placed boulders and logs to scour pools and create holding water. The local gravel mine has also agreed to modify their practices to reduce their impact on salmon migration.

The next step is starting a captive broodstock program that will use the offspring of wild salmon in neighboring Russian River tributaries to kick start the Austin Creek population.

Click HERE to see photos of the Austin Creek improvement work and the scenic California coast.

Click HERE to read more about the North Coast Coho Project.

Elsewhere in California

While in CA, I also had the opportunity to fish the McCloud River. The town of Redding is within striking distance of numerous world-class trout waters. I read about Hat Creek, the Sacramento, and the Pit in the glossy magazines as a kid; however, it was an article about the McCloud that struck the deepest chord and I was glad to have the opportunity to visit this river.

The McCloud is a lot like the Metolius… crystal clear, fast, deep, and cold. I was surprised by its backwoods location. I figured fishing in Cali would involve streamside latte stands and tons of anglers, but I had the place to myself deep in the forested hills.

In the midday heat, the fishing was tough. Translation: I was skunked! I tried fishing the fast pocket water, the slow, deep pools, and everything in between, but I hardly saw a fish. I look forward to someday returning to the McCloud and the other rivers in the area when I can put in a little more time.

Click HERE to see a few photos from the McCloud.

I also talked to Howard Kern, an active TU volunteer from the Los Angeles area, via telephone. While Howard and I couldn’t find a mutually convenient time to meet, I want to mention the impressive golden trout project that Southern California TUers and a cohort of non-profit and government partners have undertaken in the Sierra Nevada.

The colorful golden trout is California’s state fish. I angled for an introduced population of these beauties in Montana earlier in the summer. Click HERE to visit that blog entry and see photos of a golden.

Back in California, TUers and their partners are installing riparian zone fencing to protect the fragile high alpine streams from cattle. They are also planting willows to help stabilize the banks and surveying the creeks to determine the genetic purity of the remaining goldens. Click HERE to visit a great website about this project.

Now I’m traveling from Napa to Nampa, to meet with Idaho’s Ted Trueblood Chapter. Stay “TUned!”