Restoration project improves salmon habitat in Mendocino County creek
Category: News Release
Mar 3rd, 2019 by Keith Worrall 269
Modified Mar 3rd, 2019 at 9:19 PM
A four-year restoration project on James Creek in Mendocino County has led to “the return of spawning coho salmon to the upper reaches of a tributary of Big River,” the Mendocino Land Trust announced.
The project was a collaboration between the Land Trust, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Jackson Demonstration State Forest, and “initial post-restoration informal surveying has already shown increased coho salmon spawning activity, demonstrated by several coho salmon nests (known as redds) and coho salmon carcasses upstream from the restoration site,” the Land Trust explains.
The man-made barrier that was the focus of the project was significantly restricting spawning coho salmon, cutting them off from miles of prime habitat further upstream. Begun in 2014, the complicated project involved several phases of barrier removal, gradually replacing it with a series of weirs which slow and pool the flowing water while incrementally increasing in elevation.
“This was a challenging project, with amazing contributions from CDFW and our contractors,” said Doug Kern, Mendocino Land Trust director of conservation. “You couldn’t have a more inspiring or rewarding result than seeing fish spawning above the barrier so soon after project completion.”
The site has been visited by several people trained in salmon spawner surveying who have all made similar observations. Nicolet Houtz, conservation project manager for Mendocino Land Trust, documented several coho salmon carcasses and several redds.
“I was really excited to see the fish carcasses.” Houtz said. “It may seem counter-intuitive to be excited about dead fish, but it means the restoration project was successful and the fish were able to navigate upstream to spawn. Part of the coho salmon life cycle is that they produce offspring when spawning, then die after reproduction.”
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Land Trust also seeking summer interns for future projects