Conservation Corner
Roger Paulson – VP Conservation
Mission Statement
To provide conservation direction and leadership for Granite Bay Flycasters by promoting the protection of fisheries and water resources, and to stimulate participation, awareness, and education of our club members and the community regarding conservation efforts.
Conservation Monthly Message
By: Trevor Fagerskog (former VP Conservation)
As one of the veteran volunteer leaders of Trout Unlimited in California, I am often asked by our members what are the most critical issues facing our trout and salmon populations. I am fortunate to be connected to our TU staff in California along with our science team in Washington DC and we discuss these issues frequently at our board and council meetings. I also sit on the steering committee of the National Leadership Council where I work on the National Conservation Agenda of Protect, Reconnect, Restore and Sustain our cold water resources, all guided by science. On this committee, I get to see how our organization advocates for our cold water rivers and streams, our public lands, our laws that protect our endangered species in the hope that we can leave these resources in better shape for our kids and grandkids. I have access to best practices being deployed all over North America so that I can implement them in California where appropriate.
With that said, the most critical conservation issues for California trout and salmon are centered on a rapidly warming climate, which drives severe drought, extreme wildfires, and reduced snowpack as we saw this year. Key threats include insufficient cold-water habitat, excessive water diversions, habitat fragmentation by dams, and legacy impacts from development and land use. In other words, the human footprint. Since humans aren’t going away any time soon, we as people need to do our part to lessen our impact.
What can the members of Granite Bay Flycasters do? If you are not already a member, join a conservation organization such as Trout Unlimited and make your voice heard. TU has a voter voice platform that as a member will make you aware of immediate action you can take to tell your government representatives how you feel about legislation that adversely affect our trout and salmon populations here in California and the Western United Sates, the places you love to fish. You can also volunteer local conservation activities to help the environment such as River City Water Way Alliance, Waterbird Habitat Project, Dry Creek Conservancy, Friends of Auburn Ravine and many others.
Top Conservation Issues
Climate Change (Overarching Threat): Climate change acts as the primary driver, impacting 27 of 31 salmonid species in California. It causes warmer water temperatures, lower summer streamflows, and reduced snowpack, which is crucial for cold-water input.
Lack of Cold Water/Drought: Increasing air temperatures, combined with drought, reduce the cold-water pool that salmon, steelhead, and trout need for survival and spawning. Trout and salmon start to stress at 68 deg F. Above 72 Deg F, prolonged exposure can be fatal as we saw with the big fish kill on the Klamath in 2002 where an estimated 70,000 mature spawning fish died.
Water Diversions & Management: Excessive water extraction for agriculture and urban use directly reduces streamflow, exacerbating habitat loss and leading to conflicts over water resources. Trout Unlimited has staff based in the Bay Area that frequently lobby for more cold water to be released from the reservoirs at the times when adult salmon are migrating upriver to spawn, when their eggs are incubating and when the smolt start their outmigration back to the sea.
Habitat Fragmentation & Dams: Barriers like dams and faulty culverts block access to historic, cooler spawning and rearing habitats, limiting population recovery. This is exactly why the dams on the Eel River should come out. They are seismically unsafe; they cost more money than they generate and that falls back on PG&E rate payers to subsidize. Removing them will open up 200 miles of spawning habitat that is fed by cold water springs and could result in the restoration of summer run steelhead that have been gone for over 120 years! Wouldn’t that be cool?
Habitat Degradation & Wildfires: Increased frequency of large wildfires increases sediment runoff, which destroys spawning beds, while land-use impacts (logging, grazing) degrade stream quality.
Loss of Riparian Ecosystems: The loss of nearly 90% of California’s wetlands, particularly estuaries and coastal floodplains, has reduced crucial rearing habitats for juvenile fish.
California Species at Risk
Sacramento River Winter-Run Chinook: Considered one of the most at-risk endangered species, facing extreme danger from lack of cold water.
Coho and Steelhead: Highly threatened in Northern California by habitat degradation, drought, and wildfire impacts. There is some good news here. It is estimated that over 30000 coho returned to coastal rivers this past fall/winter. Trout Unlimited’s North Coast Coho project
Lahontan Cutthroat and Golden Trout: Targeted by initiatives focusing on protecting inland native trout habitat.
Conservation Efforts
Restoring Habitat Connectivity: Removing barriers, such as dams and undersized culverts, to restore access to suitable habitats.
Protecting Cold Water Refuges: Identifying and securing crucial cold-water areas that are resilient to climate change.
Managing Water Resources: Developing dry-year water management plans and reducing illegal water diversions to increase drought resilience.
Floodplain Restoration: Reconnecting rivers to their natural floodplains to provide food and shelter for juvenile salmon.
Full disclosure: While I wrote most of this article myself, I did borrow a little help from Google with the content. If you would like to learn more about cold water conservation and how you can help, please reach out to me at tfagerskog@gmail.com
Upcoming Conservation Events
No current events
Articles on Conservation Related Topics
by Mel Odemar, former VP Conservation
– A Closer Look at the Delta Tunnels (September 2015)
– Saving the Salmon (October 2015)
– “Wicked Problems” (November 2015)
– Fish Introductions to California (December 2015)