Judge Backs Fish Ladders on Klamath River Dams; The ruling is a victory for environmentalists, Indian tribes and fishermen, who hope cost will spur the owner to remove the barriers

SACRAMENTO — In a victory for environmentalists, commercial fishermen and Indian tribes, a federal judge has backed a push by U.S. wildlife agencies for fish ladders over four Klamath River dams blamed for sagging salmon runs.

The proposed fish passages would return chinook and endangered coho salmon as well as steelhead and Pacific lamprey to 350 miles of river cut off for more than half a century by the towering hydropower dams.

But environmentalists and other foes of the dams are hopeful that the hefty cost of installing ladders — expected to be more than $220 million — could push the dams' owner, PacifiCorp of Portland, Ore., to end its fight to win renewal of a long-term operating license and instead remove the dams.

Judge Parlen McKenna's ruling late Wednesday comes just days after a federal panel that licenses hydropower dams issued a preliminary environmental report rejecting fish ladders. That report, by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, largely sided with PacifiCorp's less-costly proposal to truck salmon around the dams.

Dam foes hope the judge's ruling will force the commission to amend its draft plan.

PacifiCorp officials say they aren't about to concede. "We're disappointed," said spokesman Dave Kvamme. But he characterized the judicial findings as "just one more step" in a long process that won't conclude until next year.

The 87-page ruling by McKenna found that the dams have had a serious effect on the salmon and other fish that make a home in the Klamath.

It also backed calls by U.S. wildlife managers for increased river flows to help deal with fish-killing parasites and disease.

Leaf Hillman, vice chairman of the Karuk tribe, said it would be cheaper for PacifiCorp to remove the dams than to continue pushing forward with a license renewal and costly fish ladders.

"We're ready to negotiate a fair settlement with PacifiCorp," Hillman said.

"Hopefully, this ruling will motivate the company to do the same."

Declining salmon runs in the Klamath this year severely curtailed commercial fishing along a 700-mile stretch of Oregon and Northern California coast. Fishermen say their catch is just 10% of normal, and are seeking federal disaster funding to keep the industry from sinking.

"PacifiCorp's Klamath dams have been a disaster," said Glen Spain of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Assns. #

REGIONAL PLANNING: Water plan being tweaked in quest to gain millions

A shift to regionalism is taking place throughout the state on water issues, and the Northern California Water Association is poised to lead the northern Sacramento Valley through the process.

It's hoped a $500,000 planning grant from the state under Proposition 50 will lead to $25 million applied to projects by NCWA's signatories and Butte County.

The State Water Resources Control Board and the Department of Water Resources will decide if the joint application is granted. Only six or seven proposals out of 16 submitted will get funding, explained Vickie Newlin of the county Department of Water and Resource Conservation.

The long-term plan is broad-reaching and includes weighty and controversial topics such as groundwater management, water quality, flooding and water use efficiency.

The public draft of the integrated plan is available on NCWA's Web site at www.norcalwater.com; click on "integrated plan."

The planning area will cover all or part of Shasta, Glenn, Butte, Sutter, Yuba, Colusa, Yolo, Placer and Sacramento counties (see page 19 of the above document for a map).

At 350 pages, water leaders are beginning to work through the paperwork and come up with suggestions about things that could be added or language that could be changed.

Efforts have been in the works for years to begin talking regionally about water issues. The concept got a giant push with the 2005 Water Plan update, bulletin 160, which clearly stated that to meet future water needs, the state needed to divide into 11 different regional areas, where each region managed water resources while considering overall needs for a growing state population.

Two public meetings on the topic will take place Oct. 3. The first is the Water Commission, which meets in Oroville at the Board of Supervisors Chambers, at 1:30 p.m.; the second is that evening at the Durham library, 2555 Durham Dayton Highway.

One aspect of the plan that concerns some water watchers is investigation of the Lower Tuscan aquifer to look at recharge and whether it can be better managed.

Right now, California Water Service Co., which serves Chico, taps into that aquifer, as do several other deep wells in Butte and Glenn counties.

There has been much mention, including in the planning document, of conjunctive use, which is combining surface and groundwater management.

A subcommittee of the county Water Commission has been set up to pore over the document. Subcommittee member David Skinner said it's too soon to lay out his thoughts. Comments are due Oct. 16.

He said he had some concerns that will come up when the subcommittee shares its thoughts with the full commission.

In regard to some who are critical of the plans, Skinner said he is "sympathetic to their concerns. It's not like they're way out on left field on some of them."

However, "The positive is that it's a planning document that provides for funding for research to find out what's underneath us," he said.

"We need to know where the recharge is."

Barbara Hennigan has been very vocal about the plan and has questioned whether NCWA will pay enough attention to the needs of people, like herself, who rely on groundwater pumping. She and a new board of directors recently revived a group formed in the 1980s called the Butte-Sutter Basin Area Groundwater users (www.buttegroundwater.org).

She and other members of her group fear that when a regional plan targets increased groundwater use, people dependent upon groundwater will see water levels drop.

Hennigan is wary that groundwater recharge is believed to be primarily along the foothills in Butte County but big production wells will be put in Glenn County.

"There's nothing in this plan to prevent a race to the bottom of the aquifer," Hennigan said.

The main problem with NCWA's plan is it has been written entirely by surface-water districts that make up the membership of NCWA, she said.

"Right now, groundwater goes to whoever has the deepest straw," Hennigan said.

"People have a right to their fair share. Right now there's no methodology for figuring out what people's fair share is."

Mark Kimmelshue is on the Water Commission subcommittee as well. He said many involved in the process haven't had enough time to sift through all of the pages and are hoping NCWA will give them time past the Oct. 16 deadline for comments.

"I think NCWA is the right entity to provide the management in developing this plan," Kimmelshue said.

"I have confidence in the process. Is the document perfect as it now stands? I would say no. But I feel we can take the document and make changes."

NCWA executive director David Guy said NCWA has a long history of protecting both surface and groundwater rights. He said NCWA is working to bring in all eight counties and work from the ground up to build the plan.

As for critics, he said there are a few very vocal ones, but there are many supportive people working together in a quiet manner. #

Dams' fate on line; First-of-its-kind ruling anticipated on Klamath River this week

The Klamath River is the guinea pig for a new provision of the Energy Act that allows dam owners to protest conditions imposed by fish and wildlife agencies.

A ruling expected this week will be the first glimpse of how that provision may work.

An administrative law judge oversaw a trial in Sacramento that may have profound effects on how the federal government proceeds with relicensing several dams on the Klamath River. Judge Parlen McKenna will decide issues like how much salmon spawning habitat is available above the dams and whether fish use fish ladders to get above the dams might spread disease to trout.

The hearing came after dam owner Pacificorp was issued draft conditions for procuring another 50-year license. Those included installing fish ladders, and fish screens to prevent young fish from getting sucked into turbines. It's possible that would cost $200 million or more.

Pacificorp argued that conditions are so poor in the reservoirs behind its dams that salmon wouldn't stand a chance. It advocated trapping adult fish below lowermost Iron Gate Dam and trucking them to clean tributaries above Upper Klamath Lake. Young fish would then be trapped and trucked downstream of the hydro project.

McKenna's ruling will determine the facts that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission uses in deciding the fate of the project. A parallel settlement process could also find a solution, but that could also be affected by McKenna's ruling.

”If you're going to be asked to spend $250 million, you should be able to expect that it's effective,” said Pacificorp spokesman Dave Kvamme in a recent interview.

The full trial-type hearing is a first, but others have gotten under way only to be settled.

This one involves a host of interests on the U.S. Interior and Commerce departments' side, including tribes, fishermen and environmentalists not often aligned with the government. Many of those interests want to see the dams come out.

The ruling also will come at the end of one of the worst salmon seasons on record, one considered a failure by the Commerce Department even before it ended. Fishermen up and down the West Coast saw the season slashed, and for hundreds of miles around the mouth of the Klamath there was no commercial fishing allowed. That was to protect an expected poor run of salmon, which have been struggling in poor water quality, with disease, and low flows in the river for years.

Yurok Tribe biologist Mike Belchik said that Pacificorp's argument that there is no fish habitat between the dams -- and so no reason to build fish ladders to those areas -- is cynical.

”They're saying that the mortality would be so high that they couldn't link to suitable habitat -- because of their dams,” Belchik said.

Despite the fact that Pacificorp has dropped several issues it had contested, McKenna has been weighing a mountain of information. The added complication of having to defend draft conditions has added a measure of uncertainty to the relicensing process, said Earthjustice attorney Jan Hasselman, and has forced the agencies to have to spend lots of money.

”I think in the future it's going to make the resource agencies that much more reluctant to stand up for scientifically sound conditions that protect wildlife and rivers,” Hasselman said. #

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WATER QUALITY ISSUES: Water quality forum Friday in Yuba City

YUBA CITY -- A panel discussion Friday will provide information on some of the water quality studies and programs taking place within the northern Sacramento Valley.

The meeting is being hosted by the Northern Sacramento Valley Water Forum and is scheduled 1-3:30 p.m. at the Sutter County Veteran's Hall, 1425 Veteran's Memorial Circle, in Yuba City.

The panel includes representatives from agencies and organizations that are involved in water quality programs and monitoring activities. The forum is free and open to the public.

Gary Carlton, consultant and former member of the State Water Resources Control Board will provide the opening remarks, summarizing the state's regulatory programs regarding water quality. He will also serve as moderator of the panel discussion.

Bill Lewis, representing the city of Yuba City, will describe the water quality concerns of this rural community that is quickly blossoming into a urban area.

The Irrigated Lands Program, which is monitoring agricultural runoff as it relates to water quality, will be addressed by Parry Klassen of the Coalition for Urban Rural Environmental Stewardship.

Proactive programs recently initiated by the Rice Commission on rice lands throughout the valley will be discussed by Tim Johnson as related to their water quality benefits for the region.

Olen Zirkle of the conservation organization Ducks Unlimited will present information on the role of wetlands in water quality.

An overview of the water quality of the Sierra Nevada will be provided by Jim Branham of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. Branham will also discuss how activities in the upper watershed can impact water quality further down in the system.

Krista Clark, representing the California Association of Water Agencies will describe the groundwater ambient monitoring assessment program and discuss how the data is used to identify trends in water quality.

Each panelist will speak for 15 minutes and will then answer questions from the audience. #

Money for water projects flows into north state

By Dylan Darling, Record Searchlight
September 10, 2006

Money for projects aimed at improving water around the north state is included in a flood of funding announced last week by the state Water Resources Control Board.

Much of the money coming to the north state will go toward planning, with $420,000 set for the development of a Sacramento River watershed management plan in Tehama County and $110,586 for a similar plan for Stillwater and Churn creeks in Shasta County.

Statewide, about $75 million was awarded, according to the water board. The largest grants were about $5 million.

Other funds for the north state include $230,000 for a management plan focused on Hayfork's municipal watershed and $505,384 for roadwork to stop erosion in Trinity County.

The water board administers grant and loan programs that help protect public health and the environment by guarding bodies of water, and improving drinking water and wastewater treatment plants. Grant recipients include conservation districts as well as local and state agencies.

Reporter Dylan Darling can be reached at 225-8266 or at ddarling@redding.com.

Push to land federal salmon funds; Industry, lawmakers seeking at least $80 million in aid

Sacramento Bee – 9/7/06
By David Whitney, staff writer

WASHINGTON -- Emergency aid for salmon fishermen is high on the agenda of West Coast lawmakers and industry groups as Congress returns to work this week after its August recess.

Enduring the worst season closures to protect dwindling stocks from the Klamath River, fishermen received a big boost last month when Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez declared a fishery failure because catches are expected to fall by 88 percent of the average.

Now comes the hard part: determining damages, and coaxing the money out of Congress.

Gutierrez estimated that the closures have directly harmed commercial fishermen to the tune of $16 million.

Oregon and California believe the damage could top $80 million when all the impacts are calculated.

Commercial fishermen think an additional $40 million or $45 million should be added to begin fixing the Klamath River so it's more hospitable to salmon.

"We need to keep these people from losing their boats and livelihoods," said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations.

"But the more important thing is fixing the problems with the river so that it is again producing fish like it's capable of doing."

Congress is a long way from those numbers.

The House added $2 million in disaster assistance to a 2007 funding bill for the Commerce Department, which includes federal fishery programs.

The Senate kicked that number up to $10 million.

A campaign is now under way in the House and Senate to add more as the two chambers prepare to meet in a conference committee to work out their differences on the bill.

Last month, senators from California, Oregon and Washington were joined by the governors of those states in a letter to Senate Appropriations Committee leaders seeking help in "providing necessary emergency funding."

An amount was not specified, but in July they said Congress should provide $73 million, since California was contributing $5 million and Oregon $3.2 million.

A similar letter to House Appropriations Committee leaders will be sent this week.

"I don't know if there is a dollar figure yet, but I think it will be in the $80 million range," said Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena.

Others agreed that the costs are mounting.

"On the Central Coast, businesses are closing and fishermen can't pay bills or put food on the table for their families because of the devastating salmon fishing season," said Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara.

"Congress has to deliver emergency funding." #

California Salmon Fishermen Angered by Lack of Bailout; They blame politics for the $25-million plan's failure and now look to Congress

SACRAMENTO — Commercial fishermen hit hard this year by a virtual shutdown of salmon fishing in West Coast waters voiced anger Friday after a $25-million bailout package died in the waning days of the legislative session.

They blamed intramural politics for undercutting the relief legislation, which sought direct cash grants as well as zero-interest loans to fishermen, bait shops and other on-shore businesses that support the beleaguered salmon industry.

The salmon harvest so far this year has been about 10% of average because of fishing limits set by federal officials concerned about ebbing returns of adult fish to the Klamath River.

Though several West Coast tributaries are seeing robust salmon runs, the Klamath has suffered sharp declines blamed on drought, a proliferation of disease and parasites that afflict fish, dams that block migration, and river flows lowered by water diversions to farmers.

The bill died despite a bipartisan effort.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sponsored the legislation and two Democrats — state Sen. Wesley Chesbro of Arcata and Assemblywoman Patty Berg of Eureka — attempted to shepherd it through the Legislature.

Fishermen held Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles) responsible for the measure's demise, saying he refused to push any meaningful bailout.

"I know I've been this angry before, but I can't remember when," said Dave Bitts, a Eureka fisherman. "This seems to lie squarely on the shoulders of the speaker, and I don't understand how a Democrat would turn his back on working people and abandon an industry to die."

When the bill ran aground earlier this week, a Nuñez spokesman blamed the governor's office for failing to settle differences with opponents of the bill, in particular yacht harbors in Southern California worried about their own funds being drained to help the fishermen. Fishermen, however, said those qualms had been settled.

At a news conference Friday morning, Nuñez had to check with staff when he was asked why the Legislature failed to pass a bill to help the salmon industry.

"What did we do with salmon relief?" he asked his aides.

They said a bill failed to reach the Assembly from the Senate.

"I know that at one point I had Assemblywoman Berg and Sen. Chesbro in my office," Nuñez said, "but there were about a thousand other things going on so I told Danny Eaton [Nuñez's chief of staff], work this out."

Later, Nuñez spokesman Richard Stapler said there wasn't enough time to craft effective legislation.

"We need to look for a long-term solution for the fishing industry — and we cannot do this in the last and busiest week of the legislative session," Stapler said, adding that Schwarzenegger should use his emergency powers to provide immediate help.

The failure of the Legislature to approve funding contrasts with actions in Oregon, where commercial fishermen have received bailout checks.

Now the hopes of California fishermen and the salmon industry will turn to Congress.

On Aug. 10, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez declared a commercial fisheries failure for the West Coast salmon industry after months of prodding by Schwarzenegger and the other West Coast governors, U.S. senators and representatives.

The declaration opened the door for Congress to approve relief funding. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) is pushing for more than $80 million in disaster relief as well as money to fix the Klamath River's environmental ills.

"We're disappointed the state wasn't able to pass the disaster legislation," said Thompson's legislative director, Jonathan Birdsong. "But my boss and other lawmakers from the affected region are still dedicated to getting emergency dollars appropriated."

That could take time. Congress is scheduled to recess at the end of this month and not return until after the November elections. #

Susan Moore named new chief of Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office
Expects to focus on partnerships and on-the-ground conservation

Susan Moore, a veteran of federal service with a reputation for cooperation and success in protecting natural resources, has been named the new Field Supervisor in charge of the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, the largest field office in the nation.

Moore has been the acting field supervisor since February, when Wayne White retired. Her appointment was announced Monday by Steve Thompson, California-Nevada Operations Manager for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"Susan Moore really cares about our natural resources," Thompson said. "She is taking on a very challenging job as the Service begins shaping its future, but the Sacramento office usually has been leading the pack in innovation. Susan will help lead the office through a period of change and further innovation, helping us build strong partnerships and achieving genuine on-the-ground conservation."

The Sacramento office is responsible for implementation of the Endangered Species Act. It plays a pivotal role in California water issues, pollution prevention and cleanup, monitoring of environmental contaminants, and restoration and protection of wildlife habitat.

"I want to explore ways we can work together with all interests, both to help meet our responsibilities and also to facilitate their interests," Moore said. "Together I would like us to make this a better place to live -- for us and for our children."

The Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office has responsibility for half of California -- the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, California's Central Valley, and the San Francisco Bay Area. The office covers a rapidly growing area with many ecotypes found only in California. The area is home to 14 million people and 190 species of plants and animals that are protected under the ESA. Typically it has more than 1,000 different activities under way at any given time.

Moore has 30 years experience in the Department of Interior. She came to Sacramento after serving as Executive Director of the John Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, the first partnership park in the National Park Service. Prior to that, she served as the first woman superintendent of Antietam National Battlefield. In addition to other assignments in the Park Service, Moore has worked in Washington, D.C., for the Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks; the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service; and the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation. She came to the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office seven years ago and worked as the listing branch chief before becoming the Deputy Field Supervisor.

KLAMATH RIVER
Utility amenable to removing 4 dams

San Francisco Chronicle – 8/4/06
By Glen Martin, Staff Writer

In a move that could boost the Klamath River's depleted salmon runs, a utility company announced this week that it is willing to discuss removal of four hydroelectric dams on the river's upper reaches.

The announcement by dam owner PacifiCorp has implications beyond the Klamath. The commercial salmon season was slashed in California and Oregon this year because of low numbers of salmon returning to the river.

Fishermen fought the federal decision to curtail the catch because offshore waters are teeming with salmon from the Sacramento River. But because fish from the two river systems mingle in the open sea, regulators maintained Sacramento salmon could not be caught without further endangering Klamath salmon.

The four dams, which are scheduled for relicensing this year by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, are considered obstacles to reviving the runs. Water collects in pools behind the dams and warms in sunlight. Warm water is lethal to salmon and also spurs growth of toxic blue-green algae.

Removing the dams could expand spawning habitat for the Klamath's chinook salmon, coho salmon and steelhead trout.

In a news release, PacifiCorp President William Fehrman said the company was swayed by the concerns of Indian tribes that live along the Klamath and rely on the fish for food.

Until this week, the company had not indicated any willingness to remove the dams. But Fehrman said PacifiCorp now is "not opposed" as long as its power customers are safeguarded and company property rights are guaranteed.

In another Klamath development, salmon fishermen have filed a lawsuit accusing the National Marine Fisheries Service of using poor science in setting Pacific Coast salmon quotas for the 2006 season.

Ben Platt, a spokesman for the Salmon Trollers Marketing Association of Fort Bragg, said the lawsuit was filed Monday in federal court in Oakland. The suit claims federal officials used erroneous data to set the extremely restrictive salmon quotas fishermen are now working under.

Platt said his group wants an injunction that would allow trollers to catch more fish. The season ends in October.

NMFS spokesman Jim Milbury said Thursday that the agency had not yet seen the lawsuit and could not comment on it.

Catch and release: Clear Creek restoration helps salmon, but birds also benefit

Record Searchlight – 8/3/06
By Dylan Darling

It's not just good for the fish. It's also for the birds.

Restoration work aimed at getting more salmon to spawn on Clear Creek in south Redding also has improved conditions for many birds that live close to the creek, say scientists who have been keeping tabs on the birds for seven years.

"On the whole, Clear Creek is an incredible system," said Michael Rogner, a terrestrial ecologist with PRBO Conservation Science.

Much of the land along the creek is now in the fold of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which has been consolidating parcels since the mid-1990s. The hope is to improve conditions for salmon that swim up the creek from the Sacramento.

A byproduct of this is the improvement of habitat for the birds as well.

"It's like raising the tide, all the boats come in," said Francis Berg, assistant manager of BLM's Redding field office.

PRBO stands for the Point Reyes Bird Observatory, the nonprofit group's name when it started in 1966 and its focus was Point Reyes, which juts into the Pacific Ocean about 30 miles north of San Francisco. In 1993, the observatory began branching out and starting more studies.

The list of study sites now includes Washington, Oregon, Central and South America, and many parts of California.

Field scientists with PRBO have been monitoring birds along Clear Creek since 1999. While there is a wide spectrum of birds that flock around the creek, the scientists have focused on five -- the spotted towhee, song sparrow, yellow breasted chat, black-headed grosbeak and yellow warbler.

Rogner said they picked the variety of birds because they migrate at different times, if at all, and each prefers a different habitat. In the years of study, numbers for birds along Clear Creek have gone up, except for the yellow warbler. That's because nests built by the small, yellow songbird are especially susceptible to cowbirds.

Cowbirds -- which are native to North America, but not the north state -- lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, Rogner said. The birds then rear the cowbird chicks as their own. Because of the intrusion of the cowbird, yellow warbler numbers have dropped drastically. Scientists found only one of the birds this year. Despite the drop in numbers, there is no plan to try to curb the cowbirds.

But things have been better for the other birds, Rogner said.

In May, June and July, PRBO scientists catch birds using a 30-foot-by-7-foot net they call a "mist net" because its material is so slight it is hard for people, and birds, to see. Once the birds are caught, the scientists put a tiny aluminum band with a number on it around one of the birds' legs. The band tells the scientists if the bird has been caught before and whether it has changed its territory. The last of the banding was finished last week.

Tracking birds is a good way to track improvements to an ecosystem brought by restoration, said Michael Harris, projects manager for the Western Shasta Resource Conservation District.

"If birds are there, then there is a high potential that other animals will be there," he said.

Funding for the bird study comes from the conservation district. Harris said the money is part of a $1.3 million grant this year that also covers the cost of ground and plant monitoring projects.

Tribes Call for Removal of Dams That Block Journey of Salmon

The New York Times – 8/3/06
By William Yardley

SEATTLE, Aug. 2 — Indian tribes along the Klamath River rallied in Portland on Wednesday for the removal of four hydroelectric dams that block salmon from spawning in their historic habitat upriver, and they said they intended to pressure the governors of Oregon and California to help push for removing the dams.

The Yurok and Karuk tribes in California and the Klamath tribes of Oregon also said public comments by Bill Fehrman, the new president of PacifiCorp, the power company that owns the dams on the Klamath, reflected new potential for a settlement in one of the most enduring disputes at the nexus of fishing, farming and power supply in the Northwest.

Mr. Fehrman, in a statement released Wednesday, said: “We have heard the tribes’ concerns. We are not opposed to dam removal or other settlement opportunities as long as our customers are not harmed and our property rights are respected.”

While the tribes cast the statement as signaling a shift, Dave Kvamme, a spokesman for the company, said Mr. Fehrman’s statement, in a news release timed to coincide with the rally, was simply his first public comments reflecting a longstanding company policy.

He said that Mr. Fehrman, who became president this year, when PacifiCorp was bought by MidAmerican Holdings Company, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, has been frequently meeting with tribal leaders and that “he and the tribes have connected on some level.”

Craig Tucker, a spokesman for the Karuk tribe, which has about 3,400 members, said the tribes intended to put pressure on Gov. Theodore R. Kulongoski of Oregon and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California to find ways to pay for removing the dams, providing power from other sources and restoring fish habitat along the river, which begins in southern Oregon and meets the Pacific Ocean in Northern California.

Mike Carrier, Mr. Kulongoski’s natural resources policy director, is to meet with tribal leaders on Thursday. Mr. Carrier said the governor favored positions of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, both of which say PacificCorp must provide some form of passage for salmon above the dams. The National Marine Fisheries Service specifically says dams should be removed to make that happen, Mr. Carrier said.

Removing the dams and restoring the river for fish would be enormously expensive, Mr. Carrier said, and would “really need significant federal support.” He said he knew of no reliable estimate of the costs. He said he did not view Mr. Fehrman’s comments on Wednesday as a breakthrough, “especially with the caveat of ‘as long as our customers are not harmed and our property rights are respected.’ In other words, don’t ask us to bear the costs.”

WILDLIFE HABITAT: Longtime beaver pond reduced to puddle; DFG defends fish farm's right to end water for creek

Redding Record-Searchlight – 8/30/06
By Dylan Darling, staff writer

What was once a beaver pond hidden on Salmon Creek behind homes on Old Alturas Road is now not much more than a puddle.

"There are no more beavers," said Norman Hargett, who lives in one of the homes. "There is no more pond."

Hargett raised alarm this spring when the pond wasn't filling because of a breach in the beaver dam, saying the state Department of Fish and Game should help patch it. DFG scientists said any dam repair was up to the beavers.

Although the critters came through, working by night to rebuild the dam, the pond that has long been their home is gone because of changes to an upstream fish-farm operation.

For 30 years, the Shadow Lake Ranch has replenished Salmon Creek with water from its fish ponds, said Steve Baumgartner, an associate fisheries biologist with the DFG.

"So for 30 years, it's been an artificial situation," he said.

While most streams around Redding go bone dry in the summer inferno, Salmon Creek has kept its flow. Its muddy bottom and collection of cattails contrast with the exposed rock and dead grass of other creeks in town.

But Shadow Lake Ranch is scaling down, Baumgartner said, and has cut off the water that kept Salmon Creek flowing. Because the pond was augmented by unnatural flows from the ranch, he said the DFG doesn't take issue with the cutoff.

"That's a perfectly legal and acceptable thing for (the ranch's owners) to do," Baumgartner said.

Shadow Lake Ranch's owners declined interview requests by phone and in person from the Record Searchlight.

Steve Boyer, co-owner of Shadow Lake Ranch, answered only one question: Do you know about the beaver pond on Salmon Creek?

"I don't know," he said.

The ranch, which has 12 ponds ranging from a quarter-acre to 7 acres, is listed for sale at www.shadowlakeranch.com. The listing says its water is supplied by one 4-foot and two 3-foot agricultural water meters by the Bella Vista Water District, with the water rights worth more than $400,000. Redding Realty is offering the ranch at $1.8 million.

Without water from the ranch this year, the beaver pond has withered. The beaver lodge that once was surrounded by water several feet deep now has only a shallow puddle in front of it.

Hargett said he hasn't seen the four beavers that lived in the lodge for almost two weeks.

"I don't know if they are dead or if they took off, but they're gone -- there is no water," he said.

When their environment changes, beavers tend to migrate to where conditions are right for them, said Pete Figura, a DFG biologist.

"They may be upstream or downstream," he said.

But with the change to Salmon Creek, there is little water in either direction.

Along with the beavers, the pond had been home to a healthy fish population. With the sinking water level, most of the fish went belly up.

Worried about the dead, rotting fish, many people who live near the creek called the DFG, Baumgartner said. He explained the change in water flows and said the creek would return to its natural state -- dry in the summer.

Neighbors who live along the stretch of Salmon Creek where the beavers built the dam 25 years ago had enjoyed the pond. Ringing what had been the pond are rowboats, a park bench and the mooring for a now-missing dock.

"Seeing this out here devastated me," said Hargett, whose living-room window frames the former pond. "Half the time I keep the curtains closed because I don't want to look at it." #

Salmon bill blocked

Eureka Times-Standard – 8/30/06
By John Driscoll, staff writer

A bill that would provide $26 million in grants and low-interest loans to struggling North Coast salmon fishermen was blocked by the state Legislature on Tuesday.

Lawmakers' failure to take up the bill prompted an immediate response from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office, which supported the legislation by Sen. Wesley Chesbro, D-Arcata, and Sen. Sam Aanestad, R-Grass Valley.

”It is a great disappointment and mistake for the Legislature to block the passage of this important legislation that would have benefited salmon fishermen and the industry that was so hard hit by the restricted fishing season,” Schwarzenegger said.

The federal government closed the salmon season along much of the West Coast this year to protect an expected poor run of Klamath River fish. Recently, the U.S. commerce secretary proclaimed the fishery a disaster, which could pave the way for millions in federal relief. The state bill was seen as a support bill to show that California was willing to help bolster federal aid salmon fishermen are hoping for.

Salmon fishermen along the West Coast believe the industry has lost $81 million due to the closures.

Chesbro responded to a Schwarzenegger news release by saying the bill still has life.

”The session is not over yet,” said Chesbro. “The bill is not dead and I am disappointed that the governor has thrown in the towel.” #

WEST COAST FISHERIES: California, Oregon salmon fishers get good news from feds, courts, utility

Mendocino Beacon – 8/17/06
By Frank Hartzell, staff writer

Commercial fishers, suffering through one of their worst regulatory years ever, got three pieces of potentially good news in recent days. The federal government took the first step toward cash aid, while a Fort Bragg salmon fishing group sued the federal government to get part of the season back, and a Klamath River utility announced it may remove several dams from the troubled river.

A declaration of a commercial fishery failure last Thursday by U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez is the first step toward cash financial relief for fishermen from San Francisco to Oregon.

The federal failure declaration, the first since 1992 to come before the end of a fishing season, includes figures showing revenues for the season at 15 percent of their average in California.

The virtual elimination of salmon season is as a result of drops in the numbers of salmon returning to the Klamath River. The ocean off Fort Bragg has been yielding big catches all year for sport boats, but the commercial fishermen, who travel farther and catch more, were identified as having too much contact with salmon from the Klamath to allow more than a week of salmon fishing late in the year. Fish being caught locally are mostly from the Sacramento River, but the fish mix in the ocean.

Congress will now be able to move forward in seeking up to $80 million in disaster aid that has been slowed for lack of declaration.

Currently, Small Business Administration loans are available to those in the industry, but now direct aid is being sought.

The declaration was immediately lauded by the governors of California and Oregon, along with most of California's congressional delegation.

"Despite this massive step forward, there is still a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done to help these families get back on their feet and restore one of Northern California's most important industries," responded Congressman Mike Thompson to the failure finding.

"First, we must appropriate the funds needed to help the thousands of families who lost their livelihood. Next, we must take steps to restore the salmon population by ensuring a clean and adequate supply of water. Over the coming weeks, I will be working closely with my colleagues in the House and Senate to ensure these funds are appropriated as quickly as possible."

Praised on one hand, Gutierrez (as part of the federal government) is being sued on the other by the Fort Bragg-based Salmon Trollers Association, a group still hoping to have a season longer than a week.

The lawsuit challenges the science and logic of blaming commercial fishermen for the problems on the Klamath River, believed to be caused entirely by water diversions, dams and other habitat problems on the river.

Mendocino attorney Editte Lerman, who filed the suit for the Salmon Trollers, pointed out the contradiction between the federal government giving fishermen disaster relief on one hand and saying the season closure does not cause irreparable harm on the other.

"They are talking out of both sides of their mouth," Lerman said.

"The government is scapegoating onto the fisherman habitat problems. Whatever number of fish are caught, there is not enough water to sustain the river."

The Salmon Trollers' lawsuit includes a request for a restraining order or injunction to extend the salmon season beyond the one week now set for September.

U.S. attorney Kevin Ryan argues that the Salmon Trollers have not submitted evidence of irreparable harm and criticizes the request to extend the season as having been filed too late to be practical. No court date had been set by presstime.

In addition to the actions to take pressure off fishermen, there was potentially good news for salmon from the Klamath River.

The announcement by dam owner PacifiCorp that it may remove four dams is the solution to the warm, pest-infected waters of the Klamath that Indian tribes, environmentalists and fishers alike have long sought.

The four dams, which are scheduled for relicensing this year by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, cause an increase in water temperatures and reduction in gravel areas needed for spawning for king and silver salmon as well as oceangoing steelhead trout. Warm water is lethal to salmon and also spurs growth of toxic blue-green algae.

The Commerce Secretary made his announcement during a conference call with Thompson, U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer of California, Gordon Smith and Ron Wyden of Oregon, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and members of both states' congressional delegations.

"The partial closure of salmon season has created severe economic hardship for California's vital salmon industry and the communities along the coast," according to a statement by Schwarzenegger.

"Since May, salmon fishermen have averaged a mere 9 percent of their seasonal catch. This extremely low number has resulted in less than 15 percent of their average revenues. These numbers cause great concern as the impacts of this season could impact the industry for years to come," the governor said. #

FISHERY PROTECTION: State Creates Marine Havens; The protected areas will either ban or severely limit fishing in 18% of Central Coast waters. Other reserves are likely for the rest of the coast

MONTEREY — The California Fish and Game Commission on Tuesday banned or severely restricted fishing across nearly 18% of the waters off Central California, beginning to roll out the nation's first network of marine reserves next to a heavily populated coastline.

The commissioners settled on a network of 29 marine protected areas, stretching from Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz counties, that collectively cover about 200 square miles of state waters.

About half are reserves that forbid any fishing; the other protected areas ban commercial fishing or impose other restrictions. Some of the areas are off Point Sur along the Big Sur coast, Año Nuevo in northern Santa Cruz County, Piedras Blancas near San Simeon and Vandenberg Air Force Base near Lompoc.

This set of reserves, more than six years in the making, is expected to be a model as additional reserves are created along the entire California coast to help depleted fish populations rebound.

"This is a landmark day, an historic day in California," said Commissioner Cindy Gustafson of Tahoe City. "We need to take great pride in our efforts to protect the coast of California."

Although the Legislature passed a law in 1999 calling for a statewide network of reserves, the plans have been stalled for years by budget cuts, staffing shortages and ferocious opposition from commercial and recreational fishermen who argued that the closures would imperil their livelihoods or pastimes.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, with funding from private conservation foundations, revived the process by focusing first on the Central Coast before considering reserves along four other sections of the state's 1,100-mile coastline.

"Today's milestone makes California a national leader in oceans management and is proof of what can be done when all those involved — the fishing industry, environmentalists and others — work together," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

Southern California waters, from Point Conception in western Santa Barbara County to the Mexican border, will be the next battleground in this innovative approach to ocean management.

Marine reserves represent the most restrictive effort to revive plummeting fish stocks, some of which, experts say, have fallen by as much as 95% in recent decades. Regulations that limit the number of various types of fish that can be caught have failed to stave off the decline marine scientists fear could lead to a collapse of marine life. The reserves, by making all fishing off-limits, are designed to protect every marine creature in them — from the biggest bass to the smallest snail — and their oceanic habitat.

In recent months and years, marine reserves have been set up around the Channel Islands off Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, some remote islands of the Florida Keys and the northwest Hawaiian Islands.

Tuesday's unanimous vote by the five-member commission is the first attempt to set up such a network of reserves in near-shore waters along the continental United States. It means closures next to urban centers with harbors and many fishermen who depend on these waters to make a living or for recreation.

Schwarzenegger, who has been courting conservation groups as part of his bid for reelection, has pushed for full implementation of the state's Marine Life Protection Act of 1999, which sets up the mechanism to establish the statewide reserve network.

The reserves are designed to provide sanctuary for rockfish and halibut, lobster, abalone and shellfish that remain in the same area as opposed to albacore tuna, salmon, sardines and other pelagic fish that swim great distances in the ocean. The protected areas are also expected to benefit the endangered sea otter and other imperiled marine mammals by increasing available food.

Most of the reserves also offer protection for undersea habitat, including kelp forests, rocky reefs, sandy seafloors and deep ocean canyons, such as those in Monterey Bay. For the most part, these areas will be marked off by straight lines on nautical maps. Tuesday's vote came after six hours of impassioned testimony from fishermen who said they would be put out of business, from scuba divers who complained about the dramatic loss of fish to photograph, and conservationists who insisted that the reserves were the only way to save the remnants of formerly robust fish populations off the coast.

Fred Keeley, a former Democratic assemblyman who represented the Santa Cruz area and a co-author of the 1999 law, asked the commissioners to adopt the strongest possible protections and relax them at a later date, if needed.

"It took a long time for the oceans to get in this perilous condition," Keeley told the commissioners. "It's going to take a long time for them to heal."

After years of resisting the plan, fishermen at the meeting appeared largely resigned to its inevitability. Instead of the boisterous jeering and booing that have characterized past meetings on the issue, commercial and recreational fishermen joined forces to recommend their own plan with minimal closures.

Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, noted that the areas where fishing will be banned will still be vulnerable to another major assault on coastal marine life around the world: coastal pollution.

He urged the commissioners to coordinate with state water officials to clamp down on urban and farm runoff as well as sewage discharges that force-feed the oceans toxic chemicals and nutrients that stimulate growth of harmful algae.

"You can have all of the no-fishing zones you want, but we are going to end up with [low-oxygen] dead zones or places that are highly toxic to fish," Grader said.

Not all recreational fishermen opposed the closures.

The Cambria Fishing Club pushed to close waters just south of town. "We hope that's a fish factory that will kick out fish for us to catch," said Jim Webb, the club's president. "We think it's a great idea to create an opportunity to fish forever."

Only about 1% of the world's oceans are off limits to fishing. But marine reserves have been popping up all over the world as scientists, regulators — and some fishermen — have recognized that traditional catch limits have failed to halt steady declines of fish. More than two-thirds of commercially important fish are fully exploited or in steep decline.

President Bush in June created the Northwest Hawaiian Islands National Monument. The largest marine reserve in the world, it is a strip about 100 miles wide and 1,200 miles long.

Steve Palumbi, a Stanford marine scientist, said California's latest reserve system is a smart approach because it would provide havens for fish to grow older. These older, larger fish can produce many more eggs than their smaller counterparts and, thus, do more to help restock areas that have suffered from excessive fishing.

Palumbi said the new network of reserves should act like a "safety net" to protect remnant fish populations against catastrophic collapse. "If we ever take a deep fall into that net, we have to make sure it doesn't break." #

MAD RIVER FISHERY RESTORATION: Mad River Hatchery hoorah

Eureka Times-Standard – 8/15/06

The Mad River Fish Hatchery teetered on the edge more than once over the past three years, but community support during that time kept the operation alive until state funding was restored.

A recent state bill will get the hatchery some $2.7 million over the next six years, making the efforts of volunteers, donors and companies worthwhile.

A local group called the Friends of the Mad River Fish Hatchery has worked with Supervisor Jill Geist, Supervisor Jimmy Smith and a broad group of local industry and community members to keep the hatchery open through local fund-raising events.

The Friends is a diverse group of local volunteer hatchery diehards who have led the efforts, including Dave Varshock, Gene Morris, Kenny Richards, Mark Wetzel, Robert Vogt and Phillip Crandall.

The recent funding of Assembly Bill 7 as part of this year's state budget will significantly restore lost state funding for hatchery trout rearing operations. The bill was co-authored by Assemblywoman Patty Berg, D-Eureka, and supported by Sen. Wesley Chesbro, D-Arcata.

The Friends plan to meet with the California Department of Fish and Game to determine how these new state funds will be used and what additional support may be needed to ensure the hatchery remains viable.

Out-of-area fishermen who come to Humboldt to fish for its famed steelhead trout provide more than $1.2 million in revenue to the local economy. The hatchery is used by thousands of local families and schoolchildren for recreation and education.

”The Mad River hatchery is a quality-of-life indicator for Humboldt County that makes Humboldt a great place to live and I am proud of our community for supporting efforts to save it,” Geist said.

SALMON: Genetic Testing to Help Anglers, Fish

San Francisco Chronicle – 8/14/06
By Jeff Barnard, Associated Press

The last time Scott Boley came home from salmon fishing, he had 17 fish to show for three days of work.

"That's pretty skimpy fishing," said Boley, the skipper of a salmon troller, a partner in the Fishermen Direct Seafood market and a member of the federal panel that sets ocean salmon fishing seasons.

But Boley hopes those fish and barcodes tied to their jaws represent a better future for Oregon and California salmon fishermen, who saw their catch cut by nearly 90 percent this summer to protect dwindling returns of wild chinook to California's Klamath River.

As part of a pilot program funded by the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, Boley and other trollers are clipping a piece of pectoral fin from each fish they catch and sending it to the Hatfield Marine Science Center for DNA testing that shows within 48 hours what river basin it came from.

Using a Global Positioning System receiver, they log into a computer the latitude and longitude of each fish, plus their names, the date, the water temperature and the depth at which the fish was caught.

Then they tie onto each fish a metal tag carrying a barcode, which can be used in the future to access that information from a Web site.

Scientists and fishermen hope the genetic testing and unprecedented detail on where salmon swim will help fisheries managers keep the commercial salmon fleet fishing while protecting struggling runs like the Klamath's wild chinook.

Canada already uses overnight genetic testing to increase the salmon harvest off the coast of British Columbia's Queen Charlotte Islands while protecting weak stocks on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

For the past four years, boats from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have gone out the week before the season opens to check fish DNA. If too many fish from weak stocks show up, fishermen wait or go somewhere else. During the season, fish landed on shore are checked to make sure not too many weak stocks are being taken.

Queen Charlottes fishermen are now landing an extra $17 million worth of salmon a year, said Terry Beacham, research scientist with the department's Pacific Biological Station. Meanwhile, the harm to the weak stocks from Vancouver Island is less.

The Oregon program grew out of research Oregon State University salmon geneticist Michael Banks started in 1994 to distinguish the winter run of chinook from California's Sacramento River from other runs.

In recent years, a network of labs has developed a salmon genetic database that covers 120 watersheds from Alaska to California.

Using 13 different genetic markers on the salmon genome, known as microsatellites, researchers can spot the native river basin of an individual fish with 95 percent certainty, Banks said. Using 16 microsatellites, they can distinguish between the winter, spring and fall runs of chinook from California's Sacramento River.

Testing of fish caught off Newport in June showed they came from rivers from British Columbia to California, with more than half from the Sacramento, and very few from the Klamath, Banks said. By the end of salmon fishing this fall, he hopes to sample 2,000 fish.

Gil Sylvia, superintendent of the Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station, hopes the genetic testing and barcodes will boost marketing opportunities for fishermen and guard against farm-raised salmon being sold as wild-caught salmon. #

CALIFORNIA LEGACY:
Editorial: California miners haven't quite lost gold-digging itch

Redding Record-Searchlight – 8/9/06

Northern California's mines these days are primarily museum pieces, Superfund sites or spots you warn the kids away from while hiking in the woods. It's easy to forget that people still try to make a living digging gold from them.

But there's still gold in the hills -- as much as 300,000 ounces of it in mines above French Gulch recently bought and reopened by Nevada-based Bullion River Gold. At least, that's what the new owners are betting on.

But the latter-day Gold Rush has run into a problem the 49ers didn't face: modern regulations.

Mine work was suspended in June, just a few weeks after it began, after some five tons of tailings spilled from an unpermitted pipeline into a tributary of French Gulch Creek, which flows into Clear Creek and Whiskeytown Lake. The tailings contained some arsenic, but water-quality officials say the level of contamination in the water is well below the threshold that would cause a risk to public health.

Nonetheless, the caution is appropriate. Gold goes for about $640 an ounce, but Whiskeytown's clear water is priceless.

Peter Kuhn, president of Bullion River Gold, said of the spill: "We screwed up. We have to fix it. It's not anybody's fault but our own."

If only our government officials were so forthright about their mistakes. #

Algae blooms in Klamath reservoirs spark alert

Eureka Times-Standard – 8/10/06
By John Driscoll, staff writer

Health officials and the Karuk Tribe are warning people to avoid contact with algae mats that have bloomed in two reservoirs on the Klamath River.

Samples taken by the tribe at Iron Gate and Copco reservoirs found extremely high concentrations of algae. The tribe said that blue-green scum on the water suggests a toxic compound that Microcystis aeruginosa algae can produce poses a health risk to swimmers. The algae cell counts are nearly 4,000 times that considered a moderate health risk by the World Health Organization.

The tribe called on Siskiyou County and dam owner Pacificorp to close the reservoirs to swimmers and water skiers.

”It's worse than last year,” said the tribe's water quality coordinator Susan Corum. “The responsible thing to do is to close these reservoirs immediately.”

The Siskiyou County Public Health Department has put out an alert saying that people should avoid wading and swimming in areas with algae mats, and be careful that children don't swallow the water. Fish should be eaten only after their guts and liver are removed and the fillets are rinsed with clean water.

”Sampling from previous years indicates that these algae are capable of releasing toxins that are potentially harmful to human health,” the statement reads.

While it said that there have been no documented cases of human illness from algae in California, studies from around the world have shown the toxic algae can cause eye irritation, rashes, mouth ulcers and vomiting and diarrhea.

The algae blooms in slow-moving water in the summer and fall. Several years ago, dogs died after exposure to much lower levels of toxic algae in the South Fork of the Eel River and Big Lagoon.

In September last year, Humboldt County health officials warned people on the lower Klamath River about algae blooms in the reservoirs, recommending that children and pets be kept out of the river.

There is a statewide effort to try to determine how best to sample algae-rich water, how to deal with big blooms and exactly what health risks are possible from exposure.

Pacificorp must also have a water quality certification from the state to satisfy the requirements of an ongoing relicensing process through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Catherine Kuhlman with the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board said that blue-green algae is a part of the certification, and another state water quality improvement process called Total Maximum Daily Load.

”FERC has to have a certification that water quality will be met as Pacificorp operates the dams,” Kuhlman said. #

Ads will promote watershed; Campaign to seek more public help for the waterways

Redding Record-Searchlight – 8/9/06
By Dylan Darling, staff writer

A river preservation group is taking its concerns about Sacramento River waters to the airwaves. The Sacramento River Watershed Program will start airing 30-second spots on television stations around the north state this month. The advertisement, which was filmed on the Fall River northeast of Redding, gives tips about how residents can protect and enhance the Sacramento River's watershed.

"We want to help people understand that individual behavior can dramatically impact the quality of our water and our waterways," said Kathy Russick, program coordinator for the group.

The tips show people how to prevent pollutants from getting into storm water runoff, she said.

The ad -- which will run on KRCR Channel 7, KHSL Channel 12, KNVN Channel 24 and KIXE-TV -- will be just the start of a campaign, Russick said. Other 30-second spots are in the works with the help of the state Department of Water Resources and the city of Redding. While there is a consistent theme and music planned for the ads, each will carry the message of the group that sponsors it.

The Department of Water Resources' ad will remind people that pesticides, soaps or other liquids should not be poured down storm drains.

Cities, counties and groups or organizations can sponsor ads in the campaign for $5,000 to $10,000, Russick said. The more money, the more airtime the ad gets.

Although this will be the Sacramento River Watershed Program's first television ad campaign for the north state, the Woodland-based nonprofit has run ads about protecting and preserving the watershed in the Sacramento metropolitan area for years, she said.

The program was founded in 1996, according to its Web site. It brings together dozens of groups concerned about the health of the Sacramento and its watershed. The watershed covers 27,000 square miles from the Oregon border to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

"Our watershed includes all or parts of 19 counties," she said.

For more information about the program, go to http://www.sacriver.org.

BUTTE CREEK SALMON RUNS: Salmon success: Butte Creek's spring run flourishes

Let them eat salmon. That's the wish of Allen Harthorn, one of the directors of Friends of Butte Creek, a local conservation group. He was among 30 people who spent Thursday through Saturday crawling over the Butte Creek watershed and noting the success of efforts to restore the stream's spring-run salmon population.

One evening, in fact, the participants, most of whom camped near Butte Meadows, dined on barbecued salmon. Not Butte Creek salmon, of course. Since 1999, the stream's spring-run salmon have been on the threatened-species list. Fishing is banned, except for a three-month period in winter when the salmon aren't around.

If the day comes when this group, which plans annual symposiums, can dine on spring-run salmon from Butte Creek, organizers will know their goals have been achieved.

Twenty years ago, the spring run in Butte Creek was in trouble. In the distant past, thousands of fish came up Butte Creek to spawn each year. But with the rise of agriculture, hydroelectric projects and other human activities, the runs dwindled. Some years, only a few fish were counted. Other years, there would be a few hundred.

In the last 15 years or so, a lot of efforts have been made to improve conditions for the fish. Irrigation dams were removed. Fish passages were fixed. Irrigation canal intakes were screened so baby salmon didn't end up in farmers' fields.

Recently, the run has rebounded. Year after year, thousands of salmon have returned to Butte Creek to spawn.

But there are still problems, and experts are looking at what can be done to make further improvements.

That was one purpose of last week's symposium, organized by the Salmonid Restoration Federation. Its Web site (www.calsalmon.org) says it's a nonprofit organization "dedicated to the protection and restoration of California's steelhead, salmon and trout populations."

The group has put on annual conferences concerning coho salmon, which are found in streams along the state's north coast. Last week's local event was the first symposium on the spring run.

Those attending included staff of state and federal agencies, members of conservation groups and interested citizens. There were tours and talks by experts.

The overall impression he got was very positive, Harthorn said Monday. "It gives me great hope the species as a whole is doing pretty good."

Harthorn noted PG&E's DeSabla-Centerville power project on Butte Creek is up for relicensing by the federal government. In connection with that, government agencies and the power company are working out agreements to try to eliminate remaining problems for the salmon.

He said a talk was given during the symposium by Mark Gard of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who has studied the relationship between water flows and habitat for spawning.

Gard has shown that if flows into Butte Creek are increased in the fall, much more habitat for spawning becomes available to the spring run, Harthorn said.

As a result, during the last two years, PG&E has boosted its fall flows. Because of this, a record-breaking run is expected to return to the creek next year, he said.

PG&E has also gone to extra trouble to put more cold water in the creek during very hot weather. Colder water from Philbrook Lake has been directed to the creek. This should help prevent the thousands of salmon deaths that occurred from heat during the summers of 2002 and 2003, he said.

Not all of Butte Creek's problems have been solved, he added. For example, most unpaved roads in the upper watershed were not designed to minimize erosion, so significant sedimentation occurs.

The group visited a large meadow in the northeast corner of the county that at one time had been badly eroded by grazing livestock. Now, the meadow has been rehabilitated and is a marsh lush with water and native grasses. Instead of drying out, the meadow acts as a reservoir that allows water to seep gradually into the creek, enhancing summer flows, he said.

Closer to Butte Meadows is Colby Meadows, which was still used for grazing up until five years ago, and which needs rehabilitation, he said.

To a degree, the history of the spring run on Butte Creek over the last century matches that of the spring run around California. Once these fish were plentiful in streams and rivers throughout the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys. But dams cut them off from their natural spawning grounds.

Harthorn said Butte Creek stands out as an example of how a naturally spawning salmon run can be enhanced.

And, in fact, stray salmon from the Butte Creek run have been found in some other north-state streams, he said.

Mill Creek and Deer Creek, which run through Tehama County, have significant runs of spring-run salmon. Harthorn said efforts are being made to improve or establish self-sustaining runs on Big Chico Creek, Battle Creek, the Feather River, Cottonwood Creek, Antelope Creek and Clear Creek.

There is even an effort to restore a spring run on the San Joaquin River, he said. Possibly, that could involve transplanting salmon from Butte Creek to the central valley waterway.

Margot Harry, watershed coordinator for the Big Chico Creek Watershed Alliance, participated in the symposium, which she called "very informative."

One activity included hiking up through the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve to a pool on the stream where "we could see a school of salmon just hanging out."

It was exciting to see, she said, but worrisome to learn that the water temperature there was within a couple of degrees of what the fish can tolerate.

Harthorn, an angler who has lived in Butte Creek Canyon for about 30 years, said he's yearning for the day when Butte Creek spring-run salmon will be taken off the threatened list, and he and others can fish for them again. #

Grants help get roads out of the way

The runoff, also referred to as sediment, increases with the number of roads that cross over streams and creeks.

The Forest Service hopes that $200,000 in grants will help "get the roads out of the way of the streams," said Kirt Sable, forest service hydrologist.

Fine sediment can be harmful to fish that traverse Battle Creek and its tributaries. Sable said in extreme cases, the sediment can get into the gills of the fish and kill them. Most likely, though, sediment settles on top of the fishes eggs and smothers them.

There are approximately 3,600 miles of roads in the Battle Creek Watershed and for every mile, there is an estimated five water crossings.

The types of crossings range from culverts - most undersized for the amount of water that travels through them - to dips and channels along the dirt roads.

"Conservatively, 90 percent of culverts are barriers," said Ken Roby, fisheries biologist for Forest Service.

They are barriers for water trying to flow down the watershed and barriers for fish trying to swim up stream.

Roby said there are about 50 sites that need to be reconfigured.

While that doesn't sound like it would make a difference in a system estimated to have 18,000 water crossings, Roby said that most of the sediment deposited in the streams comes from just a few of the worst sites.

"Seventy percent of sediment comes from 5 percent of the sites," he said.

He said that they plan to work on the 50 sites this year, beginning next month. The projects range from creating diversion dips to allow overflow to runoff without turning a road into a raging river, cross drains, new culverts and other various upgrades.

While small bridges at the creek crossings would be the best for the environment, the cost of one could easily exceed $100,000, Roby said.

The Forest Service is receiving about $200,000 over the next two years for projects, and Roby said they want to spread the money out to make as big of a difference as possible.

"At one site, if we can fix 70 percent of the problem for $5,000 or 100 percent of the problem for $100,000, we're going to choose the 70 percent," Roby said. That will allow the money to be used at more sites.

The Regional Water Quality Board will be working with the Forest Service to determine how much of the road improvements improve the quality of the water.

Initial field work will begin this summer on a monitoring plan to measure the level of sediment in the water, said Mike Ward, a project consultant for the battle Creek Watershed Conservancy.

The Battle Creek Stream Condition Monitoring Plan will cost an estimated $50,000 a year to monitor about 20 sites. The monitoring stations and the road work will be above the areas in the watershed where fish currently swim and higher than the PG&E project will go. But Ward said the parts cannot be separated from the whole.

"When something is going on down here, we need to look above," Ward said.

CALIFORNIA SALMON: Column: Governor's environmental plan is fishy

Grass Valley Union – 7/28/06
By Thomas D. Elias, syndicated columnist

July in California is Wild King Salmon Month, or so said the 2005 proclamation from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who likes to style himself "the environmental governor."

That, in fact, is one of the favorite themes of his re-election run, where he's now airing commercials claiming to be "one of our country's most innovative leaders in protecting our environment"

In his year-ago proclamation, Schwarzenegger said, "It is time to consider the valuable role of the salmon industry in fortifying the health and economic prosperity of California."

Yet, this advocate of salmon restoration chopped money for it from the state budget just last year - a move that came, ironically, during Wild King Salmon Month. Before signing that year's spending plan, Schwarzenegger pared a $31 million "Natural Resources Stewardship Package" he and legislative leaders had agreed upon down to $14 million.

Part of his blue-penciling included cutting funds for salmon restoration in half, from $8 million to $4 million, and completely eliminating $3 million earmarked for state fish hatcheries. It's uncertain whether the emergency federal salmon measures Schwarzenegger pushed for this year would even have had to be on the table without those cuts.

His line-item vetoes were typical of how Schwarzenegger has treated environmental programs, complain many leading conservationists. It's something he's tried very hard to gloss over in this election year, with Democratic rival Phil Angelides helping out by being totally ineffective so far at pointing out Arnold's inconsistencies.

"The governor often touts the economic and public health benefits of clean air, water, land and fish and wildlife populations, yet (his) actions speak louder than words," said a statement from the Natural Resources Defense Council, a leading conservationist group.

One unilateral Schwarzenegger cut that especially galled environmentalists came when he lopped $950,000 and eight positions from the state Coastal Commission's energy program staff last year. It's a move he wouldn't dare make this year, but few in this land of short memories remember it now and almost no one noticed it at the time. Commission officers say the cut is one reason the agency has lately played little role in reviewing liquefied natural gas (LNG) applications and federal offshore oil lease actions.

Complained Susan Jordan of the Santa Barbara-based California Coastal Protection Network in an email at the time, "Note the governor's specific mention of LNG in his veto message. This seems to me a play out of the Pete Wilson playbook: Starve the agency; avoid blame for the policy decision."

The cuts left the Coastal Commission with just three persons to evaluate all energy projects along California's 1,100-plus mile shore. That includes 36 federal oil leases, the various LNG proposals, as many as 20 proposed desalination plants and all coastal power plant upgrades and remodels.

Schwarzenegger contended in his message that "The Coastal Commission has sufficient resources to perform critical, high priority work such as the review of LNG applications..." He may be the only one who believes that.

Or, he may have been looking for yet another way to grease approval and construction of LNG receiving facilities along the coast.

Schwarzenegger also cut $6 million last year for state park staffing he'd previously agreed on with leading lawmakers and $3 million for deferred maintenance at state parks. That's why parks that were already closed or operating on limited hours have stayed that way. And don't expect trails now obstructed by fallen trees and other debris from last winter's heavy storms to be cleared soon.

The governor also wiped out a $5 million 2005 allocation to hire new Fish and Game wardens and $1 million for a trout restoration program.

So it may have been no coincidence that Schwarzenegger's celebratory statement upon signing the 2005 budget mentioned the fact it included no new taxes and an education funding increase, plus a program to increase the number of registered nurses emerging from community colleges. Transportation funding was mentioned, as was a payback of money the state had forcibly borrowed from cities and counties.

But nary a word about the environment. It's different this year, as Schwarzenegger consistently maintains he's a friend of the environment.

It's true he broke with President Bush over global warming when he expressed support of the Kyoto Protocol to cut greenhouse gases. He appealed to the federal Environmental Protection Agency for a waiver of any requirement to use ethanol in gasoline, which increases automotive emissions of oxides of nitrogen.

Some analysts believe Schwarzenegger is more comfortable pushing high-minded long-term goals like the "hydrogen highway" than nitty-gritty programs that gradually work toward those goals.

The upshot is that if Schwarzenegger wants to be known and remembered as an environmental protector, he could start by protecting environmental programs - and he frequently has done the opposite.

KLAMATH RIVER AGREEMENT: Interior officials, Yuroks sign off on Klamath pact

Eureka Times-Standard – 7/26/06
By John Driscoll, staff writer

High-level U.S. Interior Department officials came to Klamath on Tuesday to sign an agreement with the Yurok Tribe to cooperatively manage one of the West's most troubled rivers.

Yurok Tribal Council members met with the interior secretary's acting director of policy, Larry Finfer, and the counselors to the secretary and the U.S. Solicitor Bob Laidlaw and Larry Jensen. Area managers for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs were also on hand for the ceremony, lunch and a boat trip up the Klamath River.

The Interior Department and the tribe recently announced that the two would work together on the thorny environmental issues facing the Klamath Basin. The arrangement comes during a year when tribal, commercial and sport fishing has been slashed to protect a run of salmon expected to be poor. Warm, low water, toxic algae blooms and other water quality problems are believed behind diseases that have in recent years killed tens of thousands of adult chinook salmon and hundreds of thousands of young salmon.

Yurok Tribal Chairman Howard McConnell said that the river's resources are paramount for the tribe.

”The Yurok Tribe has invested a tremendous amount of our scarce financial and human resources over Klamath Basin issues,” McConnell said in a statement. “Our people and their needs have always been put last. There must be a new way of looking at issues that account for everyone's needs while not forfeiting our birthright or a healthy river.”

The agreement will mesh efforts of the tribe and federal agencies in monitoring river conditions, collecting information, planning, land acquisition and recovery and other resource tasks. #

KLAMATH: Editorial: Are the salmon the river's canaries?

Eureka Times-Standard – 7/16/06

The problems affecting chinook salmon on the Klamath River are puzzling biologists. Agencies are waiting to hear from a laboratory exactly what's making an increasing number of fish ill.

Chinook are the mainstay of the Klamath's tribal and sport river fisheries, and for ocean commercial and recreational fisheries. This fall, so few adult fish are expected to return to the river that commercial fisheries were canceled up and down the coast, while tribal and sport fisheries were slashed.

It was thought that with this year's higher than usual water flows, the salmon would be at less risk of illness. One has to wonder if the fact that fish are apparently still getting sick isn't a sign that it is the river that is ill. Are the sick salmon a signal that something is ailing the river, much as canaries signaled bad air in mines?

We hope answers are forthcoming and that they give us what we need to correct whatever is ailing the fish -- or the water. #

SALMON SEASON RELIEF: Fishermen fear the worst; NOAA representatives gather economic information for the feds

Eureka Times-Standard – 7/16/06
By Ann Johnson-Stromberg, staff writer

EUREKA -- Grateful for the opportunity to have the ear of someone who can possibly offer some relief from the financial annihilation on their horizons, North Coast fishermen made the best of their Saturday visit from federal fisheries representatives.

Bill Hogarth, assistant administrator for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), was in Eureka to gather information from salmon fishermen and related businesses.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez declared a fishery resource disaster last week when restrictions on salmon catches were ordered to protect the low returns of Klamath River fall Chinook. The commercial fishery was closed and sport and tribal fisheries were severely cut.